How Do I Get 1% Better Today?
There are a lot of people in the Bible whose names we know because they stood at the front. They preached the sermon, led the movement, performed the miracle, or wrote the letter. Then there is Barnabas. Barnabas wasn’t usually the guy standing in the spotlight. He was the guy helping someone else get there. His real name was Joseph, but the apostles gave him the name Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement.” Think about the kind of life you have to live for people to stop calling you by your given name and start calling you Encouragement.
When Barnabas first appears in Acts 4, he sells a field and gives the money to the church. No strings attached. No recognition requested. He saw a need, used what he had, and helped meet it. That becomes the pattern of his life. Barnabas wasn’t constantly asking what he could get. He was looking for what he could give.
Later, Saul shows up in Jerusalem claiming to be a follower of Jesus. The problem was that Saul had previously persecuted Christians, and nobody trusted him. Then Acts 9:27 gives us four powerful words: “But Barnabas took him…” Barnabas put his reputation on the line for a man nobody else trusted. He walked Saul into a room Saul couldn’t get into by himself and essentially said, I believe in this guy. We know Saul today as the Apostle Paul.
What Barnabas does next may be even more impressive. He was already doing great work in Antioch, but instead of protecting his position, Barnabas went looking for Saul. He found him in Tarsus, brought him back, and spent a year teaching alongside him. Think about that. Barnabas went searching for the very person who would eventually become more prominent than he was.
As Acts progresses, Paul becomes the dominant figure. Paul becomes the missionary we talk about and one of the most influential people in Christian history. Yet we never read about Barnabas complaining about who was getting the attention. Barnabas apparently didn’t need to be the most important person in the room. Maybe one of the greatest tests of humility is whether we can genuinely celebrate when God chooses to do something great through somebody else.
Barnabas did it again with John Mark. Mark had abandoned an earlier missionary journey, and Paul was ready to move on without him. Barnabas wasn’t. He gave Mark another opportunity and invested in someone who had failed. Years later, Paul writes 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 once quit became someone Paul wanted beside him. Barnabas saw something in Mark that others couldn’t see yet.
When you look at his life, there is an incredible pattern. Barnabas used his money to help the church, his reputation to help Paul, his platform to develop others, and his patience to restore Mark. Barnabas continually used what he had to make somebody else better.
We live in a world telling us to build our platform, protect our position, get our credit, and make sure people know what we’ve accomplished. Barnabas gives us another way: build people. Jesus said in Luke 14:11, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” We don’t have to fight for the spotlight. We can keep serving, encouraging, investing, opening doors, and believing in people—and let God handle the scoreboard.
Maybe the question this week isn’t, “Who can help me get where I want to go?” Maybe it’s, “Whose story could become better because God put me in it?” Someone around you needs encouragement. Someone needs you to believe in them. Someone needs an opportunity, an open door, or another chance. Somebody needs a Barnabas.
Significance isn’t measured only by how many people know your name. It can also be measured by how many people are better because they knew you.
Don’t spend your whole life trying to build a name. Build people.
Be more like Barnabas.
John Perry