Each of us needs a role model. That is true whether we are young or old. It is true whether we are experienced or whether we are at the very start of faith. Not very much is reported to us about Barnabas in Acts. Yet what God’s Word mentions about him is truly remarkable. It motivates and encourages us to have a positive influence among believers. That was the case with Barnabas. He truly is an example worth imitating!

The work begun by God in Antioch continues. The gospel had been proclaimed. Many people had been converted. They were “added to the Lord” (Acts 11:24). As a true shepherd and counselor, Barnabas urged the young believers in Antioch to cling to the Lord with all their hearts (see v. 23). Yet to keep promoting growth among the Christians in Antioch, one thing was needed. It was ongoing instruction from the Word of God.

Barnabas Brings Saul to Antioch

Knowing that the young believers in Antioch needed more instruction, Barnabas inevitably thought of Saul. He knew him well from earlier encounters. After his impressive conversion and his first experiences in Jerusalem, the brothers there sent him back to Tarsus, where he had grown up.

Saul had patiently spent several years  in Tarsus. Now Barnabas came to him to bring him to Antioch. After a time of spiritual preparation in God’s school, now he was ready (cf. Moses at the back of the wilderness—Exodus 2:15 ff.). God wanted to send him to the nations, where he was to do a great work (see Acts 9:15).

Are we ready to wait until the Lord Jesus gives a clear, unmistakable assignment? Do we use our time in God’s school without running away? Do we avoid starting a ministry in our own will?
It is exemplary to see how Barnabas, as an older man, takes the younger Saul along. He introduces him to the service in Antioch. A fruitful partnership in service develops. Barnabas makes real effort to bring Saul to Antioch.

Humility and Self-Denial

Without a doubt, Barnabas knew of Saul’s obvious gift as a teacher. Saul could instruct believers in the truth of the Bible in an easy to understand way. Barnabas also knew deeply that what was needed in the young church in Antioch were gifted teachers to build up the young believers further. For us today, good instruction from God’s Word is necessary for spiritual growth as well.

Barnabas realized that the task was too great for him alone. He knew his gift was limited; he knew and accepted his own sphere of work (see 2 Corinthians 10:13 ff.).
Can we also accept without envy when the Lord Jesus uses another brother or sister in His work? Or do we sometimes think we are suited and called for every task? In His body there are no “all-rounders.” Each member is especially gifted and is used (see 1 Corinthians 12:20–21).

Shared Service

The shared service and introduction to a new task is something Saul experiences here through Barnabas. It later continues in his own life. It is Paul who promotes Timothy. After some years, he calls him “my true son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2). He encourages him, takes him along on his journeys, and also entrusts him with tasks.

Do older servants in the Lord’s work still take younger ones by the hand today? Do they do so to promote them in service and to help them? Is there a willingness in service for the Lord to let go of a task and to hand it over into other hands? Even when the brothers and sisters concerned have already grown older? Are we, the younger believers, ready to be guided by experienced brothers and sisters? Are we ready to be service companions, in order to learn and grow?

Christians

For a whole year, Barnabas and Saul taught the brothers and sisters ind Antioch. They did this in the meetings of the local church. This task required enormous endurance and continuity. They stayed in the same place for a year. Are we also ready to invest time and energy in a specific task for a while?

The result was that the disciples in Antioch were first called “Christians.” It was probably more of a nickname at first than a title of honor. Yet it still shows something of the consequences of the brothers’ thorough instruction. Their teaching reached the heart. Christ was noticed in the disciples! He was made great through this service. Barnabas and Saul did not bind the brothers and sisters to themselves. They bound them to the Lord Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 1:12–13; Colossians 1:28).

People saw Christlikeness in the everyday life of believers from Antioch. They saw it at work, in families, and in suffering and grief, and so on. Are we also recognized as Christians because we live like Christ?
When God is glorified in a service, the goal of that service has been reached.