What Happened To Barnabas?

At the conclusion of their first missionary journey Paul and Barnabas came up to Jerusalem where the first sovereign grace Bible conference in history was held (Acts 15). The reason that conference was held was that the church of God might with one unified voice denounce the legalism of false brethren and make a public declaration of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Paul, Peter, and James were the preachers at the conference. They all asserted the believers total freedom from the Mosaic law, and did so by inspiration of God the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:28-29). They drafted a letter and sent it to all the churches to keep God's saints from being seduced by the preachers of legal holiness. Paul and Barnabas, along with Judas and Silas, carried the letter back to Antioch and read it to the church there.

When they were about to begin their second missionary journey Paul and Barnabas had a falling out over John Mark, Barnabas' nephew. Though his name is mentioned in several of Paul's epistles, we read nothing else of significance about him in the New Testament, except that he was carried away with the dissimulation of Peter and other Jews at Antioch (Gal. 2:1, 9, 13). Where he went, what he did, what became of him after this, we are not told.

This much is certain: As far as effectiveness and usefulness is concerned Barnabas' ministry ended when he stubbornly refused to submit his love for family to the cause of Christ, when he chose to defend Mark in his error, even if it meant sacrificing the work to which God had called him (Acts 13:2). What a sad end for a man who had such a brilliant beginning and had been used for so much good! Barnabas sacrificed everything he had once counted dear because of family ties. He who once sold all he had and gave the money to the church (Acts 4:36-37), in the end gave up his place of service in the cause of Christ to defend his kinsman!

The lesson is clear. As far as God's servant is concerned, his family is and must be the family of God. All earthly relations and worldly concerns must be subservient to the church of God, the gospel of God, and the glory of God. No man can serve two masters. We cannot serve our own interests and Christ's.

Don Fortner