Acts 15:36-41: Paul & Barnabas Part Ways

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Intro

1) 15:36

A)   Mark this as the start of the Second Missionary Journey (ends in 18:22).

B) They agreed about the need to do this work, which is pretty impressive.

1) It’s one thing to experience all the hardships and danger and suffering the first time.

2) But to know exactly what you’re signing up for, and then to go again, shows that they agreed that this was truly a necessary work.

2) 15:37-38

A)   They didn’t have a what, or why problem. They had a big who problem.

B) From 13:13-14

C) 13:13 – “John left them”

1) L/N – to move away from, with emphasis upon separation and possible lack of concern for what has been left

2) BDAG – to move away from a point, go away. Also more strongly in the sense leave, desert

3) GW – “John Mark deserted them”

4) The Message – “John called it quits”

D)   15:38 – “one who had withdrawn from them…and had not gone with them to the work”

1) BDAG – 1. to cause someone to move from a reference point, trans., in our lit. in ref. to altering allegiance, cause to revolt, mislead. 2. To distance oneself from some pers. or thing

2) L/N – to abandon a former relationship or association, or to dissociate (a type of reversal of beginning to associate)—to fall away, to forsake, to turn away

3) DBL – 1. Cause to rebel, 2. Depart, lead, 3. Forsake, desert, abandon, 4. Keep away from, avoid association

4) NASU / NIV / CSB / +others – “deserted” (most popular)

5) The Message - “he wasn’t about to take along a quitter who, as soon as the going got tough, had jumped ship on them”

3)     15:39-41 – This is a hard section to work through.

A)   Consider everything Paul and Barnabas had been through together.

1) They travelled hundreds of dangerous miles together.

2) They suffered together.

3) They stood together in Jerusalem.

4) It really stinks to watch this happen over John Mark. It’s almost hard to imagine that something like this could happen.

B) I think it’s also hard because most of us probably associate this text with some of our own horrible experiences in the past.

4) In this lesson, we’ll try to learn some principles about what to do and not do in situations like these.

Principles

1) There will be conflict

A)   Also consider that Luke included this in Acts.

1) It’s kind of bad PR, but Luke doesn’t whitewash the ugly parts of our Christian history.

B) This is not a little conflict either. Paul is an apostle, and Barnabas is a prophet.

C) Lesson

1) Conflict often should not happen, and it is often handled extremely poorly…

2) But it does happen, and it’s a good idea to be prepared for it when it does.

3) I’m guessing we have all seen people who were not prepared for it and were so discouraged and devastated that it completely destroyed their faith.

2) Not all conflicts are good vs. evil

A)   Consider the conflict from both Paul and Barnabas’ perspectives.

1) Paul

(a)   Mark didn’t just take off. Remember several of the words from the definitions above: Lack of concern for what has been left, desert, revolt, abandon, fall away, forsake.

(b)   This was a hard and dangerous trip.

(i) Acts 13:5 – “And they had John to assist them.”

(ii)  And then he just took off right before the hardest part.

(c)   We had a camp cook for several years who always left and abandoned the rest of the kitchen right before the final packing and clean up. For almost a decade, something would “come up” right at go time. She could not be relied upon, so she was not asked to come back.

(d)   Paul was focused on the mission, and mark quit with the mountain got steep and dangerous, so Paul regarded him as a liability and not an asset.

(e)   Paul operates with words like discipline and accountability, and he is not willing to compromise the mission for one man’s feelings.

2) Barnabas

(a)   Col. 4:10 – Barnabas and John Mark were cousins. I can imagine Paul saying that Barnabas’ decision-making ability is clouded in this situation.

(b)   BUT, Barnabas had done this almost exact same thing with Paul…twice.

(i) Acts 9:26-28 – Paul was given a second chance after having made MASSIVE mistakes because of Barnabas.

(ii)  Acts 11:22, 25 – Barnabas got Paul plugged in to the work in Antioch.

(iii)          So, Paul accused Barnabas of having clouded judgement, and Barnabas replies, “Was it clouded when I did it for you?”

(c)   Paul is focused on the mission of spreading the Gospel. Barnabas says, “The mission is lost if we abandon the very people we are called to develop.”

(d)   Barnabas operates with words like loyalty, restoration, second chances, grace.

3) I think you can easily make a case that not only was this not a case of right vs wrong / good vs evil; but that both Paul and Barnabas were correct, and both were focusing on good and right things.

B) If we are going to learn from this and relate it to our lives, then we need to make sure that we compare apples to apples.

1) This is not a story about one or two toxic people.

2) They didn’t separate over who was going to be in charge.

(a)   The #2 reason why churches split is power struggles.

3) They didn’t separate because their feelings got hurt, so they left in a pouty fit.

(a)   The #5 reason (probably higher) is “Personality classes and petty in-fighting. Many church splits happen over non-theological, interpersonal disputes. Disagreements over building programs, budget allocations, or even minor aesthetic choices can escalate into tribalism, forcing members to choose sides or leave out of sheer exhaustion.”

4) This was not a situation that was selfish or even personal in any way.

5) They were both concerned about Jesus and the bigger Gospel mission, and in this case, the conflict was between two healthy Christians who prioritized different (correct) values.

C) Lesson

1) We all need to be really honest about what the issue really is.

2) If we have an issue about how to best serve Jesus and glorify God, then let’s talk about that.

3) If we have a problem with people who think the universe revolves around them, then that is not ok.

3) Look for God’s providence

A)   While this situation was undoubtedly stressful and tense and deeply painful, everybody won in the end.

B) Barnabas and Paul ended up visiting all their churches and covering more ground than they would have.

C) Mark got his second chance, and he lived up to all the potential that Barnabas saw in him.

1) 1 Pet. 5:12-14 – The reason why the Gospel of Mark is in our Bibles is because history tells us that Mark simply wrote down the thing that Peter taught.

D)   Silas got involved with Paul

1) Acts 15:22, 32 – Paul was not going rogue and just leaving off by himself to do his own thing. He made sure to take someone who was very respected from the Jerusalem church to be a part of what he was doing.

E) Lesson

1) There’s no way to predict the future, but if the conflict results in MORE faithfulness and glory to God, then let’s call it a win.

2) If, however, in hindsight we look back and see a trail of destruction, a dying church, people who have fallen away, and half of your kids aren’t faithful, let’s not call that God’s providence. Let’s call that, “I made a mistake.”

4) Don’t burn bridges

A)   Acts 15:40 – I think this is a reference to the church in Antioch commending all parties involved.

1) Notice that they didn’t divide up into teams and form factions.

2) Nobody got cancelled or vilified.

3) No permanent damage was done, which is pretty impressive.

B) This is not the end of Mark and Paul in the Bible

1) Col. 4:10 – welcome him

2) Philemon 24 – my fellow worker

3) 2 Tim. 4:11 – he is very useful to me for ministry

4) The young man that Paul rejected as completely useless for the mission, was not commended by Paul to others, and was called his fellow worker and useful for ministry.

C) Lesson

1) The person screaming at you across the table today might be the person you’re glad to have in your corner a decade from now.

2) Don’t send the reply all scorched-earth email.

3) Don’t bring the receipts and publish all your private text messages for everybody else to see.

4) Don’t erase the whole folder.

5) 2 Tim. 2:24-26 – Let’s keep our eyes on the long game and the end goal.

Conclusion

1) Review.