Experience: S2 - Day 25

The risk of investing in others

Acts 13:13 Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 But Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia.

42 As Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue that day, the people begged them to speak about these things again the next week. 43 Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, and the two men urged them to continue to rely on the grace of God.

Here, Saul has received his new name, Paul.  It wasn’t uncommon to be given a new name with a new call.  Abram became Abraham. Jacob became Israel. Simon became Peter, and so on.  So here, Saul becomes Paul, for he has become a new person.  As he himself would later write, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT). New life, new name.

We also note here that John Mark has left them and returned to Jerusalem. Store this part of the story away for another day because we will come back to it.

But there is another major shift that takes place in this part of the story.  You’ll notice that up to this point, as we mentioned yesterday, these stories have been the stories of Barnabas and Saul: the people in Antioch entrusted their gifts to “Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem,” (Acts 11:30), “When Barnabas and SAul had finished their mission to Jerusalem,” (Acts 12:25), they appointed “Barnabas and Saul for the special work,” (Acts 13:2), and “Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:4).

In this passage, however, with Saul’s new name, Paul, we also have a new order for these missionaries.  Now, it’s “Paul and Barnabas” (Acts 13:42).  Why is this significant?

Barnabas played a lead role in Paul’s life for some time.  He was the one willing to take a risk and stand up for Paul when no one else would.  He never forgot about him, and went looking for him to enlist him in the gospel work when others likely still saw him as too dangerous.  And then, Barnabas continued to journey with Paul for some time until it became clear that Paul was ready to take the lead.

So what does Barnabas do?  Barnabas takes a step back, and for a time, we read about the journey’s of Paul and Barnabas. “Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly…,” (Acts 13:46), “Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached…,” (Acts 14:1), “Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet.” (Acts 14:8)

As we invest in others, there comes a point in time when we have to give them the opportunity to lead, to show to the world, and to themselves, what it is God has called them to do.  Of course, there is risk to this as well.  What if they mess up?  What if they’re not as ready as we think they are?  What if they get scared?  But it’s important to remember that when we begin to let them lead, we don’t leave them.  Rather, we continue to journey alongside of them so that if they fall, they fall forward; if they doubt, we can continue to reassure them; and if they get scared, we are right there with them to remind them that they have been called.  As I often tell my own kids, “You’ve got this, because God’s got you.”

Questions:

1. If you have surrendered your life to Christ, remember back to that first decision.  What new life did you experience, what changed?
2. Has there been anyone in your life that was willing to let you take the lead?  If so, what were those first few times like, and did that person stay connected with you? 
3. Personally, I don’t like the word failure. I think something is only a failure if you fail to learn.  Can you remember back to a time where you tried something that didn’t work? If so, what did you learn from it?