37 - The Barnabus Model

This passage describes the missionary challenge in most of the world today: too many converts, too few pastors and teachers. The good news is people are coming to Christ in record numbers, but the bad news is there aren’t nearly enough trained people to take care of them. It’s as though someone went out into a wheat field and cut the ripe wheat, but then left it lying on the ground to spoil. Wheat needs to be bundled together and put into a barn. Cutting it is just the first step in the harvest.

It’s not enough to lead someone to Christ. They need to be established in their faith, and that takes a long-term investment. They need to be taught the Bible, prayed for, coached on how to live a godly life. To change metaphors, no one asks a newborn baby to go out and find food and feed itself. Babies need a loving family, and in the same way new believers (and old believers) need a loving spiritual family so they’re not facing the world, their flesh, and the devil alone. It’s not fair! It’s downright cruel to bring someone to Jesus and then abandon them. But that’s what’s happening because many don’t take responsibility for those they bring to Christ and because there aren’t enough pastors and teachers to care for God’s flock. 

The situation in Antioch is happening all over the earth today: huge numbers who have and will come to Christ, but no one to lead or teach them. To meet this need we’ll all need the heart of Barnabas, who, when he saw the “grace of God” at work, “rolled up his sleeves and began to teach them...” But who also went out and searched for Saul ‘til he found him.