Doing the Work

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

DOING THE WORK

Acts 15:36-41

36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

NIV

We are at this point of sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark. First we should remember that John Mark is the nephew of Barnabas and thus family. We also need to remember we have seen where John Mark decided to leave and return home, perhaps in need of visiting family as he was not as Paul and Barnabas, called by God for the task at hand, but he may have been nothing more than a traveling companion, a servant of sorts. We were not told of his divine calling for the ministry, or his being sent forth by Apostles as Paul and Barnabas were. So we do not know why Paul felt he had deserted them and therefor was not worthy of traveling with them. But the point we should learn, is that fact that there was a disagreement and it was a sharp one, to the point of Paul and Barnabas parting company. We could surmise their disagreement was with anger and thus sin, but that would be nothing more than speculation for we are not told that, nor does the Greek in its original use imply anger. Perhaps if we see anger in this disagreement it could be due to our own mental state of including anger as part of sharp disagreement. If we have a sharp disagreement over a situation with someone, do we allow anger a foothold? Certainly both Paul and Barnabas were men called by God for a great task, and both men were what we might call spiritual God fearing men of great faith and faithfulness to the word. What we know is both of them were certain of their position on the matter. Paul was certain he could no longer trust John Mark and Barnabas, perhaps because he was his nephew felt John Mark needed another opportunity to prove himself. Both men were motivated by love, not anger. Paul for the love of righteousness, and Barnabas for the love of family. Was Paul right, was Barnabas right? Were either of them wrong in their thinking? Was it permissible to disagree to the point of separation? Did God have anything to do with it so that there would now be two teams, thus increasing the effectiveness of the work? We have to come to the conclusion there was no ill-temper between the two, there was no hard feelings, as these men were going about doing the work of the Lord. They could not depart with bitter feelings, hurt, or angry with each other, but they must have hugged, and blessed each other in their efforts to encourage other believers. They had to agree to disagree and do it in love or else we are left to believe it is acceptable to feel anger, bitterness and not to forgive. We also have to learn that both men felt it necessary to return to those churches to strengthen and encourage other believers. We too should see our need to strengthen and encourage others, moving forward for God.