To me, the saddest verses in the Acts of the Apostles are where Paul and Baranabas split up forever. Acts 15:39-40 says: “And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.”
I’m not sad that there was an angry scism between these two Apostolic giants. (And make no mistake, Barnabas was a spiritual giant on par with both Peter and Paul.) Holy Ghost-filled humans are still humans. Both continued in successful ministries separately, probably respecting and admiring the other.
No, why these verses are so sad is because Luke didn’t follow Barnabas and John Mark. But if he did that, then Paul’s ministry would have been overlooked, you say? No one would know of this amazing missionary’s many triumphs! And that’s why I’m so sad. If only another Luke had followed Barnabas and John Mark to record their amazing miracles and multiplying revivals! Barnabas’ incredible minstry disappears from our minds because there was no one to record it. But he kept living and bringing people to Christ. Think how many more powerful chapters could have been added to the Acts of the Apostles if someone had done that!
Of all the multiple thousands involved in the First Century Church, only Luke seems to have recognized the importance of writing all of these miracles and wonders down. We think it must have been obvious - Acts is swarming with incredible spiritual events! - but evidently it wasn’t to the locals, because no one else wrote it down.
Luke was a physician by training, but a writer by calling. No one told him to do it. No one paid him to do it. But what if he hadn’t done it?
Humans have never had more tools to record stories than they do today. You can blog, video, tweet, text, snap, and email with the simplest effort. Our problem is the problem of the rest of the First Century Church—we don’t recognize the importance of what’s going on around us. What are the Acts of the Apostles in Tulsa, OK? What are the Acts of the Apostles in Denham Springs, LA? What are the Acts of the Apostles in Long Island, NY? What are the Acts of the Apostles in Montgomery, AL? What are the Acts of the Apostles in Chicagoland? Are we overlooking the Barnabas revivals in our lives just because we’re “busy”? Will future generations never hear of any local moves and miracles in 2010 because we don’t have the clarity to see what’s right in front of us?
It’s time for a generation of Lukes to arise and record that God is still alive and participating in the world today. Are you up for the challenge?
