Men Being Men June 20 202
Acts 15:30 – 41
Men tend by nature to be very competitive and aggressive, so when we get to arguing, it can get loud, long and sometimes rough. When we get to arguing, it can even resort to blows. That’s why fights so commonly break out among male hockey players, but not so often among female hockey players. Fighting is really just men being men. But it is also a sign of our flesh having rule over our senses. And no one is immune. In fact, all joking aside, women are not immune, either. Remember that when the Bible is speaking about man, it is speaking about humans, not just males!
Acts 15:30 – 41
- Paul and Barnabas had just come back to Antioch from a great meeting in Jerusalem, bringing Judas and Silas with them, and carrying a letter from the apostles in Jerusalem that laid out what was really expected of Christians, and refuting some of the heresies that had been delivered there earlier (like what you could eat as a Christian, strict adherence to the law of Moses being necessary for salvation, etc.).
- This was a time of great joy among the brethren in Antioch, as they heard the news and instructions from the brethren in Jerusalem. The letters underlined what Paul and Barnabas had been preaching, that salvation is by grace alone, without works of any kind, including circumcision and the law of Moses.
- Judas and Silas, who were both prophets, or preachers proclaiming the word of God, stayed for some time, preaching and teaching and encouraging the believers at Antioch.
- Remember that this was before the entire New Testament was finished. These men were especially empowered and directed by the Holy Ghost to proclaim the full counsel of God. They were true prophets of the Apostolic Age. (Note that today, a prophet is a preacher, called by God, to proclaim the word of God, as God has caused it to be written down in the past.)
- The preaching of Judas and Silas brought great joy to these people. Then Judas left to return to Jerusalem, but Silas stayed behind, preaching and teaching as Paul, Barnabas and many others were. According to verse 35, there were many other preachers in that area.
- A while after Judas headed back to Jerusalem, Paul suggested to Barnabas that they go on another missionary trip to see how all the churches they had planted were doing. This was a great idea! It encourages churches greatly to have the missionaries and church planters who were involved in their beginnings to come for a visit!
- Barnabas obviously thought it would be a good idea, as we see in verse 37. We know he agreed to go, because he wanted to John Mark with them.
- In Acts 12:12 & 23, we read that John Mark was a young man whose mother’s name was Mary.Acts 12:12 suggests that there was a house church meeting at Mary and Mark’s home.
- Paul and Barnabas took John Mark with them from Jerusalem to Antioch, and then on their first missionary journey. However, he left them in Pamphylia. “Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.” Acts 13:13
- Paul did not want to take John Mark, because John Mark left them in Pamphylia. It is not explained in our text why John left, but Paul was not pleased that he did not continue with them in their work in the mission field. As far as Paul was concerned, John had abandoned what he was called of God to do.
- Barnabas, on the other hand, was quite determined to take John. He saw much usefulness in the young man, and indeed, it appears that he was correct in his assessment, because Paul would later write to Timothy asking him to send Mark to him, saying that he was profitable to him for the ministry (2 Ti 4:11)
- However, at this time, Paul would not have John with them, and Barnabas was absolutely determined that they would. This developed into a big argument, a contention so sharp that they split up, Barnabas taking John Mark with him, and Paul taking Silas.
- Now this was a case of men being men.
- It’s easy for us to get caught up as we read the Bible into thinking that men whose names appear in the Bible were somehow better Christians than we are. After all, they’re in the Bible…! And these ones, especially… they were apostles!
- But here we see men being men. They had such a terrible fight that these men, who had been best friends, spending every day working together and suffering together for years, parted company.How could this be? How could men of God, apostles even, filled with the Holy Ghost, have such a terrible disagreement that they went their separate ways?
- It is because though they were saved, just as we are, they were still men, just as we are. They still had their old nature with them, complete with the same feelings and tempers as before they were saved.
- They weren’t perfect in their flesh. They still sinned in their flesh. They sometimes still behaved as men do.
- Yet God continued to use these men in a mighty way. We know that Paul and John Mark and Barnabas were reconciled later on, as we study through the scriptures. But God used this split to do great work.
- We read in our passage that the brethren recommended Paul and Silas to the grace of God. In other words, they asked God’s blessing upon them as they set out on their journey. As recorded later in the book of Acts, God did mighty things with these men.
- Paul had a big fight with his friend, Barnabas, a fight so serious that they couldn’t stay together. That is REALLY serious! Yet this did not disqualify them nor show that they weren’t truly Christians. Men being men means no more than that they are still in this world.
- When we fall down as Christians, it doesn’t disqualify us from serving God. It doesn’t make us a “bad Christian” – the righteousness of Christ would have to be made bad in order for that to happen!
- It simply means that we have done something that is not honouring or pleasing to God. We need to confess our sins when we sin and then get on with serving God. God says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
- There are things that we can do if we’re not careful that can disqualify us from serving as pastors or deacons. But if we have truly put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we are never disqualified from serving God in other ways. In fact, we are all called to serve God and to preach the gospel to the people around us.
Conclusion
What SHOULD happen when we read about men being men in the Bible, even men like Paul and Barnabas, is we should be encouraged. God wants you to serve Him. If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are saved by HIS GRACE, not YOUR GOODNESS. You will NEVER be good enough. But when you were saved, God put on you the righteousness of Christ, making you perfect for all eternity in His eyes. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1. This is what God wants. He doesn’t want people who are trying to add to what Christ has already done, trying to make themselves better. What He DOES want is for you to walk by faith and give yourself to Him for His service, just exactly the way you are.