One of the core teachings in the Bible is that every Christian is called to do gospel ministry. The Great Commission in Matthew 28 and the teaching of Ephesians 4 regarding the responsibility of church leaders to equip church members for the work of ministry, stands in stark contrast to the idea in the Western church that church leaders do the ministry as they work for the church. The bottom line is, every Christian is called to be a minister and ministry is not easy.
The fact that ministry is not easy is probably no surprise to any of you. Whether your ministry is a ministry of helping in the background of tech and sound or property management, or your ministry is in the area of leading music, preaching, or training kids and working with babies in the nursery, the reality is that ministry is oftentimes difficult. God calls us to serve people through the work of gospel ministry all the way from cleaning toilets to preaching sermons.
When you and I engage in the work of ministry, there will inevitably be very difficult times and in those times, we will need trust God while doing the work. The images that I have carried in my mind for years are the images of God drawing straight lines with broken sticks and doing surgery on wounded people with other broken people.
Hurting people hurt people and the ministry is a calling where there is no shortage of broken and hurt people who are being used by God to extend his kingdom. Keep that in mind as we begin to examine the text in front of us.
36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
16:1 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.
6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
#1: PAUL WANTS TO VISIT THE CHURCHES HE PLANTED (VV. 36 – 41)
In verses 36 – 41, Paul explains to Barnabas that he wants to “return and visit the brothers in every city where [they had] proclaimed the word of the Lord, [to] see how they are” doing (vs. 36) and of course, this leads to Paul and Barnabas having a sharp disagreement about who should be part of the team (vs. 39); Barnabas wants to give his cousin Mark a second chance, but Paul does not want a deserter on the team (vv. 37 – 39). The argument between these two great men of God ends with Barnabas taking John Mark off to Cyprus on a boat and Paul takes a dude named Silas to visit the churches he planted with the approval of the church in Antioch (vv. 39 – 41).
When we think about this event of Paul and Barnabas parting ways, we must acknowledge that relational conflict is probably one of the heaviest blows we experience while trying to trust God in the midst of the work of ministry. Nothing hurts more deeply than the pain of a sharp disagreement that leads to relational separation from someone you have served side by side with for so long.
We must remember too, that Paul and Barnabas, together, have faced the difficulties of severe opposition to their ministry and have also witnessed God doing the impossible as they ministered together. Yet, God chose not to resolve the conflict between these two great men; or at the very least, these two great men could not find a godly way to resolve their conflict.
But the story does not end with their separation. The story goes on with both of them proceeding in two different directions to continue the work of ministry. What God was previously doing through Paul and Barnabas together, he will continue to do through them separately; it could even be said that God doubled their ministry outreach as they separated and simultaneously added John Mark and Silas to their respective teams.
Not all is lost when friends go different directions. Sometimes God doubles his ministry reach when things like this happen. Oftentimes I notice that when a relationship goes south in the church, God uses the holes left behind to raise up new leaders even as he strengthens those who have left.
Even when the disagreement is very sharp (as it often is) I have seen that more often than not, God uses the situation to grow a deeper longing for the hope of heaven as he matures all parties involved; he literally strengthens the church through the hardship of relational separation.
#2: PAUL DOES VISIT THE CHURCHES HE PLANTED (VV. 1 – 5)
In verses 1 – 5 of chapter 16, Paul takes off with Silas and he visits the churches that he had planted with Barnabas on their first missions trip and as he comes through Lystra (the place where he was stoned for his preaching and left for dead outside the city) he finds a young man named Timothy who had an unbelieving father and a believer for a mother.
Paul finds Timothy to be a suitable recruit for the work of ministry, so he has him circumcised (so as not to hinder their ministry among the Jews since Timothy was half Jewish) and they continue the work of ministering to the churches that Paul had planted. Luke even says in verse 5 that “the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily” because of the ministry of Paul and Silas, and now Timothy.
So not only has God given Paul some fresh help as Silas joins him in the ministry, but God goes the extra mile in giving Paul the gift of young Timothy. The reality is that God has plans for us and for the extension of his kingdom that we know nothing about. Barnabas may not have been a good fit for Paul’s future ministry, but Timothy would certainly become Paul’s right-hand man even to the extent that he becomes the pastor of the church that Paul planted in Ephesus.
We should never underestimate what God may do through the pain and difficulty of relational division. In light of the horror of the cross of Christ, our light and momentary relational afflictions in this world will always be used by God to extend his kingdom to the ends of the earth. It is not the way we would choose to do things, but God’s ways are far above our own.
I think the takeaway here for me, is that even when things are not going the way I want them to, I need to trust that God has a plan that far surpasses my understanding and that he will ultimately use even the most painful experiences in ministry to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. I just need to trust in God’s sovereign ability and hang on for the ride ahead. This exactly what happens with Paul in the remainder of our text.
#3: PAUL GETS THE CALL TO GO TO MACEDONIA (VV. 6 – 10)
In verses 6 – 10, Paul and his ministry team wind up in Troas after trying to go to both Asia and Bithynia; it seems as though the Spirit of God rerouted them twice (vv. 6 – 7) before they landed in Troas which is not far from Macedonia. It is in Troas that the apostle Paul gets the vision of a man asking for help in Macedonia which then leads the team to conclude that this is the reason for the two previously closed doors; it seemed obvious to them “that God had called [them] to preach the gospel to” the Macedonians (v. 10).
In the midst of dealing with the desire to preach the gospel to the lost, doing the work of strengthening the churches that had already been planted, and while still reeling from the sudden separation from Barnabas, Paul receives the clear call to minister in Macedonia (a place that will be pivotal for the rest of the book of Acts).
Sometimes the pathway of following God’s call on your life is filled with lots of closed doors, lots of painful experiences, lots of foggy moments, brief moments of clarity, but also lots of miraculous experiences where people’s lives are radically changed. Just think about what it would have been like to be the apostle Paul and to look back over these moments and see the many believers who were the fruit of his ministry.
CONCLUSION…
In conclusion, when I think about trusting God in the midst of the difficulties of ministry, and when I remember some of my own experiences with lots of closed doors, lots of painful experiences, lots of foggy moments, brief moments of clarity, and also lots of miraculous experiences where people’s lives were radically changed, I can see how God used every last drop of those experiences to deepen my trust in him.
Somebody once told me that while God is definitely concerned about what he will do through a person in their ministry, he is even more concerned about what he will do in a person through their ministry. The thing that God did in Paul through his ministry, is that he led him to places of desperation where he would need to depend on God alone for everything. The hardships of ministering to others (the time, the talent, the treasure, the blood, the sweat, the tears, and the heartache) all had the effect of leading the apostle Paul closer to the Father’s heart as he trusted God in the midst of doing ministry. Paul knew what it was like to come to into the presence of his Abba Father in desperation.
Paul knew what it meant to cling to the finished worked of Christ as he navigated the oftentimes murky and troubled waters of being a broken man who was called to minister to other broken people. He knew the Jesus who faced rejection, abandonment, and betrayal from his closest friends while still going to the cross for them. He also knew the Jesus who left the tomb empty even though Death’s dark shadow appeared to win the battle three days earlier. He also knew the Jesus who promised that he would return to vanquish evil once and for all and to lead us into the eternal presence of our Father in Heaven.
Maybe you are in a place today where you just feel weary from all the sacrifices you make in ministry. Or maybe you have been hurt by some of the losses that are inevitable as it pertains to serving other broken people. Or maybe you are on the front edge of following God into a ministry calling that is not completely defined yet. Or maybe you are sitting on the sidelines not engaged in ministry for one reason or the other.
To the last one, let me encourage you to get your life into the game; your ability to trust God will grow deeper as you follow him obediently in ministry. To the others, let me also encourage you to remember the cross of Christ where he suffered in ministry far more than we ever will; to remember the empty tomb of Jesus whereby we gain the hope of Satan, Sin, and Death getting curb stomped; and to remember that Heaven is right around the corner, how fun it will be to be there in Heaven with all of those whom we have directly affected through our ministries.
Cling tightly to our crucified, risen, and returning Jesus through regular times in the Scriptures, regular times in prayer, and regular time spent with God’s people and when some doors get slammed shut, when some experiences seem too painful to bear, when everything feels foggier than it should be, you will be able to trust God in the midst of the work of ministry because the cross was bloody for you too (not just for those whom you serve), the tomb was left empty for you too (not just for those whom you serve), and the promise of eternity is for you too (not just for those whom you serve).
God has a plan for your ministry (it may not look like what you think it should) and he is in full control (despite your attempts to take control) and in the midst of the closed doors, the painful experiences, and the foggy roads, God will give you glimpses of clarity that will lead to you witnessing some of the most miraculous works of God in people’s lives.
Hang onto our crucified, risen, and returning Christ through thick and through thin and you will see God advancing his kingdom in ways that will deepen your ability to hold onto him and will also leave you breathless as you survey his power at work in and through you. – Amen!!
1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).