Many convert to 'The Way'; Barnabas leaves

Maybe that was the news headline the day Barnabas walked away from Antioch.

Who knows? But can you imagine what this new, groundbreaking church must have been thinking when Barnabas walked away?

Let me set the scene. We're about a third of the way through the book of Acts and the church is still almost entirely Jewish. In fact, as Acts 11:19 informs us, the Christians outside of Jerusalem were "speaking the word to no one except the Jews." But that's about to change. At Antioch, we're about to see the real beginning of the Gospel finally going to the ends of the earth - to Jew and to Gentile. So (in Acts 11:20) when some Christians get together and share the message of Christ with some Gentiles here in Antioch, and "a great number" (11:21) of the Gentiles respond in faith, this is a watershed moment in the history of the Church.

(Interesting side note here: those preaching the gospel to the Gentiles in this passage go unnamed. How many times does that happen in the book of Acts? It seems that just some average Joe's head out to follow Christ's call to seek and save the lost ... interesting concept ...)

This mass conversion is so unprecedented that the news is heard a few hundred miles away in Jerusalem. So the big-wigs in Jerusalem send one of their own, Barnabas the encourager, up to Antioch to see what's going on and to help out.

This must've come as welcome news to the young church in Antioch. Now they'd have someone to help them grow. But, to their surprise I'm sure, Barnabas gets there, sees this growing and paradigm-shifting church, and walks away.

What would compel him to leave a place where God was doing so much work?

Simple, a rough-edged young convert named Saul.

Barnabas walked away from Antioch and the opportunity for instant successful ministry, seemingly trading the masses for a man. He left, traveling on another long journey, to head "to Tarsus to look for Saul" (11:25).

Ultimately, Barnabas and Saul return to Antioch and eventually are sent from there on their first missionary journey. Out of this movement, much of the New Testament was written, much of Europe and Asia-Minor was won to Christ, and historically the world has never been the same.

What's interesting for me to see, though, is Barnabas' willingness to leave this growing church for one man. Yes, Barnabas knew he would return. (Although I'm not convinced he knew for certain he'd find Saul and return with him.) But traveling took so long in those days and while he was gone he was missing crucial ministry time. He was leaving the mission to which he specifically was appointed!

Yet Barnabas believed in the importance of the man, he believed in the idea of bringing others with you into the labor and thus training and developing other leaders for the work of ministry.

Barnabas saw the best way to reach the world in developing one man.

How many of us would turn away from an opportunity for instant "successful" ministry in order to do what it takes to bring a rough-edged young believer into that work with us? How many of us see reaching the world through impacting one man at a time?

Barnabas did. And he must've left a profound imprint on Paul, who did the same thing later (2 Cor 2:12-13).

More importantly, Christ did. The more I read it, the more it seems all his time in the masses was aimed at developing the men around him, specifically Peter, James and John.

Would I do the same? Would you?