BY GREG CRUM
“And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” Acts 4:36-37
Here in the fourth chapter of the book of Acts, we read of the introduction of one of the New Testament’s most underrated heroes—Joses the Levite, a man whose encouragement to others was so legendary that it prompted a name change and, more importantly, changed the course of the life of others, and made a mark on the history of the early Christian church.
Now, Joses was born into a family of ministers, a Levite, a modern-day “preacher’s kid,” and being a Levite, he must have grown up around the service of the Lord. Other than this, we don’t know much about his youth, but we do know that by the time we read of him in Acts 4, he was a generous man. We can conclude that generosity must have reached beyond the material.
What do I mean?
Well, Barnabas must have been generous in his encouragement to others as well. You don’t get the nickname “son of encouragement” (modern translation of the word “consolation”) for nothing! Sure, Barnabas invested material resources into the lives of his brothers and sisters in the Lord, but he didn’t stop there. He must have been pretty skilled in finding those that were in need of a pick-me-up and doing just that for them!
With that said, because of Barnabas’ generosity with his encouragement, we can know a bit about his outlook on life and on people in general. We know that Barnabas had to have had a fairly rare outlook concerning people. He had to have been able to see more good in people than what they currently displayed. In order to always be encouraging others, he had to have been able to see them and their potential through the eyes of faith and God! Now, these conclusions are more than just a psychological analysis; it’s actually the record of him that we have in the Bible as well.
In Acts 9:23-28 we can read further of Barnabas and his encouraging ways. Here we see that it was Barnabas that saw something in Saul (who would be later known as the Apostle Paul), and that “something” he saw made him take a huge risk and embrace Saul. At a time when everyone else thought of Saul as Christian enemy No. 1, Barnabas saw Saul as the Lord did—as a chosen vessel to bring honor to Christ and to bring help to the early Church. How did that risk pan out? Yeah, still to this day, no one has spread the Gospel of Jesus to the extent that Paul did, and it was possible, at least in part, because at a crucial time someone named Barnabas chose to encourage a young brother in the things of the Lord.
Now, if all that Barnabas did in his life was encourage Paul at that critical time in the history of the church, that would have been more than most people ever did for the Lord, but Barnabas wasn’t a “one-hit wonder.” No, he just kept on encouraging others. Evidently that’s just who he was determined to be! In Acts 11:19-26 we read that at the dawn of the expansion of the Church to the Gentile nations, Barnabas was there, encouraging others in a relationship with the Lord. In Acts 13:2, when it was time to take the message of Jesus to the larger Roman Empire, guess what? Yep, there was Barnabas, specifically chosen by God as a leader in this mission. Wonder why? No, you know! It was because he was devoted to bringing strength to others in their time of need! Finally, in Acts 15, when Barnabas saw something more in a boy named Mark than what was merited by his past actions, he risked his relationship with Paul and forged on in his encouraging ways. How did that turn out? Well, he and Paul parted ways, but you’ve heard of Mark, right? As in the Gospel of Mark!
Brothers and sisters, we all need encouragement from time to time, but more than that, we all need to take a page from the playbook of Barnabas and encourage others in their relationship with the Lord. You never know how impactful your belief in another can be. It can change a life and possibly help change the world!
Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple Church in Lovely.