The Book of Acts might well be a written for a church planter - so what is the end of chapter 15 (v36-41) teaching him as a church leader?
Theophilus' eye will certainly be drawn first to the surprising disagreement between two church planting legends and he'd be given a reality check (and reassurance) that good, godly, well-motivated gospel workers will disagree and that is not terminal and God can use the conflict for good. In particular the incident raises the important issue of who do you take onto your team. Is it wise to take someone onto the launch team of a new church who has proved unreliable or experienced significant 'church hurt' or is in some way in bad relationship with their former church or has inflated expectations that 'this time it will be different'? Many would caution extreme care having seen the way church plants can be a magnet for those with conflicting agendas and unresolved grievances, only for patterns of disfunction to be repeated and what seemed a welcome juniper/myrtle addition to the team turns out to be a thorn and brier. At the very least, Acts 15:37-39 reminds us that difficult conversations need to be had around these issues.
But what was fresh for me looking at Acts 15:36-41 again was to notice three ways in which Paul and Barnabas are actually in complete agreement in this passage - all of which are important reminders for church planters in particular and gospel workers more generally:
They agree on a concern for outcomes
Both Paul and Barnabas want to go back to the churches where they preached the word of the Lord to check how they are doing (v36). Though they end up leaving in different directions, they both head off to places where they have preached and planted churches (v39, 41) to see what's there. The point is that they were not satisfied simply with 'preaching the word'. Yes that was their chief activity. That was their means of mission. That was what presented Jesus before the world and brought the dead to life. But their great concern was: "How are the believers doing right now? How is their faith? How are the elders (Acts 14:23)? How is their maturity? How are their numbers growing (Acts 14:1; 21)?" Paul and Barnabas are farmers who are desperately concerned for the harvest (2 Tim. 2:6; Romans 1:13 cf. Matt. 9:37; John 4:35). Yes they absolutely must plough and sow good seed but what they're really concerned about is the fruit. To use Andrew Heard's language - they are not satisfied only with godly inputs but they are desperately concerned about godly outcomes.
They agree on the need for a team
They disagree on who should be on the team but agree that solo ministry is not an option. They are already Paul + Barnabas. By the end of the section there is Barnabas + Mark and Paul + Silas (soon to be Paul + Silas + Timothy + Luke). The picture of a church planter as a rugged (bearded) individual standing in a field on their own is totally unbiblical. We need to keep thinking team ministry.
They agree on a willingness to risk
They might order their values a little differently (reliability versus restoration) but both Barnabas and Paul are seeking to hold together wisdom and risk. They are not being recklessly thrill-seeking but neither are they being over-cautiously comfort-seeking (fear/complacency dressed up as prudence). Barnabas might appear to be heading to the safer option with John-Mark and admittedly it is home territory for him (Acts 4:36) but Cyprus is where there was incredibly intense spiritual warfare - sorcerers and curses and blindness (Acts 13:6-11) - which some commentators suggest was the cause of John-Mark jumping ship at the next port - so freaked out was he by what he'd witnessed. And now Barnabas is taking him back there! Interestingly church tradition suggests that Barnabas was eventually martyred on Cyprus. Paul, meanwhile heads north west towards the town where he was beaten almost to death (Acts 14:9; 16:1) and he soon winds up in distant Europe, in a Philippi prison (that Theophilus may know well).
Let's pray for more fruit from our preaching of the word of Jesus, for ministry teams united in Jesus and for our willingness to risk for Jesus.
More on Acts 15:36-41:
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