Be a Barnabas

We are told often to "be a Barnabas." In Acts 4:36 we learned that Barnabas means, Son of Encouragement. Clearly then, it is a good thing to want to be be a Barnabas by being an encouragment to others. The problem is that being a Barnabas gets lost in translation. How am I supposed to be a Barnabas? What does it look like? Where do I start? What is my aim? In Acts 11 we are given an explanation of what it means to be a Barnabas.

"When [Barnabas] came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith" (Acts 11:23&24).

Being a Barnabas means

1. Rejoicing over the outpouring of God's grace no matter who God uses. It wasn't about Barnabas being used to do great things it was about God doing great things.
2. Encouraging others to remain faithful to the Lord. Our encouragement, like Barnabas', should always have God as it's goal and God as it's foundation. Better than, "it's going to be okay" or "God didn't know this was going to happen so it's not His fault" are the promises of Scripture found in Matthew 10:29-31 and Romans 8:28-39. If God doesn't know the future and cannot act to redeem the past He is not worth our faithfulness. Don't short change God.
3. Encouraging others to remain faithful to God with steadfast purpose. The NASB translates the phrase "with resolute heart." The NKJV says, "with purpose of heart." It is our calling as the church to get to others' hearts. To just address the feelings is to pull up short. To only exhort others when we feel like it falls short. We must seek God's wisdom and strength purchased for us by Christ. We need that strength to have steadfast hearts; hearts that love our brothers. And we need that strength to get involved in the lives of people whose hearts are faltering.
4. Being full of the Holy Spirit. Seek daily the Convictor of sin, righteousness, and judment. Seek daily the Comforter. Seek daily the one who points us to Jesus. It is the Spirit who will guide us into God's will through Scripture. It is the Spirit who will strengthen us to complete God's will through His indwelling.

Father, I want to be a good man, full of the Holy Spirit. I want to be an encourager. Please show me where and how. Remind me again and again that I am here to feed Your sheep. They are not mine but Yours. They need to be fed. They are sheep. Lord, to be faithful in any area of ministry we need You to make us like Barnabas. Remove our hearts of division and selfishness. Replace those desires with a desire to encourage others to follow You. Raise up a church that is bold in it's confession of sin and bold in it's confession of grace. Build Your Church my God. Make me a Barnabas. I know Jesus died and defeated death so that Your Kingdom would expand. Make me useful by the blood of Christ for Your enternal Kingdom.

In Christ,

Amen