On the Acts of the Apostles

Some rambling thoughts that started with Paul and Barnabas-- they are unfinished as yet, they may be finished at another point:

Paul and Barnabas end up having a sharp disagreement (Acts 15). Both of them are godly men and are foundational in the early church. Was one of them necessarily in the wrong? There is not enough information in Scripture for me to confidently say. They certainly had very different personalities and strengths.

They make a good case study for the various members of the body of Christ, and seeing how everyone has different strengths that end up complimenting the whole body. As in 1 Corinthians 12.

Barnabas was a strong encourager -- he persistently gave everyone second chances. Paul was a good exhorter. Even though Paul benefited from Barnabas' generous encouragement, he was not willing to give that same grace to John Mark. I wanted to know if Paul's attitude was right or wrong, but we see neither approval nor disapproval for this.

God uses all sorts of characters and personalities for the kingdom. Grace modifies them, but does not erase them. He uses vessels of every kind (2 Tim. 2:20-21). He uses broken vessels, and vessels that are consecrated to His use. He makes vessels for different purposes (Romans 12:21).

We also see through this that God works all things out for good (Romans 8:28). Paul and Barnabas split over a disagreement, and ended up preaching the gospel to twice as many people.