BARNABAS' MISSION STATEMENT

I came across what I would call Barnabas’ mission statement in the book of Acts.  It seems the brothers in Jerusalem, “…sent Barnabas off to Antioch. Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord.”  Then it goes on to say, “…for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Acts 11:22, 23).  

It struck me that first of all he had eyes that “witnessed the grace of God,” which is to say, that’s how he saw things, with awareness that God’s grace was all around him. He looked for the goodness of God in the people he knew, the words he heard, the circumstances he saw unfolding, and no doubt, he marveled at the beauty of God in the world around him. His faith in God was that he expected God to manifest His presence and goodness all around him as if He was leaning down from heaven and smiling upon him. Such was Barnabas' apparent enJOYment of God.

Rejoicing is a choice, you know. God’s word to us about joy is a double command:  “Rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).  In the Lord we can be more than happy – we can have the joy of the Lord, which is to say we can share in God’s joy. How awesome is that? Since we are commanded to rejoice, it appears, then, that joy is not a feeling, but an attitude, and one we have control over.  

We’re probably all familiar with the verse that says, “… the joy of the Lord is your strength.” But the whole verse says, “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemia 8:10). If you are sorrowful, sad, depressed, or weak, God says exchange it for His joy!  God gives us so much to be grateful for. When we focus on all that is ours in Him and from Him, our hearts begin to reverberate with gratefulness and joy. It’s a matter of what we focus on.

Getting back to Barnabas.  Scripture tells us, “Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth… was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement)” (Acts 4:36). This brother was such a positive person and so full of encouragement that the apostles affectionately gave him a nickname – Barnabas.  A friend of mine once had a green van in the 80’s that pretty much served as a congregational bus. It was affectionately known by all as Barnabus. It faithfully drove the worship team or folks wherever we needed to go. But I digress.

It goes without saying, though of course I’m saying it, that Barnabas’ view of the pervasive presence of God’s grace went hand in hand with being joyful.  Barnabas must have just been a delight to be around. And encouraging at that. To be encouraging you have to know, and care about, what people are dealing with. Since we all deal with issues, it would appear that Barnabas knew how to turn a troublesome worry into trust in the Lord – not to belittle or deny the problem but to put it into the perspective of truly trusting the Lord with it.  Barnabas’ trust came from a resolute heart, which means he was set and confirmed in his chosen way of remaining true to the Lord, no matter what. And that’s basically his message to others – remain true to the Lord. This means he himself had made the same decision so that he was able to encourage others to remain, continue in, and never quit with regard to staying true to the Lord. True in this sense means utterly faithful. 

It would seem, then, from this exhortation to remain faithful to the Lord that it is possible not to. This could mean unintentionally, to compromise in our walk with Him just a little - this time -   and slowly drift away. The word "if" appears way too many times in the Scriptures, for it not to be a possibility. Or it could mean the pressure of circumstances causes faith to crumble, if our faith is in our expectations of how things will go, in what we expect will happen to us, rather than in Him regardless of what will happen to us. A case in point: Years ago there was a supposed prophesy going around that Jesus was going to come on a certain date. When He didn't, one particular man's faith began to completely buckle. Though I didn't know this man, I got to speak with him on the phone. He had put his faith in "the rapture" happening and in particular on this certain date and when it didn't happen, he didn't have much else he was believing of the Lord  to sustain him. His faith wasn't really about "knowing the Lord" but about being taken out of this world to a better place.  In a sense, we could say that his faith was not about him serving the Lord but the Lord serving him. I assured him that we trust in the Lord because of Who He is, not because of what we expect He will do for us. He is God, He is Lord, and He is King!  Yet, the more we know Him, the more we know we can utterly trust that He is good, and that HE IS FAITHFUL, and so we rest in Him, overflowing with gratefulness to Him that we are His, and confident that He will take care of us no matter what happens - or doesn't.

When our walk with the Lord is that solid, we like Barnabas, can become people who can encourage and strengthen others. We then might have as our own personal mission statement what could have been Barnabas’ mission statement. Perhaps it went something like this: I will always seek to see things as God would see them, and look for where He is in every situation. I will remain grateful to God for His joy and always encourage others to be aware of the surrounding grace of God, and to remain firmly resolved to stay faithful to Him in any and all circumstances.” Perhaps we could say this would be the ancient version of WWJD.

Wanting to see more into Barnabas’ intention, I looked up a few words in Greek which led me on a bit of a rabbit trail but it seemed to apply to what Barnabas (and we) might tell people to encourage them. Starting with Grace, as I pondered the meaning, trying to see beyond what we’ve always been told about it being “unconditional grace,” it seemed that grace is only really the way to the freedom and joy that is found in relationship with God, and that is by accepting what He offers to us through Yeshua’s atonement.  There is nothing we can do to earn God’s open arms of welcome, or His ongoing goodness to us. The definition made the point that grace (charis – from which we get the word Charismatic) is in complete opposition to and entirely antithetic to the word for works.

There is no freedom or joy that can be attained through works or our efforts because you can never get to the sought after place in God that can only be reached by grace, by accepting what He did for us. It can never be reached by what we attempt to do for or by ourselves, or even for Him.  Our own efforts will never attain to the joy or freedom that we all seek In life. What we do for Him must be from the place of grace, not to get there.  Grace, and the freedom and joy that can only come from grace, are free gifts from God and if we try and earn them, there is no price high enough to accomplish the purchase of what only God can – and has paid for. That's why there is no real rest in God if we're still trying to earn it -  it's the ultimate of "you can't get there from here."

Despite His great grace, repentance (turning from sin on any level, which can also include unbelief) is a part of living a holy life.  Not only does God rescue us from the power of sin, He is continually in the process of healing us from the damages sin brought to our lives. This is where His mercy comes in. Mercy is not the same as grace, but is the gift of God to extend help to us to get us out of the mess that sin brings upon us.  To say it another way, grace saves us from the grip of sin, and mercy rescues us from the effects of sin. Grace takes us out from under the domination of sin; mercy takes us out from the consequences of sin.

 What could be more encouraging than to learn that God totally, entirely, completely, and thoroughly forgives and forgets your sin? You are no longer seen as a sinner in God’s eyes. You’ve been taken by God out from under the domination of sin and darkness and placed firmly into the light of the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son. He then begins to apply His mercy by bringing healing and wholeness to areas of sicknesses, of bad habits, of emotional scars and effects of trauma, and correcting wrong thinking that has robbed us of the freedom and joy that can now be ours.  It may take some repenting, not because we’re not already forgiven, but when we become aware of something in our lives that is less than holy, we come to Him and make a conscious choice to turn from it as we turn to Him in that area. His mercy over time lifts us out of what we suffer where sin had marred our lives. It is a process. Once having been saved through Yeshua’s death on the cross, we are then continually being saved: “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). I am most grateful for God’s power to bring correction to my life, aren’t you?  Thank God for His grace and His mercy.  

What Barnabas was encouraging others to do, we too can now take as our own mission statement. There is no greater treasure in life than our salvation in Yeshua, especially when we consciously choose to be aware of God’s grace that is all around us – because it’s there. Whether we see it or not is all in the eyes of the beholder.  Just as freedom and joy come from trusting entirely in God. No works will do it.  “Barnabas was a good man and filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.” That’s how he got to be such an encouragement. Yes, maybe some of it was his nature to be cheerful. But this is more than cheerful. This was a determination to be so fully trusting in the Lord and in His goodness that His joy permeated Barnabas' life.  We can be the same way. God’s grace is all around us, all we have to do is look for it. Ask Him. In fact, let’s ask Him together:

Lord, please open each of our eyes to a new awareness of Your presence and the grace with which You have surrounded us.  Help us to see where You are at work in our lives and in those whose lives we touch.  Stir us each to be an encouragement to others, to be more aware of Your grace and mercy – all to Your glory, Lord. Thank You for making us Yours. B’shem Yeshua (In Jesus’ name).  Amen.