Where will you be in 2077?

Note: This month I’m posting a series of devotional thoughts from Acts. Many of these are reposts, some are new. I’m “working out the kinks” for submission to a compilation of short, pastoral writings in Acts to be published later this year. If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please let me know!

“Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people.” Acts 11:25-26

The kids being born this year will start retiring in 2077. That’s an important number to keep in mind.

I’m convinced that ever leader has a sacred responsibility to identify and develop the next generation of leaders. And our hope should be that those who we pour into will go on to have an even greater impact than we did. Barnabas was known throughout the church as an encourager; he developed Paul and rehabilitated Mark—he was the poster-child in the early church for this kind of ministry. I’ve often wondered how he did it. In Acts 11, we get some clues:

1. He went to Tarsus to look for Saul. Barnabas—from the Jerusalem church—checked out the situation in Antioch and thought of the perfect person to bring into the ministry there. He deliberately went out of his way to locate this promising rising leader who nobody else wanted to touch with a ten foot pole.

2. When he found him, he brought him to Antioch. He didn’t only invest in Paul and point him in the right direction, but he invited him to join him in ministry.

3. For a year they taught the church together. This was not just an “assistant” gig—Barnabas shared the highest responsibility of preaching the Word with Paul. Though Paul had taught effectively before, I’m going to read between the lines here and guess that this was a time of pivotal growth for him.

Of course, Barnabas and Saul would go on to become Paul and Barnabas, and plant and strengthen churches until their historical split, when Paul would seriously eclipse Barnabas in the remainder of the account of the infant church.

You may have never heard the name Henrietta Mears, but I guarantee that you know the impact of her life. Miss Mears was the Christian Education Director at Hollywood First Presbyterian Church in the 40′s and 50′s. Her Sunday School program and personal discipleship produced literally hundreds of men and women who went into full-time ministry, including such leaders as Bill Bright and Billy Graham. This lady understood how important it was to develop others. She had the heart of Barnabas.

By the way, Paul picked up the Barnabas spirit as well. Timothy, Titus, and others were a result of his mentoring ministry. He would eventually tell Timothy that the true impact of ministry could only be measured after the 3rd generation of leaders was established (2 Tim 2:2).

2077 is going to be here quicker than we think—and most people reading this blog (including the one writing it) will be dead by then. Do we care enough about the harvest that will be happening then to invest our lives now into other rising leaders who will in turn invest their lives into even more ministers? If not, we must seek to gain the heart of Barnabas.