A Father – Was He Or Wasn’t He?

June 2022 – Grace & Truth Magazine

A FATHER – Was He Or Wasn’t He?

The Feature articles this month focus on Barnabas. Most of what we know about him is found in the book of Acts. Three writers bring out a number of lessons from his life to encourage us in our walk here as believers. I do not want to repeat what they have written.

Thinking of the day this month set aside in many countries to celebrate fathers, I began thinking about Barnabas as being like a father in some ways. We have no record of him having a wife or children of his own. However, he was used of the Lord to spiritually nurture believers, particularly those who had not walked with the Lord as long as he had, regardless of their physical age. We see this taking place in relation to a whole assembly at Antioch. On an individual basis, Barnabas worked with Saul, who was known later as the apostle Paul. Another person Barnabas seemed to help was John Mark, Barnabas’ relative, who grew in the Lord and was eventually used of God to write The Gospel According To Mark and to help the apostle Paul in his needs.

The Lord was able to use Barnabas in the role of a father to groups and to individuals because this man truly sought the Lord – who was pre-eminent in his life. Barnabas was a good man who served the Lord rather than himself. He was humble. Barnabas studied the Scriptures and knew how to teach and apply them correctly and in the right manner. He encouraged those who were weaker, were struggling or had even failed. This he did by walking with and spending much time with them – not measured in hours or days, but in years. Barnabas served the Lord in this role as a father, and then passed on. He just disappears from the biblical record, but the glory of the Lord shines forth from those he impacted. Should that not be the same for Christian fathers today?

Whether you are a man or a woman, young or old, we pray that the articles the Lord brought together for this month’s magazine will be used of the Lord to impact you in some particular way to His honor and glory. May He have the first place in our lives, and may He ever draw our hearts closer to His.

By Paul Alberts