Barnabas - the great encourager

Here's the reflection that I shared today during the lunchtime Eucharist for St Martin-in-the-Fields:

Though not named among the twelve apostles of the evangelists, Barnabas emerges in the Acts of the Apostles as one of the most significant of their number (Acts 11. 19-30). He sold his estate and gave the proceeds to the Church, since all things were to be held in common, and clearly became a leader. In Acts 4 we read, "Joseph, a Levite, born in Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (son of encouragement), sold a field he owned, brought the money, and turned it over to the apostles." (Acts 4:36f). This is the first mention we have of him. His new name fits what we know of his actions. He is described as a Levite from Cyprus so, like Paul, was from the Greek world rather than that of Palestine, and he introduced Paul to the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem.

When Saul (or Paul) came to Jerusalem after his conversion, most of the Christians there wanted nothing to do with him. They had known him as a persecutor and an enemy of the Church. But Barnabas was willing to give him a second chance. He looked him up, spoke with him, and brought him to see the other Christians, vouching for him. He was sent to Antioch apparently to guide the Christians there in their relations with non-Jewish converts, promoting the concept of all being one in Christ.

Later, Paul and Barnabas went on a missionary journey together, taking Mark with them. Part way, Mark turned back and went home. When Paul and Barnabas were about to set out on another such journey, Barnabas proposed to take Mark along, and Paul was against it, saying that Mark had shown himself undependable. Barnabas wanted to give Mark a second chance, and so he and Mark went off on one journey (to Cyprus), while Paul took Silas and went on another. Apparently Mark responded well to the trust given him by the "son of encouragement," since we find that Paul later speaks of him as a valuable assistant (2 Tim 4:11; see also Col 4:10 and Phil 24). Tradition has it that Barnabas was martyred in Cyprus in the year 61. (http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/182.html and http://www.excitingholiness.org/first-edition/index.cgi?m06/d11.html)

Dr Meredith Belbin and his team identified nine clusters of behaviour – called the 'Belbin Team Roles' - as part of a unique study of teams that took place at Henley Business School. Belbin suggests that every team needs access to each of the nine Team Role behaviours to become a high performing team. If we were to assess the skills and actions of Barnabas against the Team Roles, he would probably come out as a Teamworker, who helps the team to gel, and a Co-ordinator, who draws out team members and delegates work appropriately. Barnabas consistently facilitated the ministry of others; providing resources for the church in Jerusalem initially, then uniting the church in Antioch, before supporting the developing ministries of Paul and Mark, even when they got into difficulties.

In Ephesians 4 we read that ‘Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith’ (Ephesians 4.11-13). So, in a letter attributed to Paul, we hear that the leaders in a church are there to equip the people for service that builds up the whole community. It is feasible that that description of church leaders may have been pointing people to Barnabas as a role model.

We are all part of teams, whether in our church or in elsewhere. All teams need those who, like Barnabas, encourage, equip and facilitate the ministry of others. Michael Moran, one of the great encouragers' at St Martin’s, often encourages each of us to bloom where we are planted; that is an encouragement to take on board for ourselves, but is also one to share with others. In the spirit of Barnabas and Michael, the encouragers', I wonder who we can encourage to bloom where they are planted today and how we might do so.

Pat Marrin, writing of Barnabas, reminds us that: ‘History gives top billing to the big stars, but it is often the supporting players who enabled their greatness.

St. Barnabas … was one of these key agents in the early church, directly responsible for integrating Saul of Tarsus into the Jesus movement after his conversion …

[his] gift was to season others with encouragement. Not too little, not too much, salt improves food, company, conversation and friendship. Barnabas, overshadowed by Paul, taken for granted, invisible and imperceptible, nevertheless enhanced the life of the church in every way.’ (https://www.ncronline.org/news/spirituality/pencil-preaching/st-barnabas-apostle)

May it be so for us. Amen.

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Cyrillus Kreek - While Great Is Our Poverty.

Local church-based Olympic-related events

‘GOD in the PARK’ is an exciting venture that is happening on Saturday 14th July 2012, from 11am - 6pm. It is a day, where Christians from all denominations will come together as Christ’s body to Goodmayes Park for a time of worship, fun and fellowship. GOD in the PARK presents a fantastic opportunity for Churches across the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge and Havering to come together, encourage one another and grow in friendship. The day is going to be filled with worship, lots of fun, (music, dance and street entertainment etc) bouncy castles, marquees serving tea/coffee plus cakes! All events that will be happening in the day will be free, but families and various groups coming on the day are encouraged to bring their own picnics.

Speakers include Jeff Lucas and Jonathan Oloyede. Performers include Dave Bilborough and Helen Yousaf. 'GOD in the PARK' is also the latest Olympic-themed event at which the Run with the Fire digital exhibition will be shown. Run with the Fire will run on their big screen at different points during the day. Keep up-to-date with news of 'GOD in the Park' at their facebook page by clicking here.

On Your Marks … Get … Set … Go! Children, aged 5 to 11, have the opportunity to join up with other athletes and take part in the 'Global Games' at the Holiday Club at St John's Seven Kings this year. As they do they can discover what it was like for the disciples to follow Jesus and how they can be on his team today.

Based on Scripture Union’s On Your Marks holiday club material, the Holiday Club will be full of creative teaching, games, craft, songs, prayers and Bible reading as children learn about God’s great plan for salvation. The holiday club runs from 10.00am – 12.30pm from Tuesday 24th – Thursday 26th July and is open to all people aged 5 to 11. As usual all those involved are really looking forward to this year’s holiday club. It will be great fun, we’ll learn a lot and it would be fantastic if lots of children come along.

The setting for On Your Marks is the Global Games, a fictitious international sporting tournament which takes place in Galilee in the first century AD. Each day a different sporting event from the Global Games Pentathlon is explored that links in with the Bible passage.

Many sporting events are not about individuals playing against each other but about teams working together, often with someone taking the lead to inspire, encourage and support. Children love supporting teams, being part of a team and having that sense of belonging even if they are not particularly into sport. This is especially true if the team leader is one who inspires them. It is this idea of being a member of Jesus’ team that is at the heart of On Your Marks.

On Your Marks is based around stories about Jesus from Mark’s Gospel. Each day the children will meet Jesus as he calls his disciples (picks his team), demonstrates his healing power, challenges them to keep stepping out in faith, shows his authority, reveals himself as the Son of God (their team leader) and teaches them to keep following him as their team leader. Children will discover and begin to experience what it is like to be a member of the team that has Jesus as the leader.

Each day at On Your Marks the children can join real-life sports men and women on location as they share their sporting experiences, their role as team players and how Jesus makes a difference in their lives. They can also be transported to sports matches and events with the storyteller as he brings stories of Jesus alive.

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Helen Yousaf - Child Of Mine.

Faith-based models of leadership (6)

‘Whole’ work

Christian Schumacher argues in his book God in Work that all work processes involve cycles of ‘death and rebirth’. He calls these basic transformations which “occur in all authentic work processes whether in manufacturing, health, education or any other sector of society.”

Basic transformations in a work environment are easy to recognize because they:

• are the activities involving step-function or quantum-jump changes to the state of the product;
• are often irreversible; what is done cannot easily be undone;
• can be the most complex and difficult stages to control in a work process; and
• involve major physical, chemical, electrical, informational or other changes to the internal constitution or function of the product.

They represent the reason why other activities take place, embodying the purpose of all work processes.

Drawing on his Christian understandings of God as Trinity and of the Church as the body of Christ, Schumacher has identified seven principles for the structuring of work which are based around basic transformations and which lead to the creation of ‘whole’ work:

1. Teams and their leaders must be able to plan and organise as much of their own work as possible. This reflects the work of God the Father in originating human work.
2. Work must be organised around basic transformations to form ‘whole’ tasks. This reflects the work of God the Son in death and rebirth;
3. Teams should be able evaluate their own performance against agreed performance measures. This reflects the work of God the Spirit in bringing work to its fitting end.
4. Team working should be encouraged in order to reflect the nature of the Church.
5. Each team member should be able to plan, do and evaluate at least one transformation in their team’s processes. This reflects the nature of the Church as a body.
6. Each team should have a designated leader in order to reflect Christ’s leadership of the Church.
7. Each team should contain between four and twenty people in order that everyone can communicate fully with each other.

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Charlie Peacock - In the Light.