It may be part pride, part arrogance, part determination, but I do not like to ask for help. I can tell myself that I can figure out whatever problem I’m encountering. Actually, I can tell myself that I should figure it out. I don’t want to come across as needy or weak or incapable. So I bristle at the thought of asking for help. It’s easy to convince myself that not asking for help is actually the better choice: “I don’t want to be a bother. I don’t want to be known as the person who quickly asks others to help, without first trying to figure out my problem for myself. Especially with all the free instructional videos on YouTube these days, I can surely handle, can’t I?”
Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe we need to be people who ask for help.
In the previous post, we left Barnabas in Antioch trying to encourage the Christians there. But Barnabas knows his limits. He so much wants to encourage the people to remain true to the Lord, but though he is an encourager, he is not as gifted a teacher. We can imagine the Christians in Antioch asking Barnabas all sorts of questions about what it means to be a faithful disciple of Jesus, and Barnabas wants to help them. He knows he needs help.
In Acts 11, verses 25-26, we read, “Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.”
When he knows he needs help, an encourager asks, “Who can help me help these people?” In this case, the person who could help was Saul. Saul was a very gifted thinker and teacher.
But Saul had gone to his hometown of Tarsus.
It’s not like Barnabas could get on the phone and say, “Saul, we need you over here in Antioch.” Sending a letter, which was possible, could take months. So Barnabas heads over to Tarsus himself. The trip from Antioch to Tarsus wasn’t quick. It could take 5-6 days for Barnabas to get there. Then he’d have to find Paul, and then they’d have to travel back. That short little verse 25 is likely a two-week long process.
We learn something important about encouragement from Barnabas in this episode. Being an encourager is a commitment that can require sacrificing time and energy and money for the well-being and discipleship of others in the church. It is more than just saying something kind.
For Barnabas, being an encourager was not just a matter of going to get Saul, plugging Saul into the community there in Antioch and letting Saul do his thing. Barnabas and Saul stayed there a whole year. Talk about commitment. Encouragers commit to relationships with people, and they stay, they persevere, they follow-up, and they keep at it. Encouragement can take time.
As the situation in the church advances, Barnabas and Saul become a missionary team. The encourager and the teacher. It’s a great mix of gifts. We read in Acts 12, verse 25 through chapters 13 and 14 that Barnabas and Saul bring John Mark with them and the three of them go on a missionary journey that takes them to numerous cities and on many adventures as they proclaim the good news about Jesus.
But something troubling happens on that journey.
In Acts 13:13, John Mark suddenly leaves them. All the author of Acts tells us is that John Mark wanted to return to Jerusalem. We know from Acts 12:12 that Mark’s mother lived in Jerusalem, so perhaps Mark was homesick or just wanted to check on her.
John Mark’s departure, however, gives Barnabas another opportunity to practice encouragement. In Acts 15, verses 36-37, we read,
“Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them.”
A year or so has gone by since John Mark left Paul and Barnabas. Perhaps God has been at work in John Mark’s life, and Mark is once again ready to serve in ministry. My suspicion is that, though Mark deserted them earlier, Barnabas now wants to encourage Mark, to give Mark a second chance, to disciple him. Barnabas and John Mark are cousins, as Paul will later tell us in Colossians 4:10. It is possible that Barnabas has some family pressure pulling at him, and as I’m guessing you well know, family pressure can be complicated. But the point remains. Barnabas is an encourager, and part of being an encourager is a willingness to give a person a chance to change and grow.
Barnabas, however, is just one member of the team. How will Paul react to the idea of giving John Mark another chance? We’ll find out in the next post.
Engaging Scripture 
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