The Scripture cited above relates to a major shift in missions. Jewish individuals had been reached, but now a Gentile city was to be the location of the new church, a center of missionary activity. Antioch was the Roman capital of Syria with a population of 500,000 people. The man in the middle of leadership was Barnabas whose name fitted him as the “son of encouragement” coming from the island of Cyprus. Truly God’s work was on the move and this text shows us the steps in the founding of the early church.
The believers’ outreach, as instructed by Jesus, could happen no other way than through necessary steps. There could be no alternative. Only one way were they to be faithful to what the Lord had said. They realized that those necessary steps had hardships that would have a meaning. (verse 19) They were not going out into the world on a vague mission. The purpose and accomplishments they would know necessarily involved hardship which in some cases also meant torture or death. When they declared the Lord’s message, their preaching had to be personal.(verse 20) They could not speak unclear terms. To win people to Christ whether it was then or today the message must strike a personal note to the hearer. For them to be successful, it could not be on their own initiative or their own abilities. It had to be under the anointing of the Lord. (verse 21)
To make connections with people in other parts of the world, those on a mission from God had to take individual steps. They had to grow spiritually. They had to experience what the Bible said about the Word being a light unto their path. Just as then and just as now the service for God requires men to see themselves on a mission (verse 22) that was authorized by God himself. They had to be fully aware of the reason they were going out into the world giving up job and family. They had to apply their efforts as a concerted mission for the concern of other people’s souls. As the church began to grow, as the church exists now, we need stable, wise man who can truly take up the cross with their mind, with their character. (verses 23, 25) No one who serves God faithfully can do it with divided thinking or unstable living. Simply put, the church of all ages needs good man. (verse 24) This is true when the first deacons were selected for a specific ministry. This is true for anyone who would stand on the bridge for reconciliation of all people with God.
Those who would witness for Jesus have an awareness of their purpose. It is a calling that rests on the shoulders of those true to God. They must take specific steps, intentional steps that would bring upon themselves determination behind every effort they make. That means the life of each believer must be worthy to be called Christian. (verse 27) These days the label of Christian is so arbitrary that it is diluted and virtually has no meaning outside of being a good citizen. We know at the time of Christ some were secret disciples fearing to be thrown out of the temple if they openly declared their faith in Jesus. (verse 28) That cannot be considered today. A secret disciple becomes lukewarm and ineffective in any form of ministry. Our world needs disciples who are not overbearing but share a conviction from the depths of their heart. For a person to claim the name of Christian, he must be willing to break away from the old life and sometimes the old companions. (verse 29) That is part of the meaning of what it is to repent. It is a turning away from the old while claiming the new. It is the development of new habits. It is to have a concerted desire to fulfill the ministry of Jesus on his behalf for our day and time.
Christian Writer 