Monthly Archives: July 2013

One Of Them

Bible Study, ,

ONE OF THEM

“Paul came first to Derbe, then Lystra. He found a disciple there by the name of Timothy, son of a devout Jewish mother and a Greek father. Friends in Lystra and Iconium all said what a fine young man he was. Paul wanted to recruit him for their mission, but first took him aside and circumcised him so he wouldn’t offend the Jews who lived in those parts. They all knew that his father was a Greek.

“As they travelled from town to town, they presented the simple guidelines the Jerusalem apostles and leaders had come up with. That turned out to be most helpful. Day after day the congregations became stronger in faith and larger in size.” Acts 16:1-5 (The Message).

Doesn’t that sound like a contradiction? Paul has Timothy circumcised and then takes the message to the Gentile believers that they don’t have to be circumcised to be saved! At face value it seems so. However, we have to examine the motive behind the action.

In spite of his frustration with the stubbornness of the Jews and their unrelenting persecution, Paul had a passion to preach the Word of God to them first and did so whenever he could. Timothy was a member of the covenant people of God through his mother. In order to have as much favour with the Jews as possible, he wanted Timothy to carry the sign of the covenant in his body, so he had him circumcised.

This was not about salvation. This was about identification. It was Paul who said, “I have become all things to all people. To the Jew I became as a Jew…” Paul was not changing his belief but imitating his Master. Jesus did everything He could to identify with humanity.

He came from the Father to be one of us, “born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights as sons.” Galatians 4:4, 5 (NIV). He was baptised to express His identity with us and He was crucified to complete that identity by taking our debt upon Himself and paying for it with His own blood.

Paul would never compromise the truth he stood for and defended with his very life. Jesus is the only Saviour and His work sufficient, plus nothing, to justify the sinner and give him access to a holy God. Through Him we have been redeemed from the slave market of sin and restored to the Father as His sons and daughters.

No additions, rule-keeping or rituals, can make us more acceptable to God than we are now. In fact, anything we think we need to do to gain God’s approval actually disqualifies us from sharing in God’s grace and in the life of Jesus. Not even the work we do “for Jesus” can influence Him towards us.

“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
‘Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.”

Whatever we might change or add to our lives had nothing to do with our acceptance with God; it only affects our acceptance with people. We may need to adopt dress, diet or behaviour to identify with people who are different from us, but none of these things will alter our standing before God unless we are depending on them for acceptance with God or to impress Him in any way.

What we do as believers should always be the outflow of the grateful and obedient heart of a son or daughter of the Father and never the reason for coming to Him. On the other hand what we do should be from a desire to identify with those we want to win, becoming one of them so that they can become one of us.

Quitter Cum Useful

Bible Study, ,

QUITTER CUM HELPFUL

“A few days after this, Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let’s go back and visit all our friends in each of the towns where we preached the Word of God. Let’s see how they’re doing.’

“Barnabas wanted to take John along, the John nicknamed Mark. But Paul wouldn’t have him; he wasn’t about to take along a quitter who, as soon as the going got tough, had jumped ship on them in Pamphylia. Tempers flared, and they ended up going their separate ways. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas and, offered up by their friends to the grace of the Master, went to Syria and Cilicia to build up muscle and sinew in those congregations.” Acts 15:36-41 (The Message).

What a dismal end to a partnership that had produced so much fruit! What happened to their original call from the Holy Spirit when they were sent out from Antioch many years before? It seems that they were willing to sacrifice the unity they had worked so hard to protect in the church, over a personal issue. This was not about a doctrine, in which case they had made the right decision. This was over a young guy who could not take the pace.

Let’s have a look at the character of Barnabas, which was, incidentally, his nickname and meant “son of encouragement”. Quite significant! He appears early in the book of Acts, doing what his name meant, encouraging people. Had Paul forgotten that it was Barnabas who had faith in him when the church in Jerusalem was afraid to welcome him? They didn’t want a vicious persecutor to infiltrate their ranks. Barnabas was willing to vouch for him (Acts 9:27), introducing him to the leaders in Jerusalem.

It was Barnabas who fetched Paul from Tarsus to teach the new believers in Antioch when the church exploded among the Gentiles in Syria. Barnabas gave way to Paul when it came to preaching and teaching on their first missionary journey. His was a “Jonathan” ministry, the support and encourager Paul needed during the rigorous trials he had to endure.

What if Barnabas had rejected John Mark as Paul was doing? Paul’s letters reveal that it was he who had to eat humble pie regarding Mark. Had Barnabas not been true to his name and nature, Paul would never have been able to write: “Aristarchus, who is in jail here with me, sends greeting, also Mark, cousin of Barnabas, (you have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him).” Colossians 4:10 (NIV).

What a change of heart — and it gets even more personal. During Paul’s final imprisonment in Rome he wrote these words to Timothy: “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and Bing him with you because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:11 (NIV). Because of Barnabas, Mark, the quitter, became Mark the useful.

Without Barnabas’ faith in him, would Mark have ever been the author of the second gospel? According to tradition, Mark also spent time with Peter, either recording his memoirs or listening to his preaching which he used as the basis for his gospel. How much poorer the church might have been had Barnabas not tenaciously stuck to his belief in Mark in spite of Mark’s failure.

There are many lessons in this incident. What stands out for me is that Mark’ failure did not permanently disqualify him from fulfilling his calling. Perhaps parting company with Paul was the best thing that could have happened. Although Luke records nothing of the details of Barnabas and Mark’s journey around the churches, we know the outcome of the time they spend together. Barnabas, the mentor and encourager, put Mark back on his feet and helped him to become Mark, the useful!

In the end one can conclude that Barnabas’ ministry to Mark was just as valuable as Paul’s ministry to the people of Asia Minor and Europe. How much poorer the church throughout the generations would be without the Gospel of Mark and how much poorer Paul might have been without him.