Acts 11

Bible Passage:  Acts 11

Except for our early worker Barnanas Chang, I cannot quite recall if I know of any church member by the name of Barnabas (if you know me and I have forgotten about you.. please forgive me! (: )

It is surprising that so few are called Barnabas … but maybe not… because if you are… you have a lot to live up to when compared to the Barnabas in Acts of the Apostles.

In Acts 11:22, we see that the Church sent Barnabas to Antioch (coincidently, this was the place where believers were called Christians for the first time).  Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement (Acts 4:36) was sent to establish a relationship with the converts in Antioch and through his work, two things stood out for me.

The church is intended to reflect God’s love as revealed in Jesus and to preach the gospel throughout the world.  Without God’s love, there is no message.  Without vision for preaching, there is no motive to reach out to the lost.

When Barnabas started working in the church at Antioch, he realised that they were all very good.  But he needed help.  And being encouraged by the response of the members there, he proceeded to Tarsus to invite Saul (Paul later on) to join in the work (11:22-26).

This teaches me an important lesson today.  An ecnourager rarely works alone.  He will work to invite and include others in his work and he will willingly share resources and assignments.  The encourager will work with those to whom they have been sent and in this way, encourage the encouraged to carry out future work in the same manner (haha… tell me if you did not get that!).

Imagine Barnabas’s disappointment when the church in Jerusalem was unwilling to take a chance on Saul after his conversion.  They were still wary of Saul and still mistrusted him.

But an encourager does not give up just because others have given up.

When Barnabas saw the importance of the work in Antioch, he brought Saul into the action – thus ‘pushing’ Saul from an unused talent to become Paul – an apostle greatly used by Jesus to pioneer new areas of ministry.

Throughout the Bible, we see that encouragement is a character trait of believers.  God encourages us both individually and as members of His body.  And He encourages His people to encourage others.  Can you think of one or two stories where the outcome came out differently just because an encourager intervened at the right time?

Godly encouragement isn’t motivated by fear or a preference for the safe and easy way out.  It is an outcome of generous good-will and concern for others – very much what Jesus taught.

Reading the Bible provides encouragement.  As we ask God to reveal Himself, thereby shoring us up through our study, a focus on the encouragement that uplifts and inspires becomes one of our sources of spiritual strength.  Consider the way God’s voice influenced Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Peter, John and Paul.

In Church today, I do feel we really need more encouragers.  We need to encourage one another in our walk of faith simply because the world is getting from bad to worse and without helping and supporting one another, it is a very hard slog to remain faithful to the Lord.

All of us need a little encouragement each day to keep us going.  A simple “Jia You!” or “You are doing a good job” or “Will be praying for you” or just lending a listening ear to a troubled brethren or buying some groceries for a sick brethren…. the list goes on on what one can do to give an encouragement today.

Barnabas’ action of also seeking out those who were ‘rejected’ by the church to encourage them that they can be also useful honourable vessels in the house of the Lord is also thought provoking.  We should not let our prejudices, preconceptions stop someone from serving God if they are willing and able.

Instead, like Barnabas, we should be encouragers to help draw out their talents and guide them to serve God in the right way.

Barnabas worked with Paul together in Antioch for a year (in chapter 10).  It shows that being an encourager is not just for a moment – but for as long as it is needed – until the encouraged can stand on his own and in turn encouraged others.

Let us be an encourager today!