#GOFAMINTDailyDevotion Sun. 31/12/2017
Quarter’s Theme: INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN THE CHURCH
UNIT 2 – Practising Interpersonal Relationship (Lessons 5-7)
ENLARGEMENT MONTH
Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 35, 55
Devotional Reading: ACTS 4:1-14
Topic For Adults
IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP TRANSFORMING OR DEFORMING
Topic For Youths
GOD IS GIVING YOU ANOTHER CHANCE
Topic For Intermediates
BE A CONDUCTOR NOT AN INSULATOR
Scripture Lesson
ACTS 4:32-37; 9:1-2, 26-31; 11:19-26; 13:2, 5, 13; 15:36-41; 1 PET. 5:13; 2 TIM. 4:9-11
31/12/2017 LESSON 5
TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
MEMORY VERSE
But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out (Acts 9:27-28) NKJV
DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING
Sun. 31/12/2017
Be Another Barnabas In Your Sphere of Influence
Acts 9:26-28; 15:36-41; 2 Tim. 4:9-11
From the passages read today, we have seen how God used Barnabas to transform the lives and ministry of Paul and John Mark through his interpersonal relationship with them. He risked his life in convincing the apostles that Paul was a genuine convert and this made Paul to be admitted into the body of Christ in spite of his negative antecedents against the church. What God had already told Paul during conversion about the ministry to the Gentiles came to reality through Paul’s association with Barnabas. Likewise, John Mark might have not been useful in the ministry if Barnabas had not given him another chance. God is expecting you to be another Barnabas in your sphere of influence. Identify people that you will personally mentor and influence positively for Christ. Identify those you will give advice to on what they can do to move forward in their secular jobs or businesses. I know that those people will not forget the good things you have done for them and heaven also will applaud and reward you for that.
Point of Emphasis: What you do today will become history and point of reference tomorrow.
Prayer Point: Lord, help me to be a channel that will influence the lives of others positively.
BACKGROUND
Interpersonal relationship, if properly handled, has lots of gains and privileges attached. It can transform the lives of all the parties involved in an unimaginable way. This week’s lesson looks at few of the gains, both physically and spiritually, that interpersonal relationship can bring into the lives of those who engage in it.
NOTES ON THE TEXT
PART 1: MATERIAL NEEDS ARE MET (ACTS 4:32-37)
One of the areas in which the transformational power of interper-sonal relationship can be seen is the provision of material needs. This is exemplified in the lives of the early church in Jerusalem. By virtue of the event of Pentecost, many people came to the Lord Jesus (Acts 2). Some of these people were diasporian Jews who only came for the festival, but refused to go back to their country because of the new found faith. When the food and money they brought for the festival were exhausted, they had to depend on the church for survival. However, the believers who were based in Jerusalem thought of assisting others and without being forced sold what they had and brought the proceeds to the apostles. The apostles then distributed the resources to the needy brethren according to the degree of their needs.
It must be noted that it is likely that there were some people in Jerusalem who had more pressing needs than those in the church. The apostles did not send anything to those people, rather they were concerned with their members. The reason for this is that they understood that once a person has surrendered his or her life to Jesus, he has become a member of God’s family on earth. All members of the body of Christ see themselves as children of the same parents, and this is why believers call themselves “brother” and “sister”. They believe that whatever happens to one person (whether good or bad) among them, happens to all. No one claimed ownership of possessions (Acts 4:32) because they had perfect understan-ding that God owns all things.
Among the members of the early church, there was a man who stood out, Joses by name. He was also named Barnabas by the apostles. The apostles probably gave him the name Barnabas, meaning son of encoura-gement, as a result of his activities among brethren. They noticed that he was a foreigner, being from Cyprus, and his liberality among the brethren was remarkable. He gave himself, his property and his all to the service of the Lord Jesus. He could not imagine seeing his fellow brothers and sisters starving when he had what he could sell to rescue the situation. He sold his land and brought the money to the apostles for distribution to the needy brethren. This is one of the gains of interpersonal relationship, especially among the people of God. God is expecting every one of us to be our brother’s keeper in terms of assisting one another material wise.
PART 2: GAIN OF INTERPERSO-NAL RELATIONSHIP: BARNABAS AND PAUL ACTS 9:1-2, 26-31; 11:19-26; 13:2
Paul, before his conversion, was a terror to the Church. He was part of those who stoned Stephen the first martyr (Acts 7:58). When persecution arose against the church, Paul was at the forefront of threatening and killing Christians, receiving letter of autho-rity from the religious leaders to arrest Christians (Acts 9:1-2). He was on his way to Damascus to carry out his devilish act against the Christians when he met with the Lord Jesus Christ and was converted (Acts 9). However, many of the brethren did not believe that Paul was genuinely converted because of his past antece-dents. That was why he was not received by the brethren in Jerusalem to be one of the disciples (Acts 9:26).
However, there was a disciple named Barnabas who developed interpersonal relationship with Paul. Having interacted with Paul and heard the testimony of his conversion, Barnabas took a step of becoming a guarantor for Paul. Barnabas took Paul to the apostles in Jerusalem and convinced them that Paul was a disciple indeed. Based on the positive antecedents of Barnabas among the brethren, the apostle did not hesitate to believe the testimony of Barnabas concerning Paul. This is one of the gains of interpersonal relationship. Having been received by the apostles, the churches in Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace, were edified, and multiplied, because of the risky step taken by Barnabas which was borne out of interpersonal relationship.
Furthermore, the relationship between Barnabas and Paul became deepened as they became partners in the ministry. When persecution broke out, some disciples went as far as Antioch preaching the Gospel. When news reached Jerusalem about the faith of Antioch believers, they sent Barnabas to go and visit them and encourage them. However, Barnabas saw that as an opportunity to develop Paul spiritually, he then sought Saul in Tarsus, and having found him, brought him to Antioch and they were both ministering to the people for about a year. It was recorded that there the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch, probably as a result of the great teaching of God’s word by Barnabas and Paul (Acts 11:19-26). The two people were in Antioch Church when God spoke through the Holy Spirit that Barnabas and Paul should be separated unto Him for the great mission to the Gentiles (Acts 13:1-2). Reading through the Acts of the Apostles, one can confirm that Paul was greatly transformed by coming in contact with Barnabas and that he was called apostle to the Gentiles. Indeed, One-third of the New Testament books are credited to him, and many other great things he did for God. He is still a blessing to the body of Christ till today. All these achievements were made possible by the grace of God, and by the relationship he had with Barnabas. One good and godly relationship with a God-sent has the power to transform one’s life.
PART 3: GAIN OF INTERPERSON-AL RELATIONSHIP: BARNABAS AND JOHN MARK (ACTS 13:5, 13; 15:36-41; 1 PET. 5:13; 2 TIM. 4:9-11)
The name given to Joses by the Apostles (Barnabas) with the interpretation of son of encourage-ment was divinely inspired. We have seen how he stuck out his neck for Paul in the previous division and that singular act transformed Paul’s ministry. Here again we see how he identified another potential vessel in the hand of God (John Mark) and encouraged him to become useful for the Lord through his interpersonal relation.
John Mark was Barnabas’ cousin, and they were both from Cyprus. He was with Barnabas and Paul in Antioch when the duo was commissioned for the Gentiles work. John Mark therefore went with them as their assistant (Acts 13:5). However, when they got to Cyprus, his home town, he went back from going with Barnabas and Paul in the mission work and returned to Jerusalem without giving the people any cogent reason (Acts 13:13). Barnabas and Paul continued and successfully finished the first missionary journey. They retur-ned to Antioch and rehearsed what God did through them among the Gentiles to the church.
After resting for a while, Paul thought it wise for them to go over the places they evangelized during the first missionary journey to see how they were faring and still extend their mission to some other places (Acts 15:36). Barnabas saw the suggestion as opportunity to give John Mark another chance of becoming useful for the Lord, but Paul did not like the idea because of what John Mark did earlier. There was a sharp contention between the two of them that they parted. Barnabas took John Mark and Paul took Silas and both went in separate direction in the mission work (Acts 15:37-40). This is an example of how two great leaders can disagree on a matter without necessarily resulting into personal fight or total separation.
From this separation, even though much is not heard about Barnabas and John Mark because the author of Acts beamed his narrative on Paul’s mission, we eventually know from Paul’s epistles that Barnabas’ decision eventually paid off. And even Paul later requested that Timothy should bring John Mark because he was useful to him in the ministry (2 Tim. 4:9-11). John Mark would not have become useful, were it not for the interpersonal relationship he had with Barnabas who saw potentiality in him instead of failure and who gave him a second chance. This is the transformational power of interpersonal relationship. God is looking for many Barnabas in the church today who will be sensitive to discover potentials in believers and relate with them to be able to deploy their potentials in the right direction for the edification of the body of Christ.
CONCLUSION
God is expecting all believers in Christ to embark on relationship that will transform others for good, both physically and spiritually. People should not have contact with you and regret meeting you. Rather, people should be thanking God for giving them opportunity for meeting you and they must still be eager to meet you the more, that is when you have positive impact on their lives just as Barnabas had on Paul and John Mark. Be another Barnabas in your church.
QUESTIONS
- What made the early church in Jerusalem to share their material belongings together?
- Joses was given another name by the apostles. Mention the name and the meaning?
- Describe the positive influence Barnabas had on Paul and his ministry.
- What lesson can you learn from the disagreement between Barnabas and Paul over John Mark?
- How did John Mark become useful to Paul in the ministry later on?
