Passage: Acts 15:36-41
Intro: Have you ever noticed that not everyone agrees with you all the time?
1. how can so many people be so consistently wrong so often?
2. things had been going well for Paul and Barnabas.
3. church in Antioch healthy, Jerusalem council decided in favor of Gentiles.
4. in the glow of success, Paul suggested another trip to see how people were doing.
5. but a hitch developed, grew, and then exploded into a full-blown argument.
6. a small matter really, but the result was huge.
7. let’s break this down to the 4 personalities involved, because my guess is each of us will find ourselves here.
8. and each of us can learn something about how we might interact with others, and the godly way to do so in the midst of conflict.
9. let’s look at each person individually.
I. Mark: the Young Believer
1. this young man was on the fringes of the early church, because of his youthfulness.
2. too young to be an apostle, probably the young man identified in Mark 14:51 as fleeing naked from the site of Jesus’ arrest when a soldier grabbed the linen garment he was wrapped in.
3. mother was Mary, a woman who hosted prayer meetings in her home.
4. no idea of age, but his actions were those of a middle teenager.
5. 3 mentions in Acts of Mark, the 1st and 2nd the cause of the 3rd.
PP Acts 13:4
PP Acts 13:13
6. no one knows why he left, but many speculate, and I tend to agree, that he was troubled by the increasing Gentile nature of the mission.
7. no doubt a great deal of Acts deals with this ongoing controversy about the inclusion of the Gentiles in the church
8. whatever the reason, Mark demonstrated his immaturity by flaking out on them, and leaving them to do many extra things, household type things, probably.
Il) we can all remember when we were young, that we were given jobs we didn’t finish, responsibilities we didn’t fulfill. Some of the ideas we held to firmly were ridiculous.
9. so then, when another trip was planned and Barnabas wanted his young cousin to come along, the sparks began to fly.
10. here was Mark, caught between these two, probably very uncomfortable.
II. Barnabas: Oriented to People
1. we have already seen this man several times.
2. a great encourager, had been the only one to accept Saul, their former enemy, and bring him with all his potential to the apostles.
3. so here he is, true to form, suggesting that Mark be given another chance.
4. v37, tense means “Barnabas kept on wanting”… he persisted, even required
5. why did he do this? Mark had deserted him, too.
6. a true people-oriented person sees potential in spite of past failures.
7. he understands the nature of the failure, empathizes with the reasons, feels compassion.
8. for this kind of person, the failure to complete the task is not as critical as the damage to the person who failed.
9. and his goal, then, is to repair that damage and salvage the person.
Il) here is a description from the Kiersey Temperament Sorter that fits Barnabas.
“ESFJ, “Warm-hearted, talkative, popular, conscientious, born cooperators, active committee members. Need harmony and may be good at creating it. Always doing something nice for someone. Works bests with encouragement and praise. Little interest in abstract thinking or technical subjects. Main interest is in things that directly and visibly affect people’s lives.”
10. Barnabas looked at Mark through those eyes and saw potential, wanted to help him achieve it.
11. and here was the perfect opportunity to do that, even with the possibility that the task would be jeapordized.
12. are you like this? Do you know someone like this?
Il) this is the kind of parent who let’s his kid swing the hammer, paint the wall, try and fail. The person is more important than the task.
13. God needs these people. And also the Pauls.
III. Paul: Oriented to the Task
1. Paul would not hear of it.
2. v38, one value judgement…”did not think it wise”
3. Greek word for “worthy”. Mark was not dependable, and the task could fail.
4. Luke uses three powerful words to characterize Marks failure.
5. He had “deserted them”, where we get the word “apostasy”
6. “not accompanied”= he left them
7. “had not continued in the work”, with an emphasis on his failure in the task they had given him of helper.
8. Paul had his facts straight, and certainly he remembered the extra burden of housekeeping type chores that had fallen to he and Barnabas.
9. there is no doubt, based on past behavior, that Mark had proven himself to be undependable.
10. and for task oriented people, “undependable” is almost a swear word.
Il) here’s what Kiersey says about ISTJ, of which there are a ton in our church.
“Serious, quiet, earn success by concentration and thoroughness. Practical, orderly, matter-of-fact, logical realistic and dependable. See to it that everything is well-organized. Take responsibility. Make up their minds as to what should be accomplished and work toward it steadily, regardless of protests or distractions.”
Il) this parent would very closely supervise the child to make sure the job is done right.
11. you can see why Paul could not take Mark, whose demonstrated undependability could jeopardize the task.
12. and so they could not meet in the middle and they separated, never to work together again.
13. now watch what God does.
IV. God: The Unlimited One
1. what can do accomplish out of this disaster?
2. first, He used Barnabas to help Mark reach his full potential.
3. in terms of ministry, look at Philemon 25
PP Philemon 25
4. Paul also gives him a good reference in Colossians 4:10
PP Col 4:10
5. as well as 2 Timothy 4:11
PP 2 Tim 4:11, “useful, helpful”
6. Paul clearly softened as he watched God transform Mark into a faithful, dependable man of God.
7. Barnabas never mentioned again in Acts, not a church planter like Paul, but a man-builder.
8. and the man he poured his life into and helped to mold ultimately gave us the Gospel of Mark.
9. through all their fussing, God used each of them to accomplish His plan, and even multiplied their effectiveness by splitting them up
10. through it all, God’s grace shines.
Conc. We are different, and we can all learn from one another, move toward Christlikeness.
1. Jesus demonstrated both people-orientation and task orientation, accomplishing both at once.
2. we are limited, need to appreciate each perspective, and not expect everyone to embrace ours.
3. let the grace of God be the ultimate result, and let God use our unique perspective and burden to accomplish His work in people.
