When Saul of Tarsus arrived in Jerusalem after his conversion, the church would have nothing to do with him. They had good reason. This was the man who had been dragging believers from their homes to prison and death.
“And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.” (Acts 9:26, NKJV)
Everyone kept their distance except one man:
“But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 9:27, NKJV)
Barnabas put his own reputation on the line for a man everyone else still feared. He did not make Saul serve months of probation first; he vouched for him and opened a door that was closed to him everywhere else. That act of courage gave Saul his first foothold in the church.
He Went Looking for Saul
Later, when many Gentiles were coming to faith in Antioch, the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to see what was happening. He could have led the growing work himself. Instead:
“Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people.” (Acts 11:25-26, NKJV)
Saul had spent years back in his home town, seemingly forgotten. Barnabas remembered him, went to find him and brought him into the heart of the work.
Watch the names as the story goes on. When the church at Antioch sends out missionaries, Scripture calls them “Barnabas and Saul” (Acts 13:2), with the senior man named first. A few chapters later the order has changed to “Paul and his party” (Acts 13:13) and “Paul and Barnabas” (Acts 13:43, 46). There is no record of Barnabas complaining. The mentor let his student outgrow him.
Shade for the Young Cocoa
Cocoa farmers in the south-west know that young cocoa seedlings cannot survive full sun. For their first years they need shade, usually from plantain or banana planted around them on purpose. Years later, when the trees are heavy with pods, nobody remembers which plantain gave the shade, and nobody mentions it when the cocoa is sold in the market. It did its work early and then stepped back. Barnabas was that kind of person.
He Did Not Give Up on Mark
Later still, Barnabas and Paul disagreed sharply over John Mark, a young man who had deserted them on an earlier journey (Acts 15:36-39). Paul refused to take him again. Barnabas took Mark with him and kept investing in him. Paul later tells us Mark was “the cousin of Barnabas” (Colossians 4:10, NKJV). When a relative fails publicly, the temptation to distance ourselves to protect our own name is often strongest. Barnabas did not take that road, and he was proved right. Years later Paul himself wrote, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11, NKJV), and tradition holds that this same Mark wrote the Gospel that bears his name.
A Barnabas in My Own Career
I think of a senior pharmaceutical sales manager I worked under early in my career. He never sought recognition for himself, yet he kept putting younger representatives forward for opportunities he could easily have taken. He would mention a junior colleague’s name in meetings, vouch for someone’s potential before they had fully proved it, and step out of the spotlight once their own ability began to show. Most people in the company today would not recognise his name. But several successful careers, mine among them, trace back to a door he opened when nobody else would.
Barnabas never became as well known as Paul, and he wrote none of the New Testament. But much of Paul’s ministry, and many of his letters, rest on a man who was willing to vouch for someone, go looking for someone and step back for someone. Think of the person who opened a door for you, and thank them this week. Then look for someone overlooked whom you can encourage, recommend or bring in, as Barnabas did.
