Acts 11:22  News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. (NIV)

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Rumor had it that a lot of good things were happening in Antioch. Antioch was not Jerusalem. All kinds of people from all kinds of places lived in Antioch. It was multicultural before multicultural was cool. It was multi-ethnic. So when the apostles heard that good things were happening there, they sent Barnabas to check it out. 

There are basically three kinds of people. There are problem solvers. Problem solvers’ favorite question is “What’s wrong?” Apparently, Barnabas was not a problem solver. 

There are also goal setters. These people know how to look into the future, see what they want, and plot a course to get there. Barnabas was apparently not a goal setter either. 

The third kind of person seizes opportunities. This kind of person can see the possibilities. They tend to blow on flames and turn them into blazes. They invest money and turn it into significant income. They see what a person can become and help them become that person. This was Barnabas. 

When Barnabas saw what was going on there, verses 23 and 24 tell us, “he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.”

Very quickly, things expanded beyond his individual capacity to manage. This led him to travel from Antioch to Tarsus to look for Saul. This was a five- or six-day journey in each direction. Barnabas had previously introduced Saul, soon to be called Paul, to the apostles in Jerusalem, when everyone feared he was faking being a Christian to harm the movement. 

Once they returned to Antioch, they stayed for a whole year, met with the church, and taught large numbers of people, according to verse 26. How successful were they? Check out the last sentence in verse 26: “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.”

Some time later, Barnabas and Saul took a financial gift to the believers in Jerusalem due to a famine that was coming over the whole Roman world. (See verses 27 and 28.)

After they completed this mission, they returned to Antioch from Jerusalem, “taking with them John, also called Mark.” (See 12:25.) We see a note about John and his mom in verse 12. This was probably the upper room where the disciples gathered on the day of Pentecost. It’s the same room where Jesus showed up inside without coming through the doors. 

John Mark had a good grounding in the faith. He was surrounded by people like Peter, James, John, and Thomas, the Doubter, who never doubted again after seeing the risen Jesus. Jesus’ mom was there, and his brothers were there. Oh, the tales John Mark could tell! And aren’t you glad he told many of them in that gospel by his name? 

Let’s fast-forward and see the impact of Barnabas seizing the opportunity to take two men under his wing who would mean so much to God’s mission in this world. 

* The multicultural, multi-ethnic, mission-minded church in Antioch would change the world by sending out Barnabas and Paul as missionaries. 
* The Apostle Paul would write half of the books in the New Testament. 
* John Mark would write one of the four Gospels.

That’s quite a legacy. 

If you’re a problem solver, solve problems to the glory of God. 

If you’re a goal setter, set goals that honor God and bless others. 

If you prefer to seize opportunities, lay hold of every Saul and John Mark you can find and help them grow beyond their faults into fruitful, effective disciples and disciple-makers. 

We need more Barnabases who can say to men, women, and teenagers, “I see in you someone God can use to help bless the whole world in his strength and under his guidance, showing people how good and loving he is.”

Who is waiting for you to be his or her Barnabas? Seize that opportunity. 

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I will become more like Barnabas and seize the opportunities to see and speak into others what God sees for them.

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Our Father, make me ever more like Barnabas. Make me an encourager, mentor, coach, and friend. Make me a man capable of seeing what you see and helping people get there, in your strength, under your guidance, in your timing. Amen.