ACTS 15:36-41 PAUL AND BARNABAS DIVIDED2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 15:36-41 Paul And Barnabas Divided

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. Well, this evening we're going to be finishing up chapter 15 of Acts, and we're going to be having a good time looking at the duking out of Paul and Barnabas, the battle royale between the

Paul in one corner, Barnabas in the other, and they're going to go at it. But let's read through the passage and then we'll talk about it. Verse 33 is where we'll start and we'll go through the end of the chapter. Verse 33 says, And after they had stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles. However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also.

Then after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing. Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark, but Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. Verse 39, then the contention became so sharp that

Here as we look at this closing portion of Acts chapter 15, the subject we're looking at is Paul and Barnabas divided. This separation between the two.

Between these two guys, they'd been a good team, and they've been together for some time. They went through this first missionary trip in chapter 13 and 14 of Acts, and were instrumental in just, you know, showing what it is to go on a missionary trip, and to plant churches, and to reach Gentiles, and, you know, plowed new ground and did amazing things for God there in those chapters. In chapter 15, last week, we saw them go down to Jerusalem and battle Jesus.

for the rights of the Gentiles. It's not really the right way to say it, but you get what I'm saying, that the Gentiles don't have to convert to Judaism to be saved, and they fought for the grace of God, and together, you know, they were in this together. They've been ministering now for many years together, probably about a decade, and

And so they've had a lot of time together. They've ministered a lot together. And yet here we find that there is this issue that causes a separation between them. And so it becomes a very interesting passage, not so much for its doctrine. There's not, you know, groundbreaking doctrine in this passage that you've never heard before. But just because of the fact that these two great men of God had this conflict and had this disagreement,

And then the result was they went different ways with different people. And this passage has been studied, of course, many times over the years. And there's a huge variety of opinions as far as, well, who was right and who was wrong? Was Paul wrong in the way he handled this? Was Barnabas wrong in the way he handled it? And there's lots of discussion back and forth that we can consider. As you look at this passage, just reading through these verses, you

It's really not an instructional passage. It's more a presentation of the fact. It doesn't really give a lot of insight into the hearts of these guys. It doesn't authoritatively say one way or the other if one of them was in sin. It doesn't say authoritatively if one of them was right. It just presents the facts that here are these two men of God who've worked together for years and years and years for the gospel, for the kingdom of God, and they're

They have a disagreement, and it's such a serious disagreement that they go different directions. And I think God does that this way on purpose because there's great value in considering it, considering the merits of both sides, considering the ideas and where they were coming from for each one.

And I think it's valuable for us to take some time to understand the conflict. And so I just want to walk through the passage a little bit and talk about some of the details that we find in here. So looking again at verse 36, here's what it says. Then after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.

So after Paul and Barnabas return from Jerusalem, they bring Silas, a couple other guys with them, and they hang out there in Antioch for a while where, you know, the church was, where they were sent out on the mission trip. They came back and had this dispute, went to Jerusalem, they've come back, and now they've stayed in Antioch for, it says, a while, after some time, maybe about a year or so, we would guess. And so they're ministering at the church. They're just attending church. They're serving at the church, just like we might here at Living Water. But

After some time of being there and being involved, Paul says to Barnabas, hey, what do you think? Let's go back. Remember all those churches we planted? You know, it's been probably a year since we saw those people, since we, you know, visited those churches. And so this whole passage begins with a good idea. Let's go back and visit the churches that we planted. Now it points out, it highlights that this was Paul's idea. Paul says to Barnabas,

Let's go visit our brethren in every city. And so you can think about, you know, what his vision for this trip is. It's not to go new territory, but let's go visit the places we've already been. Let's go encourage the brethren that we were there. We started the churches there. It's a good idea. And it comes from a place of love and concern.

Paul wasn't out for glory. He wasn't trying to, hey, they haven't been sending in much support. Let's go remind them how important it is to pay tithes and stuff to the church at Antioch. He just wanted to go see how they're doing. I'm concerned. Now, of course, in those days, you didn't have...

the convenience of communication like we have. And so they had no idea. They didn't know if those churches were still existing. Remember, Paul was driven out of many of those cities and there was some severe conflict that was going on. And so

There was genuine concern. We don't know what's going on. We don't know if they're still around. We don't know if they're still walking with the Lord. Let's go find out. There's a genuine love and concern here that Paul has for the people whose lives have been changed with the gospel on their previous trip. And so it gives us some insight. We're talking about two men who care about people. Their priority is the people. Their priority is the ministry. They want to minister to the people that God has connected them to.

It gives us a little bit of insight here. There's not, you know, some crazy ambitions or something that are motivating this. This is started from, it's birthed from love. We want to go minister to the people that we were connected with. But then in verse 37, it says, Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark.

But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. So here's the disagreement. Now, first of all, they both agree the trip is a good idea. The trip needs to happen. We need to go visit the churches that we planted. That's a good idea. It needs to happen. But now there's a difference of opinion on whether or not to bring John Mark.

Now, the whole reason why this is a dispute is because in Acts chapter 13, their first missionary journey as they're sent out from Antioch, John Mark went with them.

He was part of that journey for part of the way. And so they crossed over to Cyprus. Then from Cyprus, they went up north to Asia Minor. They landed in Perga. They began to minister there. But John Mark, for some undisclosed reason, he leaves the trip at that time and he goes down back to Jerusalem. So he catches a boat. He goes away there.

Paul and Barnabas continue north to Antioch and Pisidia and then down to Iconium and all that region. And so there's the continuation of the trip after John Mark is gone, but John Mark left early before the trip was over in the previous trip. And so this is the reason why there's this disagreement, because that's what happened last time. And now as they're getting ready to go again, Barnabas wants to bring him back.

And Paul does not. But it tells us that Barnabas is determined. But then it tells us that Paul insisted. In other words, this was a deal breaker for both of them. Again, both agreed, we need to take this trip. We need to go back to those churches. We need to go visit those brothers. But it's a deal breaker whether or not this guy, John Mark, is involved. And so they're stuck at an impasse because Barnabas was determined and Paul insisted. Verse 39 says,

Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. They both agreed the trip is needed. They disagree over this one guy, John Mark. And it's such a disagreement. It says the contention became so sharp that

The disagreement became so fierce that they decided, you know what's best probably is just for us to go different directions. And so literally they went different directions, not just we're going to, you know, have one team member here and one team member there, but literally. So

Barnabas followed the same route as before. He left from Antioch, crossed over to Cyprus. He followed that same path. Meanwhile, Paul grabbed Silas, a different guy, and he went from Antioch north. I didn't show it on the map. I apologize. But so he goes up north and then around the sea that way and then goes back into Asia Minor from the other side. So they actually went opposite directions physically, geographically.

The trip was important. It was needed. And so they were determined to go. Not going was not an option. But they reached a point where they decided, we realized we can't go together. It's not going to work because of our disagreement over this guy.

So they decided, well, let's go separately. You take your guy and you go that way. I'll take my guy and I'll go that way. And we'll still make the trip. We'll still visit the brethren. We'll still take care of that need and love on the believers in that way. But they went different directions in order to make it happen. And so it stirs up lots of questions perhaps in our mind. Who was right? Who was wrong? Is this the right way to handle it? And it's often been observed, you know, hey,

Whether they were right or wrong, God got two missionary groups out of it. And so, you know, in that way, it's good. But I'd like us to dig a little bit deeper this evening and consider this a little bit more than just kind of brushing it over and saying, you know, well, there was two, so it doesn't really matter if they were right or wrong. Who was right and who was wrong in this situation, in this incident that takes place? I mean, think about it.

These are guys who have been together for many years. So, you know, not much different from us, right? Can you imagine me and Ronnie having a disagreement over Dave Burns? Because, you know, he failed. And so I'm like, we need to have service, Ronnie. And Ronnie's like, yeah, but you want to include Dave. And I don't want to include Dave, man. He's like, he's not going to show up on time. He's going to be late. And this is the kind of thing that, I mean, obviously it wasn't that minor, but

You know, Ronnie and I, we've known each other for more than a decade. You know, it's been a long time. We've known each other for years. What could possibly cause us to separate and part ways like that? Here's Paul wanting to go visit the churches. And Paul tells Barnabas, hey, let's go visit the churches. And Barnabas says, great idea. Let me get John Mark. Let's go. And then Paul's like, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Pump the brakes. We can't bring him. He bailed in the middle of the trip last time.

Barnabas comes back and says, oh, but Paul, he's grown a lot since then. He's going to be much better this time. He's not going to do that again. He really regrets what he did. Let me go get him and we can go. And Paul says, no, no, this is not a good idea. We should not bring John Mark. And Barnabas says, yes, we should bring John Mark. This trip is not going to happen without him. Again, in verse 37, it says Paul was determined to bring John Mark.

He was determined. The word determined, it means to deliberate. He's resolved. He's come to this conclusion as a result of deliberation in his mind. It's to come to a purpose after deliberation. And so the idea here is that he's made up his mind, but it's a thought out position. You know, sometimes we hold to our guns or stick to our guns or whatever the saying is,

Over things that we don't even know anything about, we haven't even really thought about, right? We hold positions that's just like, you know, we felt it that way one time or we heard it that way one time and we haven't really thought it out. But here's Barnabas. He's deliberated. He's talked through the issue in his mind. He's worked through the pros and the cons.

He put the pros and the cons on the scale and weighed it out. And he has deliberately come to a conclusion. He's not just being stubborn. It's not just a rash decision or just, you know, a feeling that he's basing this on. He has come to a conclusion after he's weighed the different sides and he's decided bringing John Mark was necessary and important and ultimately worth dividing over. So it's a deliberate choice. We should bring John Mark. We must bring John Mark together.

this trip will not happen without him. But then you have Paul on the other side, and he is insisting they should not take John Mark. I mean, you can't really get more opposite than that. We should bring John Mark, and we should not bring John Mark. Those are opposites, right? I couldn't help as I was preparing this to just have images from John

Captain America Civil War, the recent movie, played through my head as the superheroes choose sides. And as they were showing the previews and stuff leading up to the movie, they were presenting it that way that you need to choose a side. Are you Captain America or are you Iron Man or Stark? Which side do you want? And you got to choose a side. And there is that kind of battle. There is that kind of clash that's kind of demonstrated here. Paul's insisting, no. Barnabas has determined, yes.

Now again, as it says, Paul insisted, it's a different word than when it says Barnabas was determined, but it's a similar meaning. It means to think something right, to judge something worthy or deem it deserving. Again, the idea is, Paul says, I don't think this is a good idea. It's also a very well thought out position. It's not just an emotional response.

It's not just being stubborn. It's not just a conclusion that he's made and he's not going to consider it ever again. He's thought this through. He's weighed the different sides. And he has decided that John Mark should not be on this trip. And so here you have two opposites by two godly men who are

wanting to go on this trip, and they've thought out the various sides, but come to different conclusions. And this is why I think this passage is very interesting, because it's not demonstrated in a way, it's not put forth in a way that one is in sin, that one is, you know, just being reckless or careless or just being stubborn. Both of these guys have thought through their position and

I think it wouldn't be too much to say that they've prayed over their position. They are in this discussion, in this disagreement, because they've thought through and come to conclusions and decided this is the right way, this is what's best, and it's worth dividing over. Verse 39, the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. It was a sharp contention.

Now, I think we need to be careful not to read too much of ourselves into some of these verses. I don't know what you picture when you think of a sharp contention. There's a lot of assumptions, I think, that are made when it comes to this passage. And it's demonstrated by, if you read through some of the teachings and commentaries on this passage, it's interesting what you'll find. There's a lot of variety of opinion. There's a lot of variety of opinion.

I mean, some would describe it as like these guys were shouting at each other. This was a shouting match, screaming at each other over this issue. We should not bring John Mark. We should bring John Mark. And it's an all-out screaming match in the church. You know, that's kind of the way it's pictured by some who would teach this or describe it.

But the word sharp contention, literally the word means to stir up or to provoke. And if you think about Hebrews chapter 10, you know, we're to consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. That word stir up is this word. And those are the only two times this word is used in the New Testament. So we don't have a huge variety of examples for us to be able to pull a lot of meaning from this word. Here's what we know. It means to stir up.

It means to provoke in either a positive sense or perhaps in a negative sense. But it doesn't mean that there had to be yelling. They weren't throwing things at each other. They weren't necessarily in the flesh. This word doesn't demand that it was a negative thing. It doesn't demand that it was a sinful thing. It doesn't demand that it's a fleshly thing.

Here's the way that I would put it. Both Paul and Barnabas were passionate about their decision, and that passion was demonstrated in any time they discussed the matter. They were passionate. They thought through. They'd come to conclusions, and that passion was demonstrated. And so Barnabas was determined, and Paul insisted, no, John Mark cannot come. Yes, John Mark must come, but not in a fleshly battle, but

but in a passionate decision. It's a thing that they feel strongly about. And that is a reality of life. That is a reality of the Christian walk, that there are things that you and I as believers can disagree on passionately after much thought and prayer, and it not be an issue of sin at all. And sometimes we get stuck on disagreements, and we think that disagreements are

you know, the ultimate demonstration of the flesh, which they can be, but not necessarily. Sometimes we look at this passage and we just think, man, couldn't they just stop and pray about this and find out, you know, if God wanted John Mark to go or not? Like, why do they got to disagree over it? Why don't they just sit down and pray? Let's have a prayer meeting instead of a disagreement discussion. And that'll resolve everything. But that's kind of...

Maybe naive isn't the right word, but I'll use it anyways. It's kind of a simplistic look at life. Life is complicated. And you know, as Christians, we're going to have disagreements. Now, if you're married, that doesn't come as a surprise to you, right? Because hopefully your spouse is spiritual and godly and seeking the Lord, and you are spiritual and godly and seeking the Lord. But you know, there's going to be some things that you disagree on.

Even after you've prayed over it, even after you've sought the Lord, even after you've, you know, worked through all the sides and you still might evaluate all the same truths, all the same facts and come to different conclusions. And that's not necessarily bad or wrong. But sometimes we try to force that kind of label onto something. And so, again, if you, you know, look over some of the teachings and stuff, you realize

you might see those who would suggest that Barnabas was wrong. And there are many who would make that claim, make that statement, and I would contend and disagree. But here's kind of the approach that some would take. Barnabas was wrong. His decision to bring John Mark was based on his family connections. Because we know from Colossians 4, verse 10, Paul makes mention of Mark, and he says he's the cousin of Barnabas.

So of course, Barnabas wanted to give John Mark a second chance. He had a soft spot for him. He's his family. Now, I mean, with some family, perhaps, yes, you are soft and give second chances. Sometimes we're harder on family than anybody else. It really doesn't make sense to say Barnabas was, you know, just loyal to his family, and that's why he wanted to bring John Mark. But there is that teaching, there is that opinion that is presented here.

It was his family connections, and so it kind of like overrode his normal senses and wisdom, and that's why he was wrong. Others would say, no, Barnabas was wrong, not necessarily because of his family connection, but he was wrong because he should have just submitted to Paul. He should have just submitted because Paul was an apostle. And I kind of almost fell out of my chair when I read that today. Yeah.

But that was a clear statement of one who taught this. He should have just submitted because Paul was an apostle. And you could think about that, right? I mean, I made a point of the leadership role that changed in Acts chapter 13 as they were crossing over the island of Cyprus, that Saul of Tarsus became the apostle Paul. And clearly he was an apostle, right? And so some would take the stance that Barnabas was wrong because he should have just submitted. Others would go on the other side and say, no, no, no, Barnabas was right and Paul was wrong.

His decision to not bring John Mark was based on his high expectations of people. These standards and expectations that, you know, hey, Paul, you got to understand people make mistakes and you need to give them second chances and you can't be so strict just because someone failed once. So that means they can never go on a mission trip with you ever again. I mean, come on, Paul, lighten up. You got to learn to give some grace. Obviously, Paul was a Pharisee, right? He was delivered from that, but

You know, perhaps he was tapping into his Pharisee roots here, you know, but John Mark doesn't measure up. Not good enough. Someone say that Paul was wrong. He should have just let John Mark go. So what if he leaves again? Deal with it if it happens, but don't forbid him to never come again because of this one failure, this one mistake. And you could go back and forth and maybe you have a strong opinion. One was wrong. One was right. Others would say, you know, both were wrong.

because it should have never come to this point. This disagreement, this difference of opinion, it was wrong for them, whether they were right or wrong, it was wrong for them to let it get to this point where they would separate, where it would be a strong contention. They were both wrong because it should never be a strong contention in the church. And again, it kind of comes from the mindset, hey, couldn't they just stop and pray about this and find out, oh, did God want John Mark to go or not?

Now, I'm not discounting the need for prayer, the value of prayer, and God speaking through prayer. I'm not trying to water that down or to dismiss that. But I am trying to kind of counteract this idea that disagreement is automatically wrong. It's okay to have sharp contention. Now, there's a fleshly sharp contention. There is sinful sharp contention. Absolutely. But sharp contention by itself is not automatically wrong.

I like Thomas Constable, what he says about this. He says, Now again, we often will read into this passage or other passages our own selves and what we might have been thinking or how we might have handled it or, you know, what might have been happening in our hearts. And yet, looking at the text, I would encourage you to check it out. Read through it again. It's

It's a real clear presentation of the facts without a declaration that one of them was in sin. And so perhaps Barnabas was wrong. Some would suggest Paul was wrong. Others would suggest both were wrong because they let it get this far. I'd like to suggest an alternate conclusion. Not that Paul was wrong. Not that Barnabas was wrong. Not that both were wrong. But I'd like to suggest that both were right.

That this whole situation happened because both of them were right and were correct and were doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing as far as God was concerned. Now, I'm not saying that just to kind of like as a way to not make a decision. You know, sometimes if you're going through a buffet, it's kind of nice because you don't have to make a decision. Well, I can get chicken and steak.

Or sometimes if you have to order off the menu, you know, you're usually picking one. You know, you only get, you got to choose one or the other. Sometimes it's easier. I'll just get the buffet and that way I don't have to choose. I can just get everything. When I say both are right, I'm not saying, hey, let's not think about it too much. I mean, let's just say both are right and then we won't. No, no. I would suggest that both are right and it's important for us to consider and valuable for us to consider why both of them are right. Again, disagreement is not automatically wrong.

The way that God has made us, there's great variety between us. Great variety in our backgrounds, great variety in our thought processes, great variety in our emotions and how we process things. There's great variety in our giftings and our callings. The way that God has designed us includes great variety. And so it's really not surprising then that

that there are differences between us when there's great variety between us, right? Of course there's going to be differences, and that's not automatically wrong. I would also suggest that separating is not automatically wrong. A lot of times when we look at this passage, and if we have to decide someone must be wrong, it's because it's tied to this idea that, well, they separated, and that was wrong. So clearly, something was wrong.

But it's based on the idea, the presumption that, well, because they separated, that was wrong. So there had to be something wrong that led up to that. But you know, separating is not automatically wrong. It might be actually exactly what God wants. Because again, in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the Apostle Paul describes us as the body of Christ. And I know I usually, you know, use that to talk about our integration together and our need for one another. And I wouldn't take any of that away.

But also there in the passage, Paul talks about the different parts of the body, the different functions of the body. We can't all do children's ministry. There's differences. There has to be a separation. George has to be over there and I have to be over here. And that's not sinful. That's just part of the way that God's designed us. I remember Pastor Chuck sharing one time, he said, there's people, he says, I know I can't reach them. There's people I can reach and there's people I cannot reach.

I'm just, I have a different personality. I teach a different way. I have a specific approach. I approach ministry with a certain style. And he says, I praise God that there's other ministers who have different emphasis, who are able to minister to those people that I'm not able to minister to. I can't reach them. And so there's this separation dealing with different types of people and different types of ministry that need to be done. I would suggest to you that's what we're seeing here.

We're seeing that take place. There's a different emphasis for Paul and a different emphasis for Barnabas. And they're discovering it as they go. This conflict is really clarifying their role and their calling and their giftings that God has given to them. Another reason I would say that they are both right is they didn't handle it wrong. They went different directions. It's a good way to handle it.

They didn't prolong this argument. They didn't prolong this fight. They didn't keep it going. And, you know, 10 years later, they're still bickering about whether or not they were supposed to take John Mark on the journey. They made their decision. They had the discussion. They came to their conclusions and they went away. I would suggest that there's nothing in the passage that says that they went away hating each other. They didn't, you know...

Hope the other would fail in their missionary endeavors. Their churches would collapse and their boats would sink. They just determined, we just can't go together. God's doing something different, and so we'll go separate ways. Another indication that they didn't handle it wrong is the church remained united. Here they are in Antioch, and two of their big leaders, their primary leaders here at the church of Antioch, have this sharp contention, so much so that they part ways with

But the church was not split. The church was not divided. Now, there's a bad way to handle these kinds of disagreements, and it's been done time after time after time, where we try to get other people to choose sides when we have disagreements between, you know, ourselves and someone else. And it happens in the church. Someone will come to me and say, hey, you know, Pastor Dave told me this. What do you think? Try to get, you know, us on opposite sides or on one side or the other side.

They didn't do that. They didn't call, you know, the church to divide or choose their side or, you know, they didn't make a big deal of it to everybody else. It was a big deal to them and it was a sharp contention. It was a serious situation that happened, but the church remained united and continued on and the work of God continued. They didn't, you know, just get up or give up and get out of ministry altogether because

They went forward in the work of God. And they both went on the trip that they wanted to go on. They just went at it from different routes. So they did go back and visit the brethren. They did go back and minister to the people that had been converted on that first trip. And so all these, to me, point to they are both right. Both Barnabas and Paul are right. And although that might seem contradictory in our minds at first, I would suggest to you that God often speaks to us

things that appear to be contrary. And it's later on we realize, oh, he fulfilled them both. Many times when God speaks to us, we're like, but that doesn't match up with this, and that doesn't match up. How's that going to happen? And I can't figure out how that's going to happen. And later on we see, whoa, God, those look like opposites, but somehow you worked them together. I remember it wasn't that long ago. I've been pastoring here for 12 years now.

Prior to that, Pastor Tom was relying upon me a lot, and he was leaving a lot. He was going on mission trips here, mission trips there. It's like every other month he was gone, asking me to teach, asking me to fill in, asking me to cover things while he was gone. And I had a clear sense. God had shown me when I was younger that he was going to call me to pastor Living Water.

It was just a sense that I had. It wasn't like a specific clear verse that he showed me, but it was just something I knew that God had spoken to me, but I never spoke of it because, you know, the whole idea and the concept was just terrifying and I didn't want to say it out loud. That would be too crazy. But I knew it was what he just called me to do. But I had a problem in the sense that Pastor Tom was the pastor here.

So what was I going to do? Absalom? You know, try to turn all the members away and chase after me? And all right, Tom, I'm taking over this church. No, of course not. Actually, it terrified me because every time he went on a mission trip, I was like, oh no, his plane's going to crash. Joanna's going to be heartbroken. She's going to be a widow. How am I going to minister to her? I don't know anything about ministering to widows. How am I going to minister and then take over a church at the same time? I can't do this. This is crazy, you know?

Those are the kinds of things that would go through my mind because I had that, that I knew God had called me to pastor here. And I didn't, I couldn't figure out how he was going to work it out. It seemed opposite. And God does that so many times. So just because it seems opposite doesn't mean that that's not necessarily what God's saying. Just because it seems like, well, that just can't be, you know, both of those can't be true. But again, I would suggest for Paul and Barnabas, both were right. Both were true. They both had different perspectives because God had designed them that way.

They came to different conclusions because of God's design of their hearts, of their minds, of their giftings, of their spiritual life, of their ministry. And this conflict brought clarity to their callings and giftings. It reveals where God had shaped these guys and called these guys.

And so I want to consider these two guys, Barnabas and Paul, and get a little bit better understanding of their perspective on this by looking again at verse 37 and 38. And so I have two points. It's not really points like I usually have points, you know. It's a little bit different type of message tonight. But the first point, people are important and grace needs to be shown in second chances. That was Barnabas's approach, his opinion, and

That's where he was coming from. And that's true. That's right. Then I would suggest Paul's side is point number two. The work is important and needs to be entrusted to faithful people. And that's true. And that's right. And that's where Paul was coming from. You could word these points in a variety of ways. This isn't necessarily exact wording. In fact, at the board meeting yesterday, we kind of had a similar discussion. People need to be encouraged and discipled.

Then also people need to be held responsible and accountable. They need to be adults, be disciplined in their lives. That's Barnabas and Paul. That's the same battle, just slightly different words, slightly different situation. But both are true. That's the point. And both are important. And both are from God.

And so let's think about Paul and where he's coming from. People are important and grace needs to be shown in second chances. In verse 37, again, it says, Now John Mark is the guy who bailed before, back in Acts chapter 13. It doesn't say exactly why he left, but obviously from this passage here in chapter 15, his reasons for leaving were clear.

Not up to Paul's level of satisfaction, right? He didn't think it was a good decision, a good reason. And that's really the impression that we get from this. He kind of bailed. He left when he wasn't supposed to leave. You get the impression from this, God wanted him to continue on that missionary trip, and he did not, even though that's what God wanted him. And so Barnabas is coming at this from the perspective of John Mark. He's failed. He's fallen. He's fallen.

He hasn't measured up to what God has for him. So what do we do? We just give up on him? Ronnie, you messed up that song, dude. You can't lead worship anymore ever again. Barnabas is like, no, that's crazy. He has to be able to be part of the work again. That's where Barnabas is. I mean, you and I know what it's like, right? We fall short. We bail out on things we know we're supposed to do. We've all done that. Now, here's the thing about Barnabas. He had a real strength, a real gifting in coming alongside people to build them up.

That's been clear in his life, not just in this case, but from the very beginning. He helped people become all that God wanted them to be. He helped people accomplish all that God wanted to accomplish in them and through them. So much so, going back to the beginning, our introduction of Barnabas is in Acts 4, verse 36-39.

It says, and Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles, which is translated son of encouragement, a Levite of the country of Cyprus. And it goes on to talk about the money that he gave from the sale of his property. But we often forget this. His name is Joses. I bet if we asked, you know, Sunday morning crowd, if they know who Barnabas is, everybody knows who Barnabas is. But if you ask who's Joses, nobody knows who Joses is. Who's Joses? We forget his name is actually Joses. Barnabas was a nickname.

It was a nickname that was given because of his behavior, because of his ministry. Barnabas is translated son of encouragement.

And so the apostle, it says the apostles nicknamed him this. So here's Peter and James and John and these apostles. They're hanging out. They're like looking at the church and watching Barnabas. And he's just like encouraging this person, encouraging that person, building that person up, helping that person, getting this person over there's sinful things and getting that person over there humps. And just, you know, he's just like building everybody up everywhere he goes. They're just like, we got to give him a nickname, man. He's just like an encourager. He's son of encouragement, Barnabas. And that becomes his name. We know his name.

We don't know his name, but we know him as Barnabas because that was such a part of his character, such a part of his ministry. So is it any surprise that the guy who was nicknamed Encourager wanted to encourage a broken and defeated brother, John Mark? It's no surprise at all. This is part of who Barnabas is. It's part of how God created him and the ministry that God has given to him. Also remember that Barnabas was the guy who first reached out to Saul after his conversion.

Remember when the apostles were afraid of him? Acts chapter 9 verse 27, it tells us, So Barnabas is the one guy who's willing to take a chance on Saul of Tarsus, the great persecutor of the church.

The only guy in the whole church who's willing to go reach out, give him a chance, hear his story, and then risk his own reputation and come and bring him and share the story with the apostles. Peter, James, John, you guys got to hear this. I know we heard the horrible stories, but listen to what God did. Oh man, I sat down with him. I had coffee. I heard his story. It's amazing. I couldn't believe it. You got to hear this.

Now, is it any surprise that the guy who would reach out to Saul of Tarsus to give him a second chance would also reach out to this brother, John Mark, who messed up? It's no surprise at all. This is part of who Barnabas is. This is part of his ministry, how God has designed him to be. Barnabas later on in chapter 11 is the guy that gets Saul involved in the work of God at Antioch.

In Acts chapter 11, verse 26, it says, when he had found him, that's Barnabas found Saul, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year, they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. Barnabas had been in his hometown for up to 10 years or so, off the scene, off the radar. But Barnabas is there in Antioch. He sees the work that's going on. He says, you know who's perfect for this? Let's go get Saul and get him involved in the work here.

So is it any surprise that the guy who would go out of his way to go find Saul of Tarsus, who's disappeared off the radar for a decade, and get him involved in the work of God, would also be willing to go get John Mark?

This brother who served with them, who went part of the way with them, who had been around with them, possibly his cousin, and get him involved. It's no surprise at all. This is who Barnabas is. This is who God has created him to be. This is part of his ministry, his being. He is the son of encouragement. He gets people involved in the work of God. And he gives people chances that everybody else would give up on or too afraid to talk to. This is who he is. This is what he's like.

And so I would suggest very clearly Barnabas was right in his approach with John Mark, because that's what God wanted for him. That's what God designed him to do. That's what he was supposed to do. It's his strength. It's his gifting. It's his calling. Now, granted, strengths can become weaknesses. We can take our strengths too far. But again, I would point out there's no indication of that in the text at all.

There's no indication, you know, the Holy Spirit's totally capable, right? Go back to Ananias and Sapphira. God was very clear where their hearts were at, right? God's able to do that. If he wanted to include that kind of information about Barnabas, he could have, but it's not there. It's part of who Barnabas is. It's part of who God created him to be. He's doing the right thing. He's right in his approach to John Mark. He needs to be part of that trip. It's what God wants for him. He needs to be encouraged and given another chance.

Again, I like what Thomas Constable says about this. He says, And I don't know about you, but I say amen. I would have been dropped out of ministry a long, long, long, long, long time ago. Possibly dropped out of walking altogether without Barnabas's in my life to come alongside, to build up, to encourage, to give more chances upon chances upon chances, and to

We need these kind of people in the body of Christ. We need the sons of encouragement, the daughters of encouragement, those who come alongside. We got all kinds of, you know, sons and daughters of discouragement. We don't need more of those. We need more. The coming alongside, let me help you accomplish what God has for you. Let me help you become who God wants you to be. That's a need. That's a great gift. It's an important part of the body. And Barnabas here is fulfilling his role in the body of Christ in that way.

Well, let's pause on Barnabas for a moment and consider Paul's approach a little bit more. Again, point number two, the work is important. It needs to be entrusted to faithful people. Verse 38 says, You see that? He didn't go with us to the work. He left before the work began.

He left before we even were really getting started. And so Paul is looking at the track record of John Mark. He's looking at the history. Look at what happened here. Remember this point in time on this day, he went that way instead of going this way. He was supposed to do the work. He was supposed to go with us into the work. He went the other direction. He's looking at the track record. He's remembering perhaps what it was like. He really let us down last time. I mean, we went through hard stuff. Remember, I got stoned to death. I mean...

I survived, but I was stoned to death. We were driven out from city to city. There was a lot of hard work. There was a lot of difficulty and affliction, and he just left us. He's looking at the track record. But it's not a grudge, I would suggest. It's not just an emotional response that, you know, he just never forgave John Mark for this. I would suggest this is born out of Paul's high esteem for the work that God had called him to. He highly esteemed Paul.

the work that he was called to. So much so that he was willing to be stoned to death. It's worth it. And I'll get up and I'll go back into that city and I'll keep preaching the gospel. It's worth it. Hey, it's worth it. I'm going to work all night making tents so that I can preach the gospel and fulfill my ministry. Remember he said towards the end of the book of Acts, hey, none of these things move me. All the threats of persecution and difficulty and tribulation, none of those things move me. The only thing that matters to me is that I finish the work that

that God has set before me. That's the priority. He had a high esteem of the work that God had called him to. It wasn't a personal grudge against John Mark. He was evaluating this. This is a very important mission trip. We need to make sure the people who are involved are going to be faithful. Warren Wiersbe puts it this way. The ministry was too important and the work too demanding to enlist someone who might prove unreliable.

This isn't the time to take chances. Put John Mark in children's ministry. Let him try out there. See if he's faithful for a few months first. Then maybe he can come on a mission trip. He's not reliable. This is not the time to risk someone who might not be faithful because he esteemed the work. And so he insisted that they should not take with him. Notice, the one who had departed from them and had not gone with them yet.

to the work. See, that's the emphasis there. That's what's on his mind. That's what's on his heart. The work is really important. Listen, the ministry, it's life-changing. It's eternal. It has eternal value. We need people who will be faithful to that. You might remember in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 2, Paul says, it's required in stewards that one be found faithful. He was talking about himself. He says, consider us stewards. And here's the main thing about stewards. You need to know

Here's the main requirement, faithfulness. That's how Paul viewed himself. My main requirement in life is faithfulness. I have to be faithful with the work that God has entrusted to me. And so here's a guy who has a track record of not being so faithful. This is too risky. This work is too important. This trip that God wants us to go on, it's going to be tough and it's going to be hard work. And it's required in stewards that one be found faithful.

And as far as Paul was concerned, he hadn't shown himself faithful yet. Now, later on, Paul and John Mark have a good relationship, and Paul speaks well of John Mark. And so it's not, again, you know, just this, he wrote him off forever. He's never going to deal with him again. But he just didn't measure up because this is important work. He's not ready for this. He already demonstrated that. When he's ready, sure, let's bring him. But he's not ready because this work is important. It requires faithfulness.

And of course, it's the Apostle Paul who gives us the criteria for ministry in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1. I just put a snippet there in 1 Timothy 3. This is for deacons. Now, we sometimes read a lot into that word deacon. It's an office. It's a position. You know, it's a title. It means servant. Here's Paul says, this is a requirement for those who serve.

They must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith of the pure conscience. And he says, let these also first be tested. You got to be tested before you can serve. Then let them serve as deacons being found blameless. You got to be tested. You got to be shown. You got to prove that you're faithful. You got to prove that you have the character, that you're seeking the Lord. There has to be

This is Paul's approach, and it's not wrong. It's the scripture. It's right. This is right. Paul was right in his high esteem of the work. He was right in his approach to understanding this is really important, and we need faithful people to be involved in the work of God. But again, like Barnabas, this was Paul's strength. This was his gifting. This was his calling. He had this high esteem of the calling because it was his calling.

Because that's what God had called him to. And there are standards to God's servants. And people do need to have discipline and measure up to the standards that God has established. And people do need to be faithful to the work that God has entrusted to them. And they need to be trustworthy. And you need to be able to handle, you know, the things that come to you. And

All of that is true. All of that is accurate. Paul was right. This is the truth. The work is very important, and it needs to be handled by those who are faithful. That's true. That's right. Now again, like I said with Barnabas, strengths can become weaknesses. Paul certainly could be. He had the potential to be too strict. He came from the Pharisee background, right? So sure, he had that tendency. He had that possibility, I would say. But

Again, there's no indication in the text that this is the case. I would suggest they're both right. What happened here is exactly what God designed to happen. He designed Barnabas this way. He designed Paul this way. And then on this occasion, God's design was for them to go separate ways. It wasn't sin. It wasn't wrong. It wasn't rebellion or some kind of... It was the reality of how God had designed them.

Now, looking at those details and looking at those two sides, Barnabas' side and Paul's side, I share all that not to say, you know, you're one or the other. Probably we all fall a little bit in each, and probably, you know, we have a little bit of Paul and a little bit of Barnabas in us, but here's what I would remind us of. You might be designed by God to be more like Paul, and you might be designed by God to be more like Barnabas, or maybe you're designed by God to be different than both of them.

But I would suggest that's not an excuse for us to then be strict and legalistic. Well, I'm just like Paul. Or I'm just gracious and I don't, you know, standards don't matter. And I don't care about standards because I'm just like Barnabas. That's, they had balance. They did have balance. And we need to have the balance of both Barnabas and Paul in our lives that we need to show grace, but we also need to hold people to biblical standards.

And there's a balance. There's a tension. There's a constant tension. Both are true. Now the difficulty becomes then evaluating and discerning when to apply more grace and when to apply more expectations and standards. And that's something that we got to continue to be seeking the Lord on for all the situations that we face. When you're dealing with your spouse, you got to hear from the Lord on when you need to be more like Barnabas and when you need to be more like Paul.

Both are true. You need to show grace, and you need to hold people to the biblical standards. Both are true. Both are right. Both are accurate. But we got to think about how we evaluate these things. Warren Wiersbe says it this way. He says, Paul looked at people and asked, what can they do for God's work? While Barnabas looked at people and asked, what can God's work do for them? Both questions are important to the Lord's work, and sometimes it's difficult to keep things balanced.

God wants to do both. He wants to do his work, the kingdom. God also wants to do work in people, and the kingdom in people, and we need to be seeking the Lord for that balance. There's not a strict formula, and it's not, you know, you choose sides, and now you're Paul, and that's, you know, the only way you look at life, but that you evaluate, and you determine. Like, remember Paul and Barnabas came to

to their decision based on evaluation and consideration and I would suggest prayer. They came to the conclusion that God wanted for them based on who they were and how He'd created them and what the situation warranted. And so then the result was they separated and that wasn't wrong. That was what God designed. And we need to have that same approach that we're seeking the Lord and we're willing to show grace and compassion and give second chances and third and fourth and fifth chances.

but that we're also willing to hold people to standards and require faithfulness and set expectations according to the word of God. We need to be willing to do that as well. And we need to be seeking the Lord on the balance of when to do which, when to show grace and when not to. And we all have natural tendencies probably towards one or the other. And those natural tendencies probably differ depending on the situation, the context. Maybe you're super gracious about some things and super strict about other things.

That's how we are. We're different. And that's why we need to be looking to the Lord and looking for discernment from the Holy Spirit when he wants us to show grace and when he wants us to hold up the biblical standards and not move from those. And so Paul and Barnabas are divided. It's a good example for us of handling conflict. We're different. We're going to have differences. And I would suggest any relationship that doesn't include sharp contention is not a very deep relationship.

That's part of our relationships, whether it's with our spouses or with people in the church or with other family members or with people on the opposite sports team, you know, than we like or whatever. It's just, it's part of life. And we're going to have difference of opinions and that's okay. And we shouldn't look at that as like the ultimate failure or we're wrong.

And sometimes even separating is okay. Now, there's lots of examples of wrong ways to separate, wrong ways to go about things, and wrong ways to have sharp contentions. I'm not talking about all that, but just that the possibility, it's okay for us to seek the Lord, to think through all sides, and come to different opinions, and feel so strongly about those opinions that it causes us to switch directions, to change gears, to do things differently.

Through this conflict, God is refining their calling. They're getting a better understanding of God's anointing and will for their life. It's kind of revealed a little bit more. And disagreements in our lives can do that, can help give us clarity. And if you're always having disagreements and contentions, I would encourage you to consider that. Think about it in those terms. Maybe you're both right. Maybe you're both wrong, and that's a possibility. But maybe you're

Maybe it's because God has designed you this way and you approach it this way and God has designed. So many times we expect other people to think and behave and come from the exact same position that we come from. We're different. We're going to have a variety of opinions, variety of backgrounds, variety of giftings and callings and directions. We're going to have differences and it's okay for us to have differences. It doesn't mean we have to fight. It doesn't mean we have to hate each other. Paul and Barnabas didn't hate each other.

They just knew, we can't continue this way because God's called us to different things. And that's okay. Both are right. Both are true. And both are needed. And so we need to learn the balance for our own selves, for our families, for our ministry, and seek discernment for each situation. Ronnie's going to come up now and close us in a time of worship.

As we're doing on Wednesday nights now, we want to give you the opportunity to be a Barnabas and be one who comes alongside someone else to encourage.

to build up, to pray for, to share scripture with. I mean, if you want to be a Paul and, you know, lay some standards on somebody and hold them to that, that's fine too. But let's just use this time and this opportunity to seek the Lord for ourselves and perhaps for situations that you're facing and you need to evaluate whether you have the right balance. We can be seeking the Lord for that, but then also to look to minister to one another and be a Barnabas who builds up and comes alongside and

Work to earn that nickname, the son of encouragement. And we want to do that. So let's worship the Lord together and just let him move and minister to us as he chooses. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.