“Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company.” Acts 15:37-39
For over 50 years, my family has owned a piece of land where, growing up, we camped, played and generally enjoyed nature in its fullest. There is nothing there but dirt, bugs, and trees (also poison oak but I try to ignore that).
Over the last 5 years, my siblings and I have had multiple discussions about how to pass this land on to future generations for them to use and enjoy with as little hassle as possible. It has been a challenging discussion.
My siblings and I, for all our lives, see life very differently. One half thinks about life one way and the other half tends to think the polar opposite way. It makes discussions difficult and consensus hard, especially with a property that holds special memories for all of us.
I was recently talking with my sister (who thinks differently than me) about the situation. She told me about a sermon she heard recently that applied to our situation. I went online and heard the sermon for myself. I totally agreed that the sermon had a great perspective for us as a family to consider.
There were several take aways from the sermon that I think all Christians should take to heart.
Take # 1 – Both people in a disagreement can be right – and wrong.
Paul and Barnabas had differing points of view regarding John Mark. Both were valid points of view.
Paul had seen John Mark fail on his trip with Paul and Barnabas. He wimped out when things got tough and went home early, leaving Paul and Barnabas in the lurch. He was more of a hinderance to Paul’s work than a help.
Barnabas had a different thought. Keeping in mind that John Mark was Barnabas’ cousin, Barnabas knew his heart a little better and was willing to give him another try. He knew John Mark had failed, but, for Barnabas, there was more to the story.
Two different perspectives on the same events.
Both were correct in some way; both were wrong in some way.
Too often in our world today, the tendency is to label different ideas in terms of right and wrong. Sure, some things are wrong in God’s eyes, but we often put that label on things that are simply different. We need to make sure that we are responding to others with a Godly point of view, not our own need to be right.