Barnabas the Encourager

Do you, like the Apostle Paul, have an encourager in your life?

Someone who can lift you up when the chips are down and help you start all over again?

Who whispers in your ear: “You can do it, you can do it, I know you can!”

In this post, I provided a biography of Paul’s companion Barnabas, but the more I thought about Barnabas, I realized other important facts.

What would you do if while talking about Jesus to a bunch of folks, you watched them grow unsettled and angry?

Oh, not all of them of course, you pressed on with the good news because you could see in faces and hear in  questions, that some people genuinely wanted to know about Jesus’ death and resurrection to take away the sin of the world.

No big deal?

Eternity rested on it.

But a group of others–who specifically are described as being jealous–didn’t like your message. They didn’t want other people to even hear what you had to say because it might require them to consider the truth of Jesus and thus lose face, power and money.

(Which begs the question why would you trust people for whom pride, power and money are the most important things?)

So, these self-focused individuals decided to beat you up, chase you away or maybe, for good measure, kill you.

If you were Paul, a small, possibly lame man with a big brain and a large mouth, wouldn’t you want an encourager beside you?

We know what Paul went through because he catalogued the grim list:

But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, ⁵ in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; ⁶ by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, ⁷ by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, ⁸ by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; ⁹ as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; ¹⁰ as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. (2 Corinthians 6:4-10 NKJV)

Note that fifth word: we.

Paul didn’t go through all that alone.

Bible studies teach all the time that Barnabas’ name means “encourager,” but I’ve never heard anyone point out that while Paul suffered so much, Barnabas was in the middle of it with him.

His clothes were torn, he was beaten, stoned, chased, screamed at, lied about and persecuted.

Yet, he remained by Paul’s side through that entire first missionary journey, enduring the price required to tell people God loved them.

When the situation turned as dreadful as it so often did for Paul, Barnabas stood with him and perhaps said,

“That was interesting. Shall we be on our way and try again?”

A learned man who knew the Torah inside and out, Barnabas ministered beside Paul, stood with him and up for him, and encouraged him to keep going.

May we all have people in our lives like that.

Surely we do, if we know how to recognize them.

Patron of the arts as encourager

For my part, I’m surrounded by encouragers, starting with my patron of the arts, er, husband.

He’s supported me and encouraged me through our whole life together and certainly on my writing career.

But I’ve had Navy wife pal encouragers, who stood with me in some of the worst moments of my life. They’ve hugged me, helped me, and cried with me.

Sad, yes, but encouraging that I was not alone in whatever challenge I faced at the moment.

They were there when the submarine and my husband were not.

My parents supported and encouraged me; my prayer partner does the same. Even the children are old enough now to cheer me on.

Not everyone has been as fortunate as me, but the Bible tells us

God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV)

Sometimes “being able to bear it” means someone is helping you carry that load.

Encouragers are special but we all have the ability to open our hearts and minds, to pray, to come alongside and help bear the burdens others struggle with.

Be a Barnabas for a friend.

It’s important to note Barnabas did NOT always agree with Paul. They parted company when Paul refused to be an encourager to a young man who had disappointed him.

What might appear to be a failure, was by God’s grace, a means of doubling the Gospel’s spread into Asia Minor.

Countless more people were encouraged into eternity as a result.

Who’s the biggest encourager in your life?

Tweetables

Barnabas as a beaten yet not defeated encourager. Click to Tweet

Encouragers may not always agree with us. Click to Tweet

Being an encourager sometimes means getting beaten up yourself. Click to Tweet