Barnabas was Paul’s fellow worker in the second half of Acts (see chapters 13-15), but he is far more important to the New Testament than he is often given credit for.  Apart from being an apostle in his own right (Acts 14:14), he is the man who encouraged the young man Saul and helped him to become the apostle Paul, writer of one third of the New Testament. 

There is a very important statement in Acts 11:25.  “Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul.”  Let me explain.  Saul was born in Tarsus (Acts 9:11), so looking for him in his home town might not be that unusual.  However, there is more to it than this simple explanation.

In Acts 9 we read of the conversion of Saul.  He was on his way to Damascus to imprison Christians when he met the risen Jesus on the road.  After his conversion, Saul went out preaching Christ in Damascus.  It did not take long before some Jews plotted to kill him and he had to be lowered over the wall in the dark in a basket to escape.  Then Saul went off to Jerusalem.  But there he encountered a different problem.

“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.  He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus” (Acts 9:26-27).

In Jerusalem, the believers did not want Saul around because they saw him as the man who persecuted the church.  But enter Barnabas, who smoothed the way for Saul by vouching for his true conversion.  This was the first time that Barnabas appeared in Saul’s life, but not the last.  Saul would not become the man we know as Paul without the encouragement of Barnabas.

Saul’s time with believers in Jerusalem was positive, but in a short time the Greek Jews tried to kill him.  “When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus” (Acts 9:30).  So Saul has been sent to his home town.  His first few weeks as a believer had been very dangerous.  He was truly thrown into the deep end.

Now here I speculate a little about what Saul did in Tarsus.  We don’t know for certain what he did there since the story in Acts veers away from Saul and onto Peter for a while.  We don’t hear of Saul again until Acts 11:25.  I wonder if Saul took a little breather as he went back to the comfort of his home town.  Did he feel like perhaps it would be better to stay away from murderous mobs for a while?  Maybe.

But then we find Barnabas entering into Saul’s life again.  In Acts 11 the church had begun to expand to include Gentiles and the church at Antioch was at the centre of this move (11:19-20).  Barnabas was sent there from Jerusalem and he saw great fruit in Antioch.  Barnabas had his own successful ministry in Antioch, but he believed that it needed something more than he alone could give.  Barnabas was a man of vision.

He went to Tarsus to find Saul and brought him back to Antioch (11:25).  Now Barnabas went out of his way to go and get Saul.  The trip from Antioch (now Antakya in Turkey) is approximately 240km by land.  This would have taken a very long time in the first century.  But Barnabas saw in Saul something great and wanted to encourage him in his calling to the Gentile church (see Acts 9:15).

Back in Antioch they taught the church for a whole year.  The fact that Barnabas went to great lengths to encourage Saul in his calling may have been the difference between Saul staying in his home town forever and Saul getting on with doing what he was called to do.  The time together in Antioch was the beginning of a partnership which went on for years.

Barnabas was clearly a humble man.  He could have gone on with the great ministry he had on his own and enjoyed the prominence he had in Antioch.  But instead he was true to the gifting he had been given; Barnabas means “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36).  He considered encouraging Saul more important than simply sticking to his own ministry to the church.

Many of us have had a “Barnabas” in our lives, who has encouraged and helped us in our calling.  I know that I have.  For these I am very thankful.

Encouraging other people in the calling God has on their lives may take time and effort.  It will probably take you away from the things you want to accomplish.  It may mean that the person you encourage will become more prominent in the kingdom of God than you.  But contrary to our cultural expectations, fame is not a measure of importance.  What matters is seeing the other person walking in the ministry to which they have been called.  You never know what your encouragement may bring about.

Perhaps it is time for you to be someone’s Barnabas.  So whose Barnabas are you?