We like to use the word “adult” as a verb today. When we’re tired of our responsibilities we say, “I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like adulting today.”
In the Acts of the Apostles, a young man named John Mark failed at his first big chance to adult. He must have been honored when the Apostle Paul invited him on his first missionary journey. But halfway through, John Mark bailed. Life on the road got tough and he got homesick. He came from a well-off family (Acts 12), and John Mark had always known ease and comfort. He had never experienced anything so hard as life on the road, and he quit.
Paul refused to take him on his next journey. But a man named Barnabas invited John Mark with him on his own mission trip.
That second chance from Barnabas bore fruit. Twenty or thirty years later, Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:11, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” The young man who had failed Paul decades earlier had become a reliable laborer in God’s vineyard. In fact, he ended up writing a New Testament book that bears his name: The Gospel of Mark.
Do you think Mark would have ever turned out like that had it not been for Barnabas? I don’t think so.
Lauren Bacall once said, “I’m not a has-been; I’m a will-be.” When Barnabas looked at John Mark’s failure, he said, “He’s not a has-been; he’s a will-be. I’m going to keep working with him because I know God can use him.”
Barnabas lived up to his name. You see, his real name was Joseph (Acts 4:36). But everyone nicknamed him “Barnabas,” which is Hebrew for “Son of Encouragement.” Every time we see him in the Bible, he’s encouraging people.
Do you know of someone who could use your encouragement after a failure?
We’ll talk more about how to be an encourager this Sunday as I continue my series called “Reengage.” It’s your chance to reengage with some holy habits that bring life! Join me at 10am on campus or online.
--Tom
Sign up here to receive Tom Goodman’s weekly devotional in your email inbox. Tom serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter.