Everybody has a nickname. Some are flattering. Some… not so much.
There was a man in the early church named Joseph. But nobody called him Joseph. The apostles gave him a nickname: Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement.”
Now that’s a nickname worth having.
How did he earn it? Here’s one example.
Saul of Tarsus had spent years hunting down Christians. Then he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and became a believer. But when he came to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, “they were all afraid of him.” Nobody believed he had really changed. Can you blame them?
Nobody, that is, except Barnabas.
Barnabas took Saul by the arm, brought him to the apostles, and vouched for him. He told them how Saul had met the Lord and how boldly he had preached in Damascus. Because of Barnabas, the church gave Saul a chance.
Saul, of course, became the apostle Paul.
Years later, Barnabas did it again. A young man named John Mark had quit in the middle of a missionary trip. Paul didn’t want to take him along again. But Barnabas believed in second chances, and he took Mark under his wing.
It worked. Years later, Paul himself wrote, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.”
So, what is encouragement? Encouragement is believing in someone before anyone else does, and saying so out loud.
Without Barnabas, we might never have had the apostle Paul. You never know who you might be encouraging.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank-you for the people who have encouraged me along the way. Thank-you for making me a Barnabas, so that I will see the best in others and build them up. Thank-you for second chances, for me and for others. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Wikipedia: Barnabas, Mark the Evangelist, Antioch
Look-It Up:
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.
Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Free Bonus:
Barnabas and Saul spent a whole year teaching in the city of Antioch, and “the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26).
Paul and Barnabas had such a sharp disagreement over John Mark that they split up and went separate ways (Acts 15:36-40). Even the best partners don’t always agree.
Tradition holds that John Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark. Not bad for a guy who once quit.