One of my Seminary professors said one day (or maybe many times, I don’t know, but this stuck with me), “No one of us is as smart as all of us.”
The growth of the Church in the first century was not something that one person accomplished. Yes, I know that the Holy Spirit was behind all of it, and I hope the Spirit still is; but look in this vignette at how many people came together to join with the Spirit.
Foreigners went to Antioch, in modern day Syria, and started talking about Jesus; people responded, a movement emerged there, and word traveled south to Jerusalem. Barnabas (I can really geek out on him—I plan on spending time with him when I get to heaven!) was sent to Antioch as something of a “theologian in residence,” and he saw what a good thing was growing there.
Barnabas then traveled to Tarsus where Saul lived (in a couple of chapters we’ll start calling him Paul), and the two of them spent a year in Antioch teaching people about Jesus.
Not many of us think about Paul having a mentor, but when you take a look at this story, that’s really what happened. Barnabas spent a year not only teaching the believers in Antioch, but pouring into Saul, as well.
We know what an impact Saul—Paul—had on the world. But did you realize that Barnabas played a big role in that? And do you know what his name means? “Son of encouragement” (see Acts 4:36).
The world was changed because one man encouraged another.