St. Barnabas: Outgrowing Your Mentor

Barnabas is one of my favorite characters in scripture; he was a person who looked for the best in others and was called “the son of encouragement” by the early apostles. He embodies what I hope that I have been to others during my ministry. His icon is one of the first I purchased.

Barnabas is known for many things in the New Testament, but perhaps his most significant role was that of mentor to Saul and his first co-worker in missions.

In the Book of Acts, we read the story of a mentor-protégé relationship that prospered for a period but ended with some discord. We sometimes forget that Barnabas was a mentor for Saul, the persecutor of the Way who would become its most articulate spokesperson.

When Saul first appeared in Jerusalem after his conversion, many of the church leaders feared him, but Barnabas recognized that his experience was authentic and advocated for him. Later Barnabas found himself working with the new church in Antioch and sent for Saul to come join him and invest his gifts there. With the urging of the Holy Spirit, the church at Antioch sent them off on what we call the first missionary journey to the Gentiles. Their success led to a controversy among Christians over the acceptance of these new believers based on their faith alone, but Barnabas and Paul (as he had come to be called) stood together before the leaders in Jerusalem to advocate for “an unhindered Gospel” (to use Frank Stagg’s term). Only when they planned for the next missionary journey did they experience a disagreement over the inclusion of John Mark on the team. They went their separate ways.

At some point the mentor-protégé relationship broke down between Barnabas and Paul, but evidently neither was ready to acknowledge it. Paul went on to mentor others, and certainly Barnabas did as well.

Despite a rocky ending to their relationship, Barnabas offered Paul what he needed in his transformation into a full-fledged apostle of the Way. He was strong in his support of Paul, gave him opportunities to serve, and eventually assumed the “second chair” position in their ministry. Interesting that the Catholic Church considers Barnabas the patron saint of peacemaking!

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