Be a Barnabas

“And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus.”Acts 4:36

Reflection

His name was Joseph, but the apostles nicknamed him Barnabas — "son of encouragement". Think about it: the man encouraged so much, lifted the fallen so much, believed in people so much, that they changed his name. And the New Testament shows that this quiet gift changed history: it was Barnabas who bet on Saul when the whole church feared him, and it was Barnabas who gave John Mark a second chance after his failure — the same Mark who would write a gospel.

Encouragement is one of the most underrated ministries of the faith. We think serving God requires a stage, but notice: without the Barnabas who introduced Paul to the apostles, perhaps there would be no letters of Paul; without the Barnabas who insisted on Mark, perhaps no gospel of Mark. The encourager rarely appears in the photo — he is the one who developed the film. There are people around you one sentence away from giving up or carrying on: the marriage, the ministry, the treatment, the faith.

To encourage is not to flatter out of politeness nor to pretend everything is fine. It is to see what God placed in someone before it blossoms — and say it out loud. It is the "I believe in you" for the one who only hears criticism, the "God has not given up on you" for the one who fell, the message at the right time, the presence at the hospital, the name remembered in prayer. Words like these cost seconds for the speaker and last decades in the hearer. The world is full of professional critics — there is no shortage of pointing fingers and a shortage of outstretched hands. The church, the family, and the workplace desperately need sons of encouragement. How about taking the job? Look around today and ask God: "who needs a Barnabas?". The answer probably already has a name and a face in your mind.

Bible text: King James Version (public domain).