This week, we see the story of the church take a major turn, one that we should be immensely grateful for. In Acts 13-14, Paul and Barnabas take the first recorded church missions trip. Thus, the final step of the formula Jesus gave to follow in Acts 1:8 began in earnest. The gospel was being taken to the ends of the earth, through which most of us are grateful recipients.
Normally, the trip that Paul and Barnabas took gets all of the attention, which is understandable. But there is plenty of good stuff to see in their commissioning by the church in Antioch just before their journey began:
1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off. — Acts 13:1-3 (CSB)
A Diverse, Yet United Sending Church
Most scholars look at these prophets and teachers and note that they were quite diverse. We have to remember that the Holy Spirit was not on a minimum word count when He inspired the Scriptures; every detail is here for a reason, not to fill space. The diversity of the Antioch church matters. In this list of names, we are to see something that we can learn from. What is that?
My guess is that God wants to remind us that His plan all along has been to bring together a diverse body of believers—the anti-Tower of Babel. We saw a glimpse of this when Peter preached at Pentecost. We saw more signs as Philip took the gospel to the Samaritans and to an Ethiopian official. Now, as the first mission trip is about to begin to further diversify the church, we are reminded that God was already at work to bring blessing to all the families of the earth as He had promised Abraham in Genesis 12.
This is what we should seek today: a diverse, yet united church. No, we do not seek diversity for diversity’s sake. Our heart should be for all people, no matter their ethnicity, nationality, or socio-economic status. But that’s the problem. Often, our hearts are not for all people. Often, we lack the compassion and self-awareness to do what we can to love all people and stand together was one, recognizing and even celebrating our differences.
As we see here in Antioch, our mission to grow the church will only reflect the nature of the church as it currently is. If we are not united, if we do not desire diversity, we will not find it on the mission field.
A Spirit-Led Decision
Notice the actions the church took around its sending of Paul and Barnabas. They are quite convicting.
They were worshiping and fasting to start with. Then when the Holy Spirit told them to send the missionary pair, what did the church do? They continued fasting, prayed, and laid hands on them.
This was a church that had drawn near to God so they could be sensitive to His leading. This was a church that was walking closely with God in the power of the Holy Spirit. And as a result, the church could be confident that they were being obedient to Christ in commissioning Paul and Barnabas.
There is a personal lesson here, of course, but also a corporate one. The American church takes tons of short-term missions trips every year. Which can be great. But it can be not so great too. We have to stop and consider how many of these trips might not be prompted by the Holy Spirit, but rather for the wrong reasons. Are there ever missions trips that have more to do with us feeling good about ourselves, about us going to exotic locations, about us wanting to be the saviors of the world? Are there ever times when the cost and effort of a missions trip might have been better saved, and instead those funds given directly to the church in the other nation?
A Whole Team Effort
The final take-away here is a little more subtle, but based on the first two points, I believe it is evident: the church in Antioch continued to be part of Paul and Barnabas’ trip. This may have been financially, but surely it was in prayer. I imagine that this church bathed Paul and Barnabas in prayer from the moment the pair stepped out of Antioch through the moment they returned.
Many of us will be led to participate in missions trips in the future. Many others might not. Either way, we are all invited to be part of the whole team effort of our missions endeavors. We are on the team as participants, as financial supporters, and as prayer intercessors. All of can do at least one of those. No one is left off the team.
There is no doubt that the Lord will fulfill all of his sovereign purposes. The question is this: Will he accomplish his will through your obedience resulting in your blessing, or in spite of your rebellion resulting in your shame? It’s your choice.” — Tony Evans
Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H, 2019) [Wordsearch].
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Terry Moak says
I just read the leader training information on Unit 32, Session 2, Paul’s First Journey and listened to the podcast-Thank you-this is only my second time to use this.
We want to find out more about the Gospel Project Midweek Add-on curriculum as soon as possible/when it will be available/how much it will cost etc.
It was suggested that we try TeamKid for our Wednesday night children but we think adding on to our Gospel Project Sunday School on Wednesdays makes more sense (if we can afford it?). HELP!