1 QUOTE

“What if Paul was never brought into Jerusalem fellowship? What if Mark had not been given another chance to outgrow his early ministry mistake? Barnabas equipped others to outgrow even himself.”

- Robert Dale, author of Barnabas: Hidden Leader in the New Testament

1 NOTE

In The Acts of the Apostles, Barnabas multiplies himself twice: his cousin John Mark and the Apostle Paul. The hinge verse linking Barnabas, Saul and John Mark is found after their first church planting power encounter (Acts 13:13). Paul blinds the magician and brings the proconsul to faith. Luke then not only refers to Paul first, but now calls the mission team ‘Paul and his companions.’ Names are a repeated theme. In Acts 4, the apostles change Joseph’s name to Barnabas. Paul’s name is never changed from Saul. Paul is the Roman version of the Hebrew name Saul. Luke uses this as a signal to the reader that Saul has officially become the Gentile church planter. From this moment on in Acts, the Gentile Apostle is only called Paul.

This was too much for John Mark. He thought Paul did his cousin dirty. He deserted the team. He clearly missed the memo that his cousin Barnabas’ heartbeat was multiplication. Barnabas’ reaction to Paul’s leadership is a stark contrast to his spiritually immature cousin. Barnabas loved the authority switch. This was his mentoring hope from the beginning.

The tension around John Mark caused a sharp disagreement between Barnabas and Paul. They never ministered together again. Paul and Silas went to Europe. Barnabas and John Mark went home to Cyprus. For the record, John Mark turned out great. He is the gospel author Mark.

Barnabas is the most under-rated, under-appreciated, and under-studied leader in the Bible. His multiplication ministry produced 10+ church plants and 14 of the 27 New Testament books and letters. May we all study Barnabas closely and imitate his faith!

1 QUESTION

Who is a younger leader that you can disciple today for Kingdom multiplication tomorrow?

Until Next Tuesday,

John