Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

42 - Young Mark

As Paul and Barnabas set out from Antioch on their mission, Luke briefly mentions they “also had John (Mark) as their helper.” He didn’t last long. No sooner did they leave the island of Cyprus and head toward the interior of Asia Minor than “…John left them and returned to Jerusalem.” The reason for this isn’t stated, but it’s some sort of failure because Paul’s confidence in him was shaken, and he wouldn’t allow him to accompany them on the next trip (Ac 15:36-40). Yet, this certainly wasn’t the end of Mark’s development into a minister of God. He kept on learning and growing. Barnabas, of course, didn’t give up on him. When Paul refused, Barnabas changed his own plans and took Mark with him to Cyprus where they probably revisited the believers they had led to Christ on the first mission (Ac 15:39). 

The point is, all young disciples make mistakes, as do older disciples. But the danger is greater for the young that they will be categorized as failures and cast aside. Someone, someone older, needs to believe in them, to pick them up, dust them off, and encourage them to keep growing. And most will, if they are cared for. The father-hand of God and the passing of time will do the rest. And then they will rise to a level beyond what anyone thought possible. Take Mark for example. Here in Acts he looks like such a failure, but that’s not the end of his story. Of all people, Paul, as he sits in Nero’s prison in Rome, awaiting his trial that would bring a death sentence, writes to Timothy, another young disciple who struggled with courage issues (2Ti 1:7, 8), and he said this, “Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you for he is very helpful to me for ministry” (2Ti 4:11). Clearly, Mark had regained Paul’s respect and earned his trust. Oh, and there’s one more thing we should mention: Mark wrote the first gospel, which provided a foundation for Luke and Matthew to write theirs. In other words, the kid who lost his nerve at Perga went on to strengthen for all time the entire church of Jesus Christ. Thanks Mark!

41 - Prophetic Guidance

The call to send missionaries came during a small gathering of church leaders. Five men, all of whom functioned as prophets and teachers, had set aside time to fast and worship. It appears the purpose for the meeting was to listen to the Lord. It also appears, from the casual way Luke describes it, that this sort of gathering was a normal part of life. He names the men: “Now among the church in Antioch there were both prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian (Ac 11:20), and also Manaen, the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch (Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, 4BC-AD39) and Saul.” Then Luke tells us what happened: “And while ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart to me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” And finally, he tells us how they responded: “Then, having fasted and prayed to prepare themselves, and having laid hands on them, they released them.”

Once again, these early believers are teaching us how to live out our faith. In this case, they show us how to wait on the Lord and receive guidance. Luke lists who gathered, describes how they listened, and he even reports how they responded. No subject is more important to a true believer. Our softened hearts long to do His will, but at times we still struggle to know His will. That’s why Luke’s picture of what took place in Antioch is such a gift to us. He’s given us a model of how the early church listened to God.

40 - Flattery and Complements

Every human being needs encouragement. Many of us are our own worst critic, so a sincere compliment or word of thanks can be like a “cup of cold water” to someone who’s thirsty. Of course, there are people who are proud, but in most cases, I think, much of that is bluff, or if nothing else the passing of time tends to humble even the best of us. Discouragement, self-hatred and shame become the enemies we wrestle with. So when someone speaks positively to us it can have a powerful impact…so powerful that if wielded by the wrong person such words can be used to control us. They can lure us into a strange state of self-deception in which we actually begin to believe what we’re being told. And if someone doesn’t rescue us by confronting us with the truth, it can ruin our personality and take away our effectiveness in serving God.

Luke’s account of Herod’s strange death allows us to watch a man fall prey to flattery. For years this man had pretended to be a devout Jew, yet when a crowd of people tell him he is a god, for a few seconds he believes it, for a few seconds he basks in their worship and in that few seconds God’s patience runs out. An angel strikes him and exposes the lie. Admittedly, Herod Agrippa’s death is bizarre, but the forces at play in that amphitheater aren’t. They are all too familiar. We’ve all felt the temptation to believe too much about ourselves, to receive flattery, because we are all in need of encouragement. How we speak to one another is of great concern to God. The Bible has much to say about this topic. So let’s learn from Herod’s example what to avoid, and then let’s learn how God wants us to compliment and honor one another.

39 - Choosing To Pray

Bad things happen over which we have no control, but we do have control over how we react to those events. We can plummet into despair or turn our hearts to prayer…real, passionate, focused prayer. There’s a disarming realism in this passage. Luke allows us to watch our forefathers and mothers face a tragic, confusing situation. Yet, in spite of their pain, they gathered to pray. They didn’t pull away from each other to lament though, of course, private prayer was a foundational part of every one of their lives. They responded to the horrible news that their dynamic leader had been shamefully beheaded by crowding into a house and then together “stretching out toward God” in prayer. They gathered, they focused, and they persevered, and because they responded this way they averted another tragedy and released a miracle that restored everyone’s confidence in God.

38 - Honoring Flawed People

Honoring people who deserve honor is easy. Most of us know people we deeply respect, and showing honor to them flows effortlessly from our hearts. The real challenge comes when we’re asked to honor flawed people, people who don’t live up to our expectations, people who’ve failed to do what they should have done. We ask ourselves, “How can I respect someone who hasn’t earned my respect? How can I love someone who doesn’t love me? How can I admire someone who looks down on me? How can I joyfully give to someone who only takes from me?” Indignation rises up inside us. We rebel at the mere suggestion that we should honor such people. Yet God loves it when we give honor, especially when we honor those who, from our human perspective, no longer deserve it. 

In this brief passage we observe a remarkable example of honor. A group of Gentile believers is taking up an offering for their poor brothers and sisters in Judea, yet some of those who were going to receive this gift hadn’t rejoiced at the news that Gentiles were being saved in Antioch. They were troubled by the thought that people who didn’t observe the Law of Moses were being welcomed into the church. The new believers in Antioch may not have been aware that these cultural barriers existed, but Barnabas and Saul certainly were. Yet they said nothing to discourage this generous act of love and happily carried their offering to the elders in Jerusalem. In spite of the presence of some very wrong attitudes, these men and women still deserved to be honored. And on behalf of this growing Gentile church, Barnabas and Saul gladly gave such honor to them. In doing so, they left a profound example for us to follow. Like the church in Antioch, we too are to give honor to whom honor is due (Ro 13:7)…even when it appears they don’t deserve it. 

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. 

36 - Clean

Peter is under attack. He’s having to defend himself. A sizeable and vocal group within the early church were deeply convinced that faith in Jesus in no way changed their requirement to observe the Law of Moses. They believed the statutes and ordinances in the Torah were meant to be eternal commands and therefore must be kept by anyone who wishes to be saved (Ac 15:1). And they were furious with Peter for two reasons. First of all, he had ritually defiled himself by entering a Gentile home and eating improperly prepared food. But second, and even more importantly, they were dismayed that he had actually baptized these Gentiles, because it meant he believed they were saved. By baptizing them, particularly as an apostle, he had welcomed them into the church. They were to be thought of as brothers and sisters. They were to be included in church gatherings. But in the minds of Peter’s accusers unless these Gentiles kept the ceremonial laws they were still “unclean” (Ac 15:5). By welcoming Cornelius’ household into the church Peter had opened the door for unclean people to sit next to them in a worship service, and if they touched them they, too, would become unclean. So as soon as he arrived in Jerusalem they cornered Peter and scolded him. And Peter’s only defense was to point to the fact that it was God, not he, who had welcomed these “unclean” people into His church. By baptizing them in the Holy Spirit, He proved that in His eyes they were perfectly “clean.” 

35 - Peter’s Revelation

While praying on a rooftop in Joppa Peter received an amazing vision. God spoke to him three times in that vision, but afterward he had no idea what He’d been trying to tell him. It had remained a puzzling mystery until the moment he stepped into the home of a Roman soldier. As he stood there looking at their faces and feeling God’s presence in the room, he instantly understood. In fact he finally understood something Jesus tried to teach him years earlier. So this was what He meant when He kept preaching about reaching Gentiles. He’d tried to understand, but it just never made sense before. Now, at last, he could see it, and it was so clear he marveled he hadn’t seen it before. Two days earlier when the messengers arrived at the gate he knew God wanted him to trust these strangers and go with them, so he left Joppa and came to Caesarea, and now here he was, only a short distance away from Herod Agrippa’s palace, in the living room of one of the officers of his palace guard. The sensation he felt at that moment was not unlike the time he stepped out of the boat and walked on water. It was both frightening and exhilarating at the same time. His life could be at risk, and he had to violate his conscience to even be here. After all, Jews weren’t supposed to be in Gentile homes. But here he was…and amazingly, Jesus was here too. And finally, he understood why. 

34 - Saul and Peter

Since its founding, the United States has been a predominantly Christian culture. Not that everybody was a good Christian, they weren’t, but by and large people did believe that Jesus is the Savior and the Bible is God’s Word. Obeying His Word was another matter. There was a consensus. We generally agreed on what we should or should not be doing. When opinions are polled today it seems there is still a majority who say they believe these things, though more and more qualifiers are being added. Yet in spite of what people may claim to believe, the United States as a culture is progressively rejecting its historical faith. And a growing number of people are becoming hostile to that faith. What may have worked in the past to bring “lost sheep” back to the fold doesn’t work with secular skeptics. With these, old fashioned evangelism often produces mockery or verbal abuse. The question many believers are asking today is, “Has America become hard ground? Are the days of soul winning here drawing to an end?”

The examples of Saul and Peter help us answer that question. During its first decades of life the church in Israel faced a culture much more resistant to the gospel than we do. They might have angry mobs gather or an assassination squad plan their execution. And the government provided them no protection. In fact, some leaders joined the persecution, if they thought it benefitted their careers. This was the culture into which Saul of Tarsus and Peter went to preach. Both men faced a hostile environment, but the way they ministered to it was very different. Their message was the same, but the way they proclaimed it was not, and as we will see from this portion of Acts, the way the people in that resistant culture responded was also very different. And if we observe them carefully they will teach us how to reach a changing America. 

33 - Trusting Saul

I recently met with a pastor and his wife and when the conversation finally moved to the topic on their heart the question they wanted to ask was this: How do you know who you can trust? They had gone through some painful experiences of betrayal, and admitted they had now emotionally withdrawn to protect themselves. They hadn’t seen it coming so they didn’t know what to do differently the next time. They said they had started out by being open and vulnerable with people, assuming the boundaries and matters of conscience which governed their own walk with God were at work in all Christians. There were things they just couldn’t think of doing because their conscience would make them miserable, and on top of that they feared the discipline of the Lord. But then they watched other Christians do those very things apparently without a trace of guilt or remorse. One of them said, “I just couldn’t do that, and if I did I would be miserable. Why can they? They hurt us and lied about us, and then went on as if they were the ones who’d been offended. I don’t understand. Where does Jesus come into this picture?”

I don’t know anyone who claims to be perfect, but some people come under conviction when they sin, and sooner or later they’ll admit the truth or apologize or make it right. Yet there are others who claim to be Christians, who go to church and believe all the right things, yet out of the blue they can do something grossly immoral, cruelly selfish, or coldly dishonest, and not show any sorrow. Years pass and they never make it right, and the worst part of it is, God doesn’t even seem to punish them. If being a Christian doesn’t make someone trustworthy, then what does? I really need to know, because when I trust the wrong people I get hurt.