Those who read the Bible (and even those who don’t) are familiar with the names of the more prominent people found in Scripture. Most people are familiar with Adam & Eve, Noah, Joseph and his coat of many colors. We know of King David along with Mary & Joseph, Peter, John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul. And while each of those mentioned play significant roles in the Bible and in history, there are others whose names hardly recognized and yet play critical roles in God’s plan for Israel, the Church and His Kingdom. Take for example Barnabas. The name ‘Barnabas’ is not a common name and when you do a name search on the internet, very little comes up. Readers of the Bible likely associate Barnabas as a man who was a companion to the Apostle Paul but may know little more about him beyond that one fact. In actuality, Barnabas was a hero of the Bible and was instrumental in the start of the New Testament Church. But the key thing to know about Barnabas is the meaning of his name: Son of exhortation or encouragement . Most of us know the story of Paul, and how he persecuted the Church (Acts 8). We know also that Paul experienced a life-changing encounter with Jesus, for he no longer persecuted the Church. Instead, he began to preach the gospel wherever he could, at first in the synagogue to other Jews. Initially many Jews, including the disciples, remained afraid of Paul because of his past persecution of followers of Jesus. This is where Barnabas steps into view. Barnabas’ true name was Joseph, but the apostles called him Barnabas due to his encouraging nature (Acts 4:36). Barnabas hears Paul preach in the synagogue in Damascus after his conversion and personally vouches for him before the apostles (Acts 9:27). This personal validation launches Paul into his ministry, but not all goes well for Paul as he creates an uproar among the people and receives death threats. This is disruptive to the work of building the Church so eventually the apostles pull Paul out of ministry and send him away to his home in Tarsus, for nearly 14 years (Acts 9:29-30). How significant was this? Just read verse 31, after Paul is sent away: “So the Church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace…and continued to increase.” (Acts 9:31). So once Paul was sent away, peace reigned in the Church, and it began to grow. Imagine what that did to Paul and his reputation amongst the apostles and Church leaders. But what does all this have to do with Barnabas? Remember his name: Son of exhortation and encouragement. By chapter 11 of Acts, we see that despite persecution, the Church continues to grow, notably in Antioch. When the apostles hear of this growth, who do they send? Barnabas the encourager, of course! (Acts 11:19-22). And what does Barnabas do? He goes to Tarsus to search for Paul. He brings Paul to Antioch to teach these new believers, where they stayed for a year, teaching a multitude of people. It was there that the disciples were first called Christians (Acts11:26). This was the beginning of the Gentile Church! Paul would travel far and wide, preaching the gospel, planting churches and writing the majority of the New Testament, but were it not for Barnabas risking his reputation by taking a second chance on Paul, Paul might never have left Tarsus. True to his nature, Barnabas doesn’t focus only on Paul. Barnabas had a younger cousin named John-Mark whom he brought along on their early missionary journeys (Acts 12:25). Later we read that John-Mark left them, much to the displeasure of Paul. This creates a split between Paul and Barnabas, but true to his name, Barnabas retrieves John-Mark and brings his cousin on his own journey to Cypress (Acts 15:36-39). While we read that Paul later sees a more mature John-Mark and requests him to accompany him (2 Tim 4:11), it was Barnabas who believed in and restored John-Mark. And it is this John-Mark, known also as Mark, who eventually writes the first gospel, the Gospel of Mark. So, what is our take-away here? It is that at some point we all need a Barnabas in our life. Someone willing to take a risk on us, to vouch for us, to come find us when others have given up on us. Or perhaps we need to become a Barnabas ourselves: One who reaches out to encourage and exhort others. One who sees in others what only God sees at first: A life worth taking a risk on. So, while many of us wish we were a David or a Paul, or maybe even a Peter, imagine what the Church would look like and what influence we would have on the world if we tried to be more like Barnabas?
Throughout our lifetime we will have numerous words, thoughts and opinions spoken to us, about us and over us. Words and thoughts that come from family and friends, teachers and peers, society, media and even ourselves. And whether we recognize it at the time, those words will play an influential role in shaping both our identity and shape our self-value. I recall from my early childhood that my teachers, year after year, would make the same comment on my report card: “ Mark does not work up to his full potential .” School was easy for me then. I never felt challenged and it was more important to me to enjoy the fun side of school, rather than the scholastic side. I’d gladly do minimal work, have more fun time and settle for a ‘B’ than to take extra time to study and do homework to pursue an ‘A’. With each report card, my parents would read those same comments and laugh, so I laughed too. Words that should have challenged me to pursue excellence, instead gave me permission to be content with average. What I did not realize then was those written comments, and my parents’ response, became a mantle which I wore throughout much of my life. This mantle soon permeated other aspects of my life beyond school. We read of another young man who had things spoken over him that greatly impacted his life. His name was Gideon. In chapter six of the book of Judges, we read of Gideon as he is threshing wheat in a wine press. Now if you are not familiar with the background of the story, wheat was to be threshed on a threshing floor, not in a wine press. The threshing floor was outside, in open air so that the wind would blow and separate the wheat from the chaff. Gideon was in a wine press as Israel at this time was in disobedience to God, and neighboring countries would come and raid Israel during harvest time to steal their food. Thus, Gideon was hiding in a wine press out of fear . Suddenly, Gideon is surprised by a divine visitor- the Angel of the Lord, who most scholars agree is the pre-incarnate Jesus. The Angel of the Lord greets Gideon by using the Hebrew word ‘Hayil’, meaning a man of valor or of great stature. That is quite a greeting to someone who is hiding, right? But Gideon, so wrapped up in fear and shame, does not hear it or receive it. In fact, he complains to the Lord! What is most noteworthy is Gideon’s response in verse 15. Gideon questions the Lord “How can he be this man of valor, a deliverer of Israel, when his family is the least of the tribe of Manasseh, and he is the least of the family?” Now where do you think he learned this? Most certainly, this was something ingrained into Gideon from his youth. Whether this came from his father, his extended family, the community, we do not know. But for Gideon to immediately speak this out tells me that not only has he heard this for so long, but he has replayed the words in his mind over and over, such that it was his first response to the greeting from the Lord. “I am the lowest of the least” truly became the mantle which Gideon wore, causing him to reject the declaration of valor spoken by the Lord because he had embraced what was spoken over him by others. While Gideon goes on to accomplish great things for the Lord, we continue to see evidence of his timidity, uncertainty and fearfulness throughout his time as a Judge over Israel. Mantles are hard things to shed. Perhaps you can recall things spoken over you that not only shaped your self-image and identity but became something you carried with you- something that was not of the Lord. I know from my own experience that Satan and the world will want to use their words to define you and to hold you back from all that God has for you. Don’t let that happen! Consider the source! Shed those mantles! Spend time in God’s Word to read repeatedly that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), that you are “the apple of His eye” (Psalm 17:8) and that “you have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). Those words are life-giving mantles that God has for you to wear daily. Afterall- consider the source!
Throughout Scripture, we see where God reveals new identities to His people. One of the most powerful identity changes occurs early in the Old Testament, in the book of Ruth. In the book of Ruth, we read of a woman who fully surrenders to the Lord as she chooses to turn from her culture to follow God and in doing so, she adopted her new identity. In the first chapter of the book of Ruth, we are introduced to a handful of characters, none more important than Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth. Naomi, a Jew, is living in Moab, a place that God has declared as being off limits to Israelites. While there, tragedy strikes Naomi through the loss of her husband Elimelech, and her two sons, Mahlon & Chilion. This leaves Naomi, Ruth and Orpah, Naomi’s other daughter-in-law, as widows. Naomi declares her intention to return to the land of Israel, and Ruth insists that she go with her. Naomi tries to discourage Ruth from coming with her on the dangerous journey, but Ruth is determined to remain with Naomi and makes a most incredible declaration: “Where you will go, I will go and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” WOW! Ruth makes a declaration of conversion. She converts from a life of paganism to one of Judaism. To fully appreciate what transpired, one must understand the true paganistic culture of Moab and Moabites. Making Ruth’s conversion more incredible is her paganistic culture is all that Ruth had ever known since birth. She likely has heard of Israel and of their ways, but given the disdain that Israel held towards Moab, she would have felt their disgust. In addition, Ruth declares her separation not just from a paganistic lifestyle, but also from her very own people and family by stating that Naomi’s people (Israelites) would now be her people. Ruth has determined that she will no longer be part of the Moabite culture and no longer be part of her family. She belongs now to Naomi and her people. The most amazing declaration is when Ruth declares that Naomi’s God, the God of heaven, the One true God, will now be her God. Ruth had to be willing to walk away from all that she knew, to be positioned to receive something entirely new. This is an amazing conversion: A conversion of life, of culture, of family and of great faith. I recall that when I surrendered my life to Jesus, I too had to make some declarations. From the age of 19 to 26 years old, “my people” used and abused drugs and alcohol. I lived in addiction. This was my culture and those were “my people” and like Ruth, the things we did were part of our custom and our ways - it was all that I knew as a young adult. Just as Ruth declared that God would be her God and that the ways of God’s people would now be her ways, I too had to declare those same things. I would now follow Jesus, not my people. His ways would now be my ways. I had to make a conversion of my lifestyle, my culture, my family and my faith. I did not know it then, but my destiny awaited me in the new identity that God had for me ! Perhaps your story is like mine, or like Ruth’s story. Perhaps you have been in a culture and lifestyle that was not or is not Jesus centered. Ruth could not remain in Moab and still be part of Naomi’s people. She could not remain in Moab and have the God of Israel be her God as the culture would drown out God’s truth. When we choose to follow Jesus and be baptized as a public declaration of our faith and obedience to Him, we will have to say ‘no’ to some things of the past. I had to leave the culture of my past as my old friends did not support my new life. I had to remain committed even when I was questioned by family members about my new life and faith. Though they did not understand my conversion and, in some cases, refused to receive it, I remained determined to keep walking forward in faith. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that we have become new creations in Jesus. It is nearly impossible to become new when you choose to remain part of the old. The old wants to grip you; it wants to keep you from being new. The familiar voices of the old want to convince you that you don’t have to walk away entirely- that you can walk with one foot in the old while keeping one in the new. That is a lie! Ruth could not have received all that God had for her had she remained in Moab, or had she kept part of her paganistic background- she had to walk away from it all. Was it hard? From my personal experience, I know that it was hard. But through her declaration of faith and her perseverance to come underneath God’s wings, she became someone new. She was no longer a poor widow known as “Ruth, the Moabitess”. She married a great man and became the great-grandmother of King David and is named in the lineage of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). A new identity indeed! What lure is pulling you back into the past? What of your old identity seeks to keep you from the new things God has for you? I encourage you, make the declaration that Ruth made and then start the journey out of old and into the new. Your destiny awaits you there.