36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (ESV)

The early Christians were not ‘stained-glass window’ saints. They were real, flesh and blood human beings. They could see things differently, and in the case mentioned here, Paul and Barnabas differed sharply. It seems typical of what we know of Barnabas, that he would want give his cousin, John Mark, a second chance. But Paul’s reasoning was understandable. He was unhappy that Mark had ”deserted” them (38) during their first missionary journey (Acts 13:13), although we do not know why he did so. Whatever, God over-ruled in this ”disagreement” so that there were now two missionary teams where previously there was one.

Tom Hale writes helpfully about this:

‘In one way, we are sad to read about the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas. We see their weakness. They are men like ourselves. Disagreements can arise even between good and godly men, and cause them to separate.

But, in another way, we can see a good side to this event. Paul and Mark were evidently not compatible with each other. It would have been unwise to force Mark to travel with Paul. We can guess that Mark’s spiritual development might have been thwarted if he had remained under Paul’s authority. But Barnabas believed that, in time, Mark would become a mature and effective disciple. Barnabas, more than Paul, would be able to help Mark grow spiritually. Thus we can see that it was to Mark’s benefit that he and Barnabas went off in one direction, while Paul and Silas went off in another..

We know that in the end Barnabas’ assessment of Mark proved to be correct. Later on, Mark became an important colleague of Peter. He wrote the New Testament Gospel of Mark. And even Paul’s opinion changed as time passed, because some years later Mark became one of Paul’s closest colleagues (Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 23).’

PRAYER: ‘Lord God, help me to be one who sees the best in others, believes the best about them, and reaches out to help and encourage the weak and straying.