The Early Role of Barnabas

     Barnabas seems to me to be a man of strong character and faith. As a representative from the church in Jerusalem he had a lot of power in what he said, but he also faced a lot of potential conflict. Barnabas was given the task of determining Jesus’ reach by going to a city with a very different people group than Jerusalem. It was up to him to decide if the followers of Christ in Antioch were doing God’s will. The church in Antioch combined Jews, Greeks, Hebrews and Hellenists as people who could receive Jesus into their lives. The book of Acts shows us that Barnabas saw the variety as good and encouraged the believers. This encourages me to be more accepting of people who claim to follow Jesus based on their love for Him rather than the immediate differences we seem to have. This also challenges me to be more open to the idea that the good news of Jesus is not limited to people who are just like me that I am comfortable with. I think that the example of Barnabas should not only challenge me but the church as well. Because of his obedience in God’s will to be accepting of every type of person, the church has a high standard to meet in reaching everyone. This event demands action from the church today to continue to accept people who are different and to be specific in reaching everyone from this city, to the next, to the world.