I invite everyone to open your Bible and turn with me to the book of Acts. Anybody want to study the Bible here together? All right, well, well, here's what we're going to do. We're going to Acts 15:36-41, and we are going to study what seems to me to be one of the saddest passages in all of the Scripture, and we're going to look at it here together. This is the one sermon I've been studying in the book of Acts that I'm not looking forward to preaching because what we're going to see right now is Barnabas and Paul go their separate ways. And so, I want to read this passage, and then I want to study it together and see what we can learn as a church about when Christians disagree, because there's a lot of things going on in the world today, where Christians have strong opinions about different ideas, and how should we handle these kinds of situations. So, if you're able to, will you stand up as we read this Scripture? This is Acts 15:36-41. This is the Word of God telling us what actually happened between these two men. And this is God speaking to us together tonight, so please follow along with me as I read.
“And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.’ Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
That's the reading of God's word. Please go ahead and have your seat. I don't know if you've ever studied this passage before. I don't know what you've really thought about it, but we're going to use the book of Acts and we're going to see what a traumatic moment this is. Because if you've been paying attention, and you've been going along, like Barnabas has been one of the main themes, one of the main characters throughout the book of Acts. And Saul becoming Paul has just been this powerful transformation, and the two of them uniting together for ministry, first, like in Jerusalem, then in Antioch, then on this trip, planting all these churches, seeing so many souls get saved. To think that those two guys who were striving side by side for the gospel together, to think that they would separate, this is a hard reality. And that's why I didn't really want to preach on this because this is as real as it gets. Even people who are real Christians, even people who have served together for years, sometimes have a very hard time agreeing with one another. And if you've been going to church for a long time, you have seen separation in the Church of Jesus Christ. It's one of the unpleasant realities of being somebody in the church. And then we have to get real about it because we're studying it together here tonight. Anybody seen some separation in the church before that broke your heart? Anybody separated from a brother or sister in Christ who fell away, or there was a sharp disagreement, and you separate? I mean, this word for separated here, apochorizo. I mean, this word means like, you're going to separate ways. I mean chorizo, that word right there, that word is used often about divorce. In fact, it's used in Matthew 19:6, when God says, “So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
So, when we're talking about divorce, and how people might end up divorced because of adultery, in Matthew 19, or people might end up divorced because their non-Christian spouse doesn't want to live with them anymore. And so, the non-Christian abandons them and leaves them. Like in those passages, it uses this word that it's not God's intention for people to separate. That's the idea. It's like Paul and Barnabas, they're separating like a couple that's meant to be together, they're going their own ways. And so, there's nothing encouraging about this report that Paul and Barnabas have a sharp disagreement and separate. If Paul and Barnabas are having sharp disagreements with one another, I think we're probably going to see some disagreements among us here at Compass HB. Anybody ready to own up to that? So, what do we learn from this? And let's just review.
Go back with me to Acts 4:36, and let's just build the whole story. Because we've been studying Acts, but it's been a while now. This is the twenty-ninth time we've opened up to the book of Acts together. And so, let's just make sure we all see the momentum of this Barnabas and Paul relationship. Like we met Barnabas in Acts 4:36 and introduced him, “Thus Joseph,” we've met all of these guys we're going to talk about here. We meet them by one name but then we come to know them by another name. And his name was Joseph, but we know him as Barnabas because Barnabas means the son of what? Encouragement. Right? And why was he given the name? Well, here's what it says he did it that same time. Acts 4:37, he “sold a field that belonged to him and he brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” And the apostles distributed the money to anyone who was in need. So, what an encouragement! Barnabus, here's a guy we meet in the early church in Jerusalem. This guy, he gets a nickname because he is an encourager.
Now. Go to Acts 7:58. This is when we meet Saul or Paul. It says in Acts 7:58, when they're killing Stephen, the first martyr of the church. “Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses lay down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.” So that's how we meet him. He's a persecutor of the church. He's a Pharisee of Pharisees. He is the leader of the killing of the first Christian. And we meet him as Saul. Now the two men meet together in Acts 9:27. So you can see that the story has been going on throughout the whole book. Go to Acts 9:27, after Saul meets Jesus on the road to Damascus, and after then he comes to Jerusalem, he wants to join the church, everybody's like, we're not welcoming Saul to church; get one of the other greeters to go talk to him. I'm not going to go welcome Saul to church. Well, who goes and greets in Acts 9:27-28, “But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So, he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.” Who's the one who extends the right hand of fellowship and brings Saul into the church? It's Barnabas. So here we see them meet, and Barnabas is like a guy who practices hospitality towards Saul, and this is the beginning of what up until our text has been a beautiful relationship.
Turn over with me to Acts 11:22, and we'll see the story continues, because they send Barnabas up to this new church in Antioch. When they hear about people believing in a church, forming in Antioch it says in Acts 11:22-223, “The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.” And Barnabas, “When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord, with steadfast purpose.” There's a word of encouragement for everybody today. Remain, stay faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. That's what Barnabas comes and he tells that church. But then look at Acts 11:25-26, “So Barnabas went to Tarsus,” which is over in a little beyond Antioch. “So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called…” what does it say there? The “disciples were first called Christians.” So, this is where we get our name from, is Barnabas going to encourage a church and grabbing Paul to come and do the church with him. And that's where we started with it, people started calling us Christians. Like these are the guys out there blazing the trail together. I mean, are you feeling how heavy it is that they would have such a sharp disagreement that they would separate?
I mean, hey, and the disagreement specifically is over this guy that we meet, and we meet him in Acts 12:12. This is just the first mention of him, “When he realized” this is Peter when he got miraculously broken out of prison and he went to the prayer meeting, the prayer meeting where Rhoda didn't open the door, if you remember that prayer meeting. Right? The prayer meeting where they're praying for Peter, and then Peter shows up and they're like, Nah, we don't believe it. Everybody remember that prayer meeting? Right? Well, when that prayer meeting, look at Acts 12:12, “When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name was…” what? “Mark.” So, everybody, their name changes. I'm sorry if that's confusing for everybody. All right? But we go from Joseph to Barnabas, from Saul to Paul, and it's going to refer to him as John, but we really know him as Mark. And the first reference we get to him here is, hey, something happened at his mom's house. But we get more about him in Acts 12:25, “Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.” So, he's going to use John but because that's how he was going, maybe at this time, but he wants us all to know, we are more familiar with him as Mark. And they bring him with them.
And then you can see in Acts 13, the Holy Spirit says in Acts 13:2, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” And so, we're going to send out Barnabas and Saul now on what becomes known as Paul's missionary journeys. And why do we call it Paul's missionary journeys when it's Barnabas and Saul being sent out? It's because after journey number one, they separate, and we just follow Paul, and it's almost like by many people, Barnabas is forgotten, because that's how brutal this separation is. But when they are sent out, maybe you didn't notice this before. But look at Acts 13:5. It says, “When they arrived at Salamis,” which I always think is salamis, “When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had…” who to assist them? Who goes out with them? It's our guide, John, we really know his other name is Mark, but then you go down to Acts 13:13. And this is where it all begins right here. “Now Paul, and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem.” Dan dan dan da.
So that's where the whole disagreement is going to come from. What do we do with John, whose other name is Mark, because we brought this guy along with us, and then he bailed on us. And now we're going to get ready to go out again and encourage all the churches, and Barnabas, the son of encouragement, he's like, let's bring John Mark with us. Let's give him another chance. And Paul's over here saying, why would we bring that guy with us when he bailed on us last time. Boom, there's the separation right there.
So go back now to Acts 15. Now that we see the whole history, how we're building up to this, we need to pay careful attention to how Luke writes this because Luke writes this in a very careful way. And he's inspired by the Holy Spirit. And this might actually teach us something very valuable about disagreements in our own lives. Look at, after we see, Acts 15:37, after we see they're going to go back out to strengthen the churches, Acts 15:37-38, “Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.” So, notice how Luke presents it. Barnabas had this thought, Paul had this thought, basically Barnabas is like, let's bring Mark, Paul is like, we're not bringing Mark, he already withdrew from us. Then they have a sharp disagreement. They separate. Barnabas takes Mark, he goes to Cyprus, that's where they went first, that's where he's from. Paul, he takes Silas . He goes to the other churches that they got started that aren't on the island, that are on the mainland. He goes and strengthens those churches. So, notice how Luke presents this. He presents it like Barnabas had a side, Paul had a side, and Luke's not saying which one was right, or which one was wrong. He's just saying there were two sides, and they had a disagreement, and they went their separate ways.
So, let's get this down for point number one: Understand there is more than your side. Understand there is more than your side. Other Christian people have legitimate perspectives that are different than your opinion. Does anybody want to say Amen to that in America today? Right? Okay. So, you are not right about everything, and you don't have the exclusive opinion on everything. How about that for a sermon, right? I mean, this is wisdom. This is wisdom. The Proverbs 18:17 would be a good reference to write down under this observation about how Luke writes about it that Barnabas has a side he's got a thought, and then Paul's got a side, he's got a thought. And we're not saying in this passage like, well, Barnabas… look at both their sides, but nothing is being said about one side being better than the other, someone being right or wrong. But proverbs 18:17 says, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”
How many of us here, I wonder, have been had because we heard one side, and we believed it. Anybody ever been had like that before? Yeah, it happened to me a few times. And then I started learning. Alright? Everybody seems right when you hear one side of the story. Then there's this thing that comes in and it hits you like a ton of bricks. It's called facts. I don't know if that's ever happened, right? But like somebody else starts giving their side, and then you realize, whoa, maybe the truth of these two sides might even be somewhere in the middle. Wow. Okay. So there's a lot going on here in this marriage disagreement. And these Christians, who don't see eye to eye on this particular issue, like, whoa, when I heard just one perspective, I was really understanding what they were saying. But now that I hear the other side to it, oh, wow, there's actually a lot to consider. And I wonder if you're somebody who really listens to other people, or if you're someone who just starts digging a trench? Do you know what I'm talking about? Like, there's two types of conversations. One is when people are exchanging information, someone is saying something that they think, and the other side is listening, they are receiving.
See, I was a communications print media major in college. And I found out that sixty five percent of our communication is nonverbal. So, there you go, you just basically got half the degree right there. And the other thing I learned is that people are sending messages, and people are receiving messages. That's not what's happening in a lot of conversations these days. While someone else is speaking, I'm just digging my trench on my side, and just storing up ammunition. So as soon as they're done, I've got a whole lot more winning talking points to blow them away with. People aren't trying to understand one another and hear other people's perspectives. People aren't like, well, Barnabas had a point, and Paul had a point. People are like, I've got a point and you're wrong. Look, people are arguing about things that you cannot prove from the Bible, somebody is right or wrong about. So, we need to listen to what other people are saying. There's not enough listening going on in the church in America, because so many people think, well, my side is right, and they don't really give. I'm talking about a Christian, I'm talking about somebody, they've done ministry with somebody they go to church and fellowship with. And now they find themselves having a disagreement, and they don't even give their own brother or sister a chance to talk about it? That is not what God wants for his people. You find yourself disagreeing with somebody who's your brother or sister in Christ, you need to understand they have a side, they have a way that they think about it, and you need to hear them and listen to them, and not just bulldoze them, or double down on your own personal opinion. There are two sides, and your side might seem right, but then you get more information from the other side. There's wisdom in that.
And so, I think this is a tough text to talk about, not only because this is personal; this is real. When we think about Barnabas and Paul separating, we think of brothers and sisters that we've seen that with in our own life. But it's also a very tough text for us because people want to say, well, I think Paul was right. And people want to say no, I think Barnabas was right. And the text does not say that one of them was right, and one of them was wrong. And in fact, what I want to do with you right now is let's try to examine both sides. Why is Barnabas thinking what he's thinking? And why is Paul thinking what he's thinking? And is it possible that they both have good, true biblical reasons for taking the side that they have taken?
Let's start with Barnabas’ side and let's go to Colossians chapter 4. This is a little tidbit we pick up about Mark, not in the book of Acts. So, the thing that it really breaks my heart is that that's the end of Barnabas in the book of Acts, everybody. That's it, he separates, he goes to Cyprus. We know nothing else about Barnabas after that point in Scripture. For a guy who's the son of encouragement to go out separating from the person he's most famous for encouraging, what a brutal thing for how the story of Barnabas ends. But we get this in Colossians 4:10. We do have a reference here to Barnabas and it says, if you're looking at it with me, Colossians 4:10, “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him).” Hmm. So, Barnabas and Mark were cousins. Now we've all had that cousin. Everybody know what I'm talking about? We've all had somebody in our family that has led us down maybe more than once. But because they're our family, do we give them another chance? Sometimes we do. So, Barnabas is the son of encouragement. I mean, he's reaching out to Paul, when everybody else is sketched out by Paul, he's going to find Paul when Paul has fallen off the radar. He's coming to encourage churches in Antioch, and he wants to go out and start new churches. I mean, this guy is all about giving people chances and seeing what God is going to do. It should not surprise us at all that Barnabas is on the side of, let's give this guy another chance. That is completely consistent with everything we know about Barnabas. And where would Paul be if Barnabas didn't give him a chance? Where would you be if brothers and sisters didn't give you a chance? So, to say that Barnabas is wrong when he's given Mark a chance, and is he doing it because he's his cousin? Well, I don't know. That's an interesting tidbit. But we know what Barnabas was all about. Barnabas is known for his encouragement, and he didn't want his cousin Mark, who had withdrawn from the work to just stay in this place of doubt or despair or uselessness for the Lord. He wanted to encourage him and restore him and strengthen him and get him doing the ministry. And so, if this is the last time we're going to see Barnabas in the book of Acts, then this is a time for us all to say how are you doing when it comes to encouraging your brothers and sisters in the Lord? We said, this church we need to have a thousand Barnaby, we need to have a whole church full of people who will encourage one another to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. We said that a few chapters in Acts ago, a few months ago, are you a Barnaby here at the church? Are you encouraging other people.
Let's get this down for Barnabas’ side: Don't grow weary in the ministry of encouragement. Don't grow weary in the ministry of encouragement. If this is the end of Barnabas, he goes out the same way he came in, being the son of encouragement. That's how he went out. That's how he goes out. That's how he came in. And once you've written that down, don't grow weary in the ministry of encouragement, turn with me to Galatians chapter 6, Galatians 6:9-10. Express the reality that when you're trying to encourage people, you can grow weary. You can encourage your cousin, you can bring your cousin along. You can say to your cousin, I got this great idea. We're going to go on this trip we've been sent out by the Spirit, me and this guy Saul, you should come with us, Mark, you should come with us. This guy Saul is awesome. We're going to see God do amazing things. Come with us, Mark. Here's Barnabas encouraging him, and then Mark bails on him. And Barnabas, he doesn't say, done with my cousin, he continues to encourage him even though he has been let down by him. This is a real challenge for a lot of people. Do you continue to encourage people after they have let you down?
This is tough because the world today is saying that person's toxic. They don't agree with you get away from them, make them the enemy and protect yourself at all costs. That's what the world saying. That's creeped into the church, and a lot of Christians now are responding like that. Now I understand if you are really trying to encourage someone, and they don't have a heart for the Lord, and they don't want to hear it, and they're rejecting you. You're trying to reach out to them and they're like falling away, and they're saying, stop coming after me. I'm doing what I want to do. I'm not listening to you. At some point, you will be limited in how much you can encourage someone, but this is about your weariness to encourage. Did the encouragement stop because you stopped it, or did the encouragement stop because they rejected it? That's a big difference. Whether you gave up on them or they fell away. Look what it says here in Galatians 6:9-10. It says, ”let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season, we will reap, if we do not give up.” Now, what kind of good is it talking about?. “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of…” what does it say there, everybody? “Faith”. Especially to the church. So let's not get tired, let's not grow weary in doing good, especially to the people who are already having faith, the people who need to remain faithful with steadfast purpose. Don't stop encouraging one another.
The Greek word for encouragement is parakaleo, it means “to call alongside.” There are many different verses that encourage all of us to encourage one another because everyone needs encouragement. Hebrews 3:12-14, Hebrews 10:24-25. We quote these passages regularly around here because the church exists so we can encourage one another to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. That's what we're here to do. Okay? That's what all of us are called to do. And some people might have a gift of encouragement, they might be exceptionally encouraging, but every Christian is called to be an encourager of other Christians. And if you start encouraging other people who claim that they have faith in Jesus, they tell you, I believe in Jesus, you're like, great, let me encourage you. If you've ever tried to do that, you will find why he's saying, don't grow weary because it is hard work to encourage people. Everyone needs encouragement. Like, it's not like people, you just encourage them once, and they go forever after that. No, people regularly need to be built up. People regularly are having hard times and trials and discouragements and doubts and temptations. And we've got to be patient with them. We've got to come alongside and love them. I mean, this is why it says in 1 Corinthians 13:7, that “Love bears all things, believes all thins., hopes all things, endures all things.” Love never fails, because you're going to go through all kinds of things if you're trying to love people. And in fact, you're going to go on a trip, a trip of a lifetime, and your cousin is going to bail on you, and you're going to decide to bring him on the next trip. And you're going to stick with your sketched out cousin over your bro in the Gospel, Paul? Wow. That's not growing weary in encouragement. And I've seen so many people grow weary in encouragement. And I've seen them give up. Like they're talking to so and so and they're talking to so and so, and so this person doesn't seem to be responsive to their encouragement. Like, sometimes you're trying to encourage somebody to turn from sin and go one way, and as you're encouraging them, it seems like they're going the complete opposite way right in front of you. Like you're like, hey, I thought we just talked about going over here. And then I just watched you go right back over here. Like, what's going on? And, and it's hard work. And I see some people, they're like, they give up, they grow weary. And they were so close. And if they had just kept going, they would have reaped a harvest. Look what it says if you don't give up you will in due season reap a harvest. The promise is that the work you do for the Lord is not in vain. God will use you to bear fruit, if you don't give up there will be a harvest. And sometimes I see people where they're right at that point where it's hard to encourage other people, the people are not responding to their encouragement, and they're right at that point. Are they going to give up or are they going to keep going, and then they are going to see the harvest. And I've seen it go both ways. I've seen people get right there, and then give up and nothing happens. And I've seen people get to the point where they were almost ready to give up, and maybe they reached out to me or maybe they prayed about it. Or maybe they let me know about the situation and how hard it was, but they were going to keep going and then, all of a sudden, that person that they were talking to repented of their sins and believed in the Gospel, or all of a sudden there was a breakthrough, right when they reached the breaking point. That was what happened right before the breakthrough. And I wonder if, if we could all say that there were people that we knew we needed to encourage, and we grew weary, because we weren't seeing the fruit of it. And we gave up too soon in that encouragement.
That is something that could not be said about Barnabas. One thing we can say about Barnabas is from Acts 4:36 to Acts 15:31. This guy did not grow weary in encouragement, and we need to make sure that we're following Barnabas’ example here at our church. Everyone needs encouragement and you can take that phrase two different ways. What some people do is they flip that phrase around, and they start thinking, Yeah, I need encouragement. Who's encouraging me? I'm really thankful that Jesus Christ didn't take that attitude. Are you thankful as well? Like, I don't know if I've said this before, if you've heard me say this before, but I don't know what kind of ads you get on Facebook, but I get pastor ads. Have you heard about this before? I got this new ad that popped up. And it's like, hey, you want to know why so many pastors burn out? And then there comes a question, like, you're serving so many people. Next thing, but who is serving you? I'm like, oh, here's an interesting Facebook ad telling all pastors, how much are you thinking about yourself? Who's serving you? My immediate answer was who's serving me? Jesus Christ is serving me. How about that? How about the Son of Man laying down his life for me? How about the Son of Man teaching me it's more blessed to give than to receive? Everyone needs encouragement, the way we should all be taking. That is, who can I give it to? Who do I know that needs it? That's how everybody should be taking that. There's so much self-seeking. Yeah, who is encouraging me, that's a great. I mean, if somebody really went down the road of who is serving me, who is encouraging me, who is loving me that that's going to lead you to a selfish perspective. And that's a very dangerous way of thinking. That Facebook ads are coming after me with yeah, who is serving you? No, we're here to encourage one another. And as we do encourage one another, we see a harvest if we don't give up, and we find a blessing in giving rather than in receiving.
And so, Barnabas went out encouraging a guy that there was good reason to be concerned about because he had bailed on them on their previous trip. And so go back to Acts 15 and let's examine now Paul side, because Paul has a point here. And we've now kind of examined Barnabas’ side of things. We'll look at Acts 15:38. This is Paul's thinking. Right? So, it's explaining to us their thoughts here. It's trying to give us a picture of the two sides. I love the way that Luke writes it and hopefully now we can understand Barnabas’ side a little bit. Well, okay, let's try to understand Paul's side. Why would Paul not want Mark to go with them? Well, we get it right here in Acts 15:38, “Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn,” he had pulled back “from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.” I mean, hey, why would we bring a guy on this trip who on our last trip that we just went on left us in the lurch? Why are we then on next trip like, oh, let's bring him right back with us? Like, I don't think that's a harsh or judgmental kind of reasoning. I think that actually makes a lot of common sense, or rare sense, as we're calling it these days, right? Like, hey, somebody didn't pass the test of the first trip. Do we just automatically invite him to the second trip? I mean, are we just handing out participation trophies, where everybody can just go on any kind of trip they want here in the church? And I don't know how they would think about this. Was just anybody welcome to go with them? Or were only leaders in the church going with them? I don't know exactly what the criteria was on whether someone was qualified to go on one of these trips with Barnabas and Paul or not, but I know what the qualifications are about who should be a leader here at our church or any church. And not just anybody can sign up and say, I want to be a leader in the church of Jesus Christ.
Turn with me to 1 Timothy, chapter 3, everybody. Let's go there. 1 Timothy, chapter 3. And I think this is so relevant to our church. I think this probably happens at every single church. Maybe it's happened at a church that you've been at before, where people are going to disagree about who should be a leader in the church. There's going to be a church split, and people are going to say, well, we think so and so should be the pastor and other people are going to say, we think this guy should be the pastor. Or there's going to be where somebody in the church says, I want to be a deacon, I want to be a pastor make me a leader and the elders and deacons, they look at the person and they say, yeah, we don't think that person's ready to be a leader. That could cause a disagreement in the church. People might even leave the church over the fact that they didn't get chosen to be a leader in the church. So, this to me, the fact that it's like we got John Mark, he's already done this, now there's the opportunity to do this. Should we bring him or not? This is not like, oh, some situation that they would only have back then. This question is going to come up continuously in any church you ever go to, who should be the elders and the deacons, the official recognized leaders of the church, who should be these people, and there might be some disagreements about whether this person should be a leader in the church or not. And 1 Timothy 3 gives us a lot of clarity about how to think about leaders. Let's read through it here together. 1 Timothy 3:1, “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer,” and this word overseer, we usually call them pastor, perhaps the most common word is elder. But if you look at like 1 Peter 5, it makes it very clear overseer, elder pastor, we're all talking about the same group of men who oversee and shepherd the flock, the team of elders. 1 Timothy 3:2-7, “Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity, keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.”
Has anybody here ever seen a recent convert become a pastor in a church and it became a horrible thing at a church? Anybody ever seen that before? See, there's clear criteria, at least for us as we're doing church today here in Huntington Beach. The same criteria exist for every church and every language all over planet earth right now. There is a standard for who should be recognized to be these men that are leading the church. And there are certain things… I mean, look how bad this can go, if you put somebody in a position of leadership who is not qualified to be there. I mean, all of a sudden, I thought this was about how to do church, and we've got these intense phrases like this person is going to “become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.” I don't think we would wish that on our worst enemy. “Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace into a snare of the devil.” We've got people who want to be pastors, who, if it's not done correctly, will fall into the condemnation of the devil, like they're not even saved, and they fall away, or they fall into disgrace, and they tarnish the gospel of Jesus Christ. And their reputation takes a hit from that point on. So, if you allow someone to be a leader who is not really qualified, as it says here, hasn't really proven themselves over time, doesn't really have this above reproach reputation in their home, at their church, in their community. If you elevate someone to a position of leadership that should not be there, this could have disastrous effects for that person's soul. And for the Church of Jesus Christ, we should be very careful about who we're allowing to go around saying, they're leading the church of Jesus.
So, let's get this down for Paul's side, let's think this through: Don't compromise God's standard for ministry. Don't compromise God's standard for ministry. We want people, we want to encourage people, we want to encourage people to come and be a part of the ministry. We want to encourage people to be doing this and praying about that, but we can't just say, oh, because you want to do something, therefore, you automatically get to do it. There are going to be times when people want to do something, and the leaders need to tell that person, hey, you're not ready for that yet. Now's not the time for that yet. Yeah, we're not going to move you into that spot yet. So, the idea that Paul decided that at that moment, Mark was not ready to go on this trip. That might actually be a very wise decision that Paul is making. And that decision is going to need to be made or people will fall one, into the condemnation of the devil, two, into disgrace, and the snare of the devil. I don't want anybody falling into either one of those things. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that?
So yes, do the leaders of the church need to be careful about who becomes a leader in the church? And might there be people who want to do that, and they need to be directed with Scripture that perhaps they need to be encouraged that God's got more work to do in their life before they're really ready to be a leader? Look at 1 Timothy 3:8-9 because there's this other group of people that don't get the same height as the elders. Look at the deacons. We want to make sure everybody knows about the deacons. “Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongue, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” And look at this. Can everybody, if you're with me out there online right now, can you underline 1 Timothy 3:10. If you're able to take notes at all, 1 Timothy 3:10-13, “let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives…” now we're talking about lady deacons “likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.” What a standard, “faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children in their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.” Okay, so there's this group of people, they are not the elders, they are both men and women. And they are deacons. Deacon is the word for service or ministry. Okay? Both English words service and ministry come from the same Greek word diakonos. so when it tells you to serve, or you to do the work of ministry, it's telling everybody to go and deacon, and as people go and deacon, some people, they pass the tests, they prove themselves blameless. As they serve, everyone can recognize, look at the way that person is serving, they're serving in such a way that we should recognize them as a deacon because they are officially recognized now as servant or minister in the church.
And see, in America, it's become this whole idea of like, well, there's people who work on staff, and then there's people who just serve In the Bible it's not like that. There are like elders and then there are deacons. And the real difference between these two groups is not how they live their life. Everybody here is supposed to be living in an above-reproach kind of way, husband of one wife kind of way, managing your household. I mean, the standards here are the same for everybody, just the elders are able to teach, and the deacons are recognized for their serving. But notice 1 Timothy 3:10, it says, “let them also be tested first.” So let me ask you Compass HB, my brothers and sisters who are at home right now, not with us here. Should we let anybody be a deacon or a leader at this church unless they've been tested first? What does everybody think? No, it says they have to be tested first. And if we applied that… I don't know what Mark is doing that he would be considered to be a deacon like we would consider it here. But if we apply that idea right there, let them also be tested first, has Mark passed the test up to this point? The answer would be No. So, should Mark be going on the trip? That makes a lot of sense why Paul would think that. I really understand. I mean, this guy got stoned, big heavy rocks thrown at him to crush his skull, he got dragged out of a city and left for dead, he got up and walked back into the city. When you're rolling like that, you can't be bringing along bros that you wonder if they've really got your back or not. I mean, ministry gets intense. If you're going to try to encourage people and love people, it is way harder than anyone acknowledges. And the worst possible scenario would be to walk into a place where you got to really help people and people don't even have your back
So, it's clear, you‘ve got to pass the test if you want to be a leader in the church of Jesus Christ. And Mark did not pass the test. Therefore, if Paul is saying, I don't think we should bring Mark. Actually, there's a lot of merit to that side of the disagreement. This is what makes for good disagreements. Both sides have something Scriptural to say. That's going to be a hearty disagreement, because they're both convinced that the Scripture is on their side. That's what we have here with Barnabas and Paul. We’ve got people sticking to their guns. And they're both making decisions based on things we know to be true about them, based on things we know to be true for the Word. But here's the thing I want to make very clear to everybody here at Compass HB. We have standards for the elders here and if you ever have a problem with an elder, feel free to call them out according to this standard. We have standards for the deacons here. If you ever have a problem with a with a deacon, anybody full time on staff, anybody leading a fellowship group, they are deacons here at this church. You’ve got a problem with one of them? Feel free to call them out according to this standard. But there is a standard not just for leaders in the church. There is a standard to be the church
Look at what it goes on to say in 1 Timothy 3:14-15, “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” Here's Paul writing to Timothy saying, Timothy, who we're going to meet in Acts 16, who becomes his true son in the faith, his disciple. He loses his brother Barnabas and then, right away, he's going to pick up Timothy, and we're going to see that transition. But when he's saying to Timothy, I want to come and see you, Timothy. I mean, when you read Paul's letters, Paul wanted to be with the people. Like this whole situation we're in right now, where so many people are home sick, this really would have bothered Paul. He didn't like being apart from his brothers and sisters. He liked being with them. And he says, hey, I want to come and see you. But if I don't come and see you, if I can't instruct you face to face, I want to be sure to write this. Because there are standards for how people conduct themselves in the Church of Jesus Christ. You cannot claim to be a Christian and just conduct yourself the way of the world, that should not be tolerated in the church. If people want to keep sinning like the world, and keep claiming they believe in Jesus Christ, that sin needs to be confronted. And if they don't want to turn from their sin, then they need to be held to the standard of the church. I mean, everybody here, if you're saying, I'm a Christian, well, then we at this church and this book are going to expect that you are walking worthy of the gospel. Can I get an Amen? I know this isn't a big Amen.
These days, I mean, most churches, they're like, you can say whatever you want, and do whatever you want. As long as you keep coming, we're happy with you. We're not saying that here. We're saying, if you're coming and claiming to be a Christian, we're going to hope to see the fruit of salvation in your life. And as we learn the Bible together, we want to see you grow and mature in your faith. And if you come here, and over time, it's still the same sin that you've always been doing, and there's no repentance, yes, we are going to bring that up, and we are going to talk about that, because there is a standard for how everybody should conduct themselves in the house of the Lord. And I can't let you break the standard, because you're my cousin, or my friend, or somebody that I really like. There's a standard that goes beyond personal relationships, there's a standard that even if somebody's your cousin, even if you've known him from back in the day, even if you went to college together, whatever it is, this person is my bro. If they don't live up to this standard, I can't act like everything's okay. That's what it means to be a Christian. It means that your relationship with Jesus takes priority over all other relationships. And if Jesus says, this is a command to be obeyed, and somebody doesn't want to obey that command, that's going to be a problem in the church of Jesus Christ. So, there's a way that people need to conduct themselves, and the leaders, they can't be leaders unless they are living that way. But everybody is called to live a certain way in the church, to live out a new life where we put off our old ways before we met Jesus. And we put on the new life where we put off the things of the flesh, and we put on the love, joy, and peace of the fruit of the Spirit. That's for everybody.
So, there is a standard. When you say I'm a Christian, you're now being held to a standard, according to the Scripture. And if you say I want to be a leader in the church, well, there's a standard for who should be a leader. And not everybody's going to pass that test. In fact, we're doing a lot of people a favor if we tell them you're not ready. Hey, we want to keep encouraging you, we want to keep working with you, but you're not ready right now to be a leader. If we said that, that sounds intense, Paul, that's intense. Why don't you love Mark, Paul? Why aren't you letting Barnabas’ cousin, sfter all Barnabas has done for you, you're not going to let his cousin now come on this trip? What why? Where's the love, Paul? Well, there's a standard that needs to be upheld, according to the Scripture for how people conduct themselves. And if people don't pass the test, they should not be in leadership. So go back with me to Acts 15. We've examined both sides, and we're thinking it through. And right here, it just says there's a sharp disagreement and they separated from each other. And it has this finality to it here in the book of Acts. That's the end of Barnabas. We're done with Barnabas.
But that is not the end of the story according to the Scripture. Okay? There's one more passage that ,in fact, you should even write it maybe, if you ever write in your Bible, or if you're taking notes. Right above point number two, you should definitely write down 2 Timothy 4:11 because there's this disagreement. Barnabas wants to encourage Mark, Paul is saying, he has not passed the test to come with us. So, they have the sharp disagreement. They go their separate ways. Maybe this painful disagreement is used by God for the good of more people, hearing the gospel or being encouraged. It doesn't say it was good here in this text. But it does say, if you want to go to 2 Timothy 4:11, or make sure you write it down. This is the last writing we have from Paul. Towards the very end of his last letter, he says, “Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him to me, for he is very useful to me for ministry. One of the last things that Paul is quoted as saying is “Get Mark because he's useful for ministry.” Wow. So, in the end, did Barnabas and Paul come to an agreement? Seems like they did. Seems like it took some space and time for it to work out. But whatever this sharp disagreement was, whatever the separation was, in the end, Barnabas and Mark, Paul and Silas and Timothy, in the end, they're all on the same team. And you can't find anybody talking bad about anybody else. How many Christians do you know who are out there disagreeing and in the end, they're all on the same team? Not many these days. Can you imagine if Barnabas and Paul had this beef on Christian Twitter? Can you imagine what would happen out there? Today, this would go down: team Barnabas, team Paul. When people examine the issues, when people look for biblical wisdom, when people be like, well, what does the Scripture say about this? People today rarely care what the Scripture says. What does Barnabas say? I'm on Team Barnabas. What does Paul say? I'm on Team Paul, like, I'm following this guy, or I'm following this guy. But these two guys who are the ones that people should be following, when they disagree with one another, in the end, they can still be useful in ministry together, they can disagree and still do ministry together.
Let's get that down for a number two: Disagree, so you can still do ministry together. Don't let the disagreement become a division. You can have differences of opinion. Maybe those different thoughts even lead you to go in different directions, but if this person is your brother or sister in Christ, you should disagree with them in love, like you are still the family of God, and they are still the Church of Jesus.
I need everybody to turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, because this was a church that ended up with so much division. And I want to show you that he's going to address division in 1 Corinthians There is so much sin in First Corinthians, so much division in the church, but I want to show you the first cause of division that Paul immediately goes after. This is 1 Corinthians 1:10. And what Paul is going to say is one of the main reasons Christians disagree is they're following men rather than God. That's the issue that he's going to hit up right here. 1 Corinthians 1:10, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” See, if we've all been saved by the same gospel, and we're all reading the same book, hopefully, over time, our mind is being renewed into the perfect will of God and we are becoming more and more like-minded, more and more in agreement, he's saying, I wish that all of you would agree that you would be thinking the same way. You're all in Christ. You're all in the Word. You're all in the church. Let's come together. 1 Corinthians 1:11-13, ”For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
See, they had the problem back then that we have today, where people think they're right because some famous Christian has their position. And if you get into debates, if you get into disagreements, if you start talking theology with Christians, a lot of their arguments are well, I read so and so, and they said this. People aren't quoting chapter and verse; they're quoting somebody's book and what that person said. And they started debating. And Paul, who's one of the people that people are claiming to follow, though they're also following Apollos, they're also following Cephas, some are like, oh, I'm not in that, I'm following Christ. He's like, hey, timeout. Are we on the same team or not? Like, are you out there, one saying people aren't Christians? That's something you’d better ever be careful about saying. That's not something you should be going around saying. And then are you out there talking bad about other people who are real believers? Think about that. That people down here are saying bad things about other Christians on planet earth when God is pleased with those people in heaven. You don't want to be smack talking somebody on earth, and God's on their side in heaven. We’ve got to stop following people. We're not trying to get anybody to follow me. We're not trying to get anybody to follow Compass. We're trying to get people to follow Jesus Christ. That's what it's about. Okay.
I mean, there was this exciting thing that happened in the history of where we live in Southern California. There was this exciting revival that took place in the 70s. We have people here at this church that got saved because people evangelized them on their college campus. I mean, it was It made national news. Everybody knew about it. It's in the history books of America. And you know, what you hear today, you hear things like, well, I follow John MacArthur, well I follow Chuck Smith, I thought it was called the Jesus Movement, everybody. So many people dividing over who they're following, when we're all supposed to be reading the same book and putting our faith in the same Lord. Why do Christians disagree so much? Because they're not all following Jesus, they're following one another. And that's where a lot of the disagreements come from. And Paul, he's going off on it right here. And he said, I know why you guys disagree. It's because some of you think you're following me and some of you think you're following Apollos. Let's think about this. Are we all on Team Jesus? Because Team Jesus, I'm pretty sure, we all got on this team the same way.
You know, this has been just a crazy week for us here at the church, just a brutal hard week. And after seeing so many people get sick, how am I standing here? Negative? Like, it just makes no sense to me. And when people ask me, how are you doing? I just say, I don't understand it. I've seen so many people test positive, and then I'm double tested negative. How is that possible? And I've said that to so many brothers and sisters in every single time they come back with the same one-word answer. I heard it on a text message. I heard it in this room earlier today. I heard it from some of our brothers serving up the chicken nuggets in the drive thru of Chick fil A today. Grace, Grace. Like, how did you get on the team? You're saying that you're one of the saved people in a world that is perishing? And make no mistake, the world is perishing all around us. And you're saying, I'm one of the ones who have been saved, I'm one of the few, I'm one of the chosen people of God. And then you want to spend your time ripping on some of the other few? How did we get to be here?
We're saying that Jesus left heaven for us, that Jesus went through a painful, bloody death for us, that someone brought the Gospel of Jesus straight to us. And we believed it, we turned from our sin, we have a new life. There's only one reason that you and I would be testing negative for sin here today, when it's all around us, it’s grace. And how are so many people who would all say that they are saved by grace, just ripping on each other every single day? No wonder they don't know we're Christians because they sure aren't seeing it by our love. And these guys, they had a sharp disagreement. They stood with their convictions, they separated, and in the end, they were still doing the same ministry together. In fact, Mark, he was useful to Paul. Paul and Mark, they did good ministry together. In fact, Mark, he wrote, rewrote this thing called the gospel of Mark. Think it worked out because when they disagreed, they didn't divide? It's a big difference between disagreeing with somebody and dividing against them. Let's make sure that we're all on Team Jesus.
So, I'm going to ask if everybody who's able to if you'll stand, and we're going to close with a song right now, because we want to remember how we all got here. We all got adopted into this family. We all got purchased by the same blood. So, we're going to sing one of our favorite songs to sing and this is going to conclude our service. Because this is the story of your life. How did you get here? How did you get to be on this team Jesus? There's only one word that could answer that question. So let me pray for us, and then we'll conclude with this song. Thanks for being here.
Father in heaven. It's hard for us to think through the disagreements that Christians have, it's hard for us to really wrestle with the idea of Barnabas and Paul separating. And it feels painful because maybe we know somebody where that happened with us, or we saw it at a church, and the split of the church, the division of the people that it left some nasty scars in our heart. And God, I pray that you would teach us from this example of a sharp disagreement, of this example that these men, they had strong thoughts, they had two sides, but they were still useful to do ministry together. And I pray that that would be true here at Compass HB. I pray that when we disagree, we will hear one another out. We won't just keep digging our trench, but we'll listen to one another. I pray that we could come to understand other people's positions, that we could come to even acknowledge that Christians can have different thoughts about the same issue without one of them being right or wrong. And I pray that you will really teach us that, even if I do disagree with that person, and even if that means we're going to separate right now, I don't need to speak evil of them. I don't need to talk to them about them with somebody else. I don't need to act like, well, I'm done with them. But I still need to love them as a brother. I still need to pray for them as a member of the family. God help us to see we all got here the same way—by grace.