Do Not Give Up On People’s Imperfections

36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 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. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. - Acts 15:36-41

In the book of Acts, we can follow the story of a man who failed but was used by God to fulfill his calling. His name was John Mark, a young man, a cousin of Barnabas, who accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey to the first churches in Syria and Cilicia (during Paul’s travels). During a previous trip to Pamphylia, John abandoned their mission, for reasons unknown, but this act upset Paul, so he didn’t want to bring John along on their next mission. The argument was so intense that they departed the partnership, and Barnabas went with John to Cyprus, an island located in the northeastern Mediterranean Sea, situated about 100 miles off the coast of Syria and Cilicia. Meanwhile, Paul joined Silas (also known as Silvanus in 2 Cor 1:19; 1 Thes 1:1; 1 Peter 5:12) and departed for Syria and Cilicia. Some scholars [1] suggest that the conflict was bad enough for Paul to write in Galatians 2:13, which tells:

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

John Mark was a companion of Peter, and by capturing all the stories Jesus preached, as told by Peter, Mark wrote the Gospel according to Mark [2]. Luke, as narrating the facts in Acts, doesn’t avoid writing about the weakness of its leaders, and will follow Paul, as a doctor and historian, since some scholars suggested that Paul was constantly in need of a physician [3]. As Ajith Fernando says, “God is bigger than our problems, and He wills for His children to live in unity. Thus, we can hope for a resolution whenever there is a problem. That we may be unable to resolve it is because of stubbornness, error, or ignorance on the part of one or both sides of the conflict” [4]

God uses common people like Mark for His purposes. The credit doesn’t go to Mark, as he never claimed authorship himself, but always to God, who can work on our imperfections if we stay connected to the vine, as Jesus asked us to be. Mark not only followed Christ and wrote the Gospel, but also established churches in Alexandria, as noted by Eusebius [5]. This lesson also reminds us not to give up on people’s imperfections (not blindly, of course), but to encourage them, saying that God can work in them. The story of Mark and Paul has a happy ending when Paul came to value Mark, as shown when he wrote to Timothy saying, “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” - 2 Tim 4:11.

If you disagree with your brother in Christ, try your best to reconnect with him because that action demonstrates that we can accept failure, since we also fail. More importantly, it shows that we can move on with the spread of the Gospel and being used by God, dissipating our pride and exercising our compassion. There is no better advice than from the very same Paul, as he puts it:

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. - Colossians 3:12-14

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[1] F. F. Bruce, Acts, NICNT, 302; Williams, Acts, 272-73

[2] Papias, bishop of Hierapolis around 130 A.D., states that “Mark, having become interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered… [of] the sayings or deeds of Christ” - “Fragments of Papias”, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus.

[3] Luke joined Paul’s team at Troas and became his constant companion and personal physician. Paul may have initially invited Luke to join them specifically as his personal physician. Paul suffered from a chronic physical infirmity - a “thorn in the flesh” that he could not get healed despite earnest prayers. While the specific nature of this ailment remains uncertain, God provided Luke, a doctor, to care for Paul. - Alan S. Bandy, An Illustrated Guide to the Apostle Paul: His Life, Ministry, and Missionary Journeys (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2021), 86–87 and M. R. De Haan, Pentecost and after: Studies in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1996), 142.

[4] The NIV Application Commentary, Acts, 434

[5] Eusebius, The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine, 49-50.