The Barnabas Key

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Short Summary
The discourse emphasizes the importance of recognizing and unlocking the God-given potential within ourselves and others, using the example of Barnabas as a model encourager and talent scout in the early church. It highlights three key elements—our innate gifts (hardware), life experiences and knowledge (software), and our behavior and heart condition (interface)—which together shape how we serve in God’s mission. The speaker challenges listeners to self-reflect, encourage others by seeing their hidden talents, and foster a supportive community focused on activation rather than criticism.

Long Summary
Introduction and Context
– The discourse opens by expressing appreciation for the fellowship of the convention and introduces the theme: The Barnabas Key – Unlocking God Given Potential.
– The speaker references Robert Seclemian, a mentor figure who shared stories from the Bible that inspired the speaker’s spiritual growth.
– The narrative centers on the biblical example of Jesus seeing latent potential in Simon (Peter), a rough and impulsive fisherman.

Jesus and Simon Peter: Unlocking Potential
– Simon Peter is described as impulsive, a “loose cannon,” and by worldly standards not leadership material.
– Jesus looks beyond Simon’s flaws and sees a “rock” inside him, latent talent that Simon himself did not recognize.
– Jesus renames Simon as Cephas (Peter), meaning “rock,” symbolizing the stable character he would become (John 1:42 implied).
– This renaming and development illustrate how Jesus calls forth potential and transforms individuals for His service.

Two Reflective Questions for the Audience
– Who saw the rock inside you and spoke encouragement that changed your life?
– Who are you seeing the rock in—who are you encouraging and activating today?

The Role of the Early Church and Barnabas
– The work of seeing, naming, and activating potential passed from Jesus to the apostles and the early church.
– Barnabas (originally named Joses, a Levite from Cyprus) is highlighted as the “son of encouragement” and a key figure in discovering and nurturing gifts in others.
– Barnabas exemplifies the mission of encouraging and activating talents for ministry.

Biblical Case Study: Antioch Church Revival (Acts 11:19-30)
– After Stephen’s martyrdom, believers were scattered and preached to Gentiles in Antioch, resulting in many conversions.
– The Jerusalem church, instead of sending an inquisitor, sent Barnabas to encourage and affirm this new work.
– Barnabas rejoiced at “the grace of God” (Acts 11:23) and exhorted the new believers to remain faithful, resulting in many additions to the Lord (Acts 11:24).
– Barnabas displayed humility by seeking help beyond himself, notably by bringing Saul (Paul) from Tarsus to assist in Antioch’s ministry (Acts 9:26-30).
– Barnabas vouched for Saul when others feared him, showing faith in God’s transformative power.

The Barnabas Key Explained: Seeing Gifts in Others
– The “Barnabas Key” is the principle of seeing God-given potential in others, even when overlooked or feared, and humbly partnering to fulfill God’s work.
– Scriptures such as Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 are referenced to emphasize the diversity and unity of spiritual gifts in the church.
– The speaker introduces the metaphor of a “combination lock” inside each person — a unique combination of gifts, talents, and behavior waiting to be unlocked by God.

Three Elements of the “Combination Lock”
1. Hardware: Innate gifts and talents hardwired by God, including personality traits and strengths (e.g., Peter’s impulsiveness, Paul’s logic).
2. Software: Learned experiences, knowledge (including scripture), skills, and even past failures or tragedies that God repurposes for ministry (e.g., Saul’s zeal and background).
3. Interface: Behavior and heart condition that allow spiritual gifts to function effectively, involving humility, faith, obedience, and the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:24).

Behavior and Heart Condition
– Jesus taught that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34), emphasizing the importance of a humble, faithful heart.
– Without the Holy Spirit’s power and a proper heart posture, gifts and talents cannot fulfill their divine purpose.
– Barnabas’s effectiveness came from being full of the Holy Spirit and faith (Acts 11:24).
– Pride, ego, or self-interest corrupt the interface and hinder ministry effectiveness.

Practical Applications and Challenges
– The speaker calls for self-examination to understand one’s own gifts and talents before helping others discover theirs.
– The “Barnabas Challenge” includes three steps:
1. Look in the mirror: Take inventory of one’s gifts, talents, learned experiences, and heart condition.
2. Look through the window: Identify one person to encourage by seeing their “sleeping talent” and speaking specific, heartfelt encouragement (Proverbs 25:11: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver”).
3. Look out the door: Pray for the church’s culture to be one of activation rather than critique, raising up encouragers who launch others into ministry.
– The danger of critical, fault-finding attitudes is emphasized as harmful to spiritual growth and contrary to the Barnabas key.

Biblical Examples Supporting the Message
– Moses’ meekness used for leadership; David’s warrior heart used to establish a kingdom.
– Saul’s past as a persecutor was a “comma,” not a “period,” repurposed by God for great missionary work (Luke 17:3 about forgiveness is referenced).
– Paul’s transformation and ministry were affirmed and launched by Barnabas (Acts 9:26-28).
– Paul’s encouragement of Timothy to overcome timidity by recognizing God’s spirit of power, love, and sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

The Mission of the Church and the Individual Believer
– The church is called to be “good ground,” a pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15 implied).
– The community should foster encouragement and activation of gifts rather than condemnation or perfectionism.
– The final exhortation is to be “talent scouts” for God, to find and activate the “Barnabas” in others.
– The promise of Jesus’ presence until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20) supports believers in this mission.

Conclusion and Prayer
– The image of Jesus calling Peter the rock on the shore is revisited as an example of God’s faithfulness in completing His work.
– God has chosen each believer for a unique purpose, and there are people waiting for someone to see their potential and activate it.
– The discourse closes with a prayer asking God to instill the Barnabas key in believers and direct them to those He has chosen (Amen).

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Key Bible Verses Mentioned or Referenced:
– Acts 11:19-30 (Barnabas sent to Antioch)
– Acts 11:23-24 (Barnabas rejoices and exhorts)
– Acts 9:26-28, 30 (Barnabas vouches for Saul/Paul)
– Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 (Diversity of spiritual gifts)
– Acts 6:3 (Choosing men of honest report, full of the Spirit and wisdom)
– Matthew 12:34 (“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”)
– Luke 17:3 (“If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him”)
– Proverbs 25:11 (“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver”)
– Matthew 28:20 (“I am with you always, even unto the end of the world”)

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Summary:
This discourse explores the biblical principle of recognizing and activating God-given potential in ourselves and others, illustrated through the stories of Simon Peter and Barnabas. It emphasizes that God sees beyond flaws to the latent gifts within, calling and equipping individuals for His service. The “Barnabas Key” is the gift of encouragement, humility, and partnership in ministry that unlocks others’ potential. It challenges believers to self-examine their gifts and behavior, to encourage others with specific affirmation, and to cultivate church cultures that activate rather than criticize. By following this model, believers can contribute to the growth and health of the ecclesia and advance the Gospel mission with faith, humility, and love.

Transcript

I really appreciate the convention, the fellowship, and I’d like to share some thoughts for you out of the style of brother Robert Seclemian, who I stood at the feet of when I was a young child. He told a story, and he told a story that began as a mystery that appealed to my senses, and he told it all in a beautiful story from the storehouse of God’s word. So that’s what I’d like to share with you today. The title of our services is the Barnabas Key.

Unlocking God Given Potential. Unlocking God Given Potential. So imagine the scene in your mind’s eye. The air is thick with the smell of salt and fish. The sun is just beginning to warm the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

And a man named Jesus, whose reputation is spreading like wildfire, locks eyes on a rough, impulsive fisherman. This fisherman’s name is Simon. Simon is a man of sweat, a man of nets, of instinct and impulse. He’s known for speaking before he thinks. He’s known for acting before he fully considers.

By any human measure, Simon is not leadership material. Simon is a liability. Simon is a loose cannon. Now, when Jesus looked at Simon, he didn’t see the dirt under his fingernails or the brashness in his demeanor. He didn’t see the man who would, in a moment of fear, deny him.

Three times he called Peter because God, in his infinite wisdom, indicated Peter.

Now, God and Jesus saw something else entirely in Simon. They looked past the flawed exterior and into the core of Simon’s being, and they saw latent talent. They saw latent talent that Simon himself did not know, and this latent talent was locked inside Simon.

And God and Jesus were going to devise a plan to let it out and let it be useful in their service.

And then Jesus did something revolutionary. He gave Simon a new name. He said, thou art Simon, the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas, which. Which is, by interpretation, a stone.

Peter, the rock.

Jesus gave this impulsive, unstable man a name that described the stability of character that he would one day possess.

Jesus didn’t just see potential, he developed it, and he spoke that potential into existence.

Jesus called forth the sleeping talent in Peter and began the work of growing him into a powerful force of nature that would in many ways, become the face of his ministry.

So this morning, I want to ask you two simple yet profound questions. First, who saw the rock inside of you? Who was that person who looked past your flaws and saw your potential?

Who was that person that, speaking a word of encouragement changed the trajectory of your Life.

Now here’s a second, more challenging question.

Who are you seeing the rock in?

We often think of the work of Jesus was a one time event, and we think of this work as reserved for the apostles that God chose personally.

But the story of the early church provides a powerful nuance that is rather exciting. It tells us that this divine work of seeing, naming and activating the hidden potential in others was passed from Jesus to his followers. This discerning of gifts and potential for usefulness in the ministry became the central life giving mission of the ecclesiastical itself.

And the best man who exemplifies this mission, the man who became the living embodiment of this principle, was a man named Joses, a Levite from Cyprus.

But you know, that’s not the name we remember him by. The apostles gave Joses a new name, just as Jesus had done for Peter. The apostles called him Barnabas, which means the son of consolation or the son of encouragement. Barnabas was God’s talent scout.

Barnabas was one of the keys that unlocked the gifts of the early church, and the story of how he did it is just not history. It’s a blueprint for us today.

It is an important responsibility that I think we are in danger of forgetting.

Now let’s travel to the city of Antioch. We can read about this in Acts chapter 11, verses 19 through 30. But there was a crisis brewing. It was a crisis brewing among the brethren, but this was a good crisis.

Following the persecution that arose from Stephen’s death, believers were scattered like seeds in the wind. They traveled to Phoenicia, to Cyprus and to Antioch, and everywhere they went, they shared the good news of the Gospel. It’s amazing how that works, isn’t it?

Now in Antioch, something unprecedented was happening. For the first time, the message was shared not just with the Jews, but with the Greeks, and the Greeks responded, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

Now news of this incredible revival reached the church at Jerusalem.

Now, how do we typically respond when we hear that something new and different is happening somewhere else with people who are not actually like us?

Well, if we’re honest, our first reaction is often suspicion. We want to send a delegation to investigate.

We want to check their doctrine. We want to make sure that they’re doing everything the right way? We are tempted to send an inquisitor.

But the Jerusalem Church, in a moment of profound spiritual wisdom, they did the opposite. They didn’t send an inquisitor, they sent an encourager. They sent Barnabas, and what did Barnabas do when he Arrived. Well, the scripture is beautifully simple.

It says when he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad.

Barnabas first response was not critique, it was joy.

Barnabas saw what God was doing and celebrated it, even though it might not have met his expectations.

And the scripture states in Acts 11:23, 24 about Barnabas then he exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. He strengthened them, he encouraged them.

And what was the result? Much people were added unto the Lord.

But here is where the story takes a turn that reveals the true genius of Barnabas. Barnabas is in the middle of a massive, successful revival. The ministry is exploding. The temptation for any leader in that position would be to consolidate power, to become the sole authority, to make it all about him.

He could have easily thought, you know, I can handle this myself.

But I think Barnabas true genius was in that he knew his own limits, and more importantly, he knew the work was bigger than him.

And I think that he understood that in order to sustain this movement, he needed more help.

And his mind went to one person, a man who was at that time a pariah, a man the church feared, a man named Saul of Tarsus. Remember Saul? The man whose persecution of Stephen had scattered the church in the first place? Now, isn’t that a beautiful irony, that God would choose the man who created the mess to come and help clean it up?

I think that’s amazing. If there’s one piece of humor in the New Testament, that’s it, and it shows God’s character. It shows his power, his wisdom, his justice, and his love. Because what it did is unsettled the dust in the rafters.

And it made everybody get on their toes and see what was going on here.

The believers were terrified of Saul, and when Saul first tried to join the believers after his conversion, they. They didn’t believe him. But it was Barnabas who took him by the hand and brought him to the apostles. Barnabas vouched for him.

Barnabas vouched for Saul of Tarsus when nobody else would, and we can find that in Acts 9:26, 28. Now, years later, while Saul is somewhat isolated in his hometown of Tarsus, in Acts 9:30, it’s Barnabas who actively seeks him out.

And this actually required a fair amount of humility.

It required a huge, incredible amount of humility.

Barnabas did not see Saul of Tarsus as a threat to his own ministry. He saw Saul of Tarsus as a necessary partner.

I think Barnabas saw himself as the landing Party there to secure a beachhead in Antioch, and then he went to bring in the heavy artillery of the Gospel.

He traveled to Tarsus, he found Saul and brought him to Antioch, and together this powerful force, Barnabas, the inspirational people person, and Paul, the brilliant logician, changed the world.

My brethren, this is the Barnabas key. It is the principle of seeing the gift in others even when they are overlooked or feared, and having the humility to know that their gift is essential for God’s work to be done.

So how do we do this?

How do we become talent scouts for God? How do we learn to use the Barnabas Key?

Well, In Romans, chapter 12 and First Corinthians, chapter 12, they tell us a lot about the diversity of the gifts of the Spirit. You know, we’re all different. Our heads are shaped differently, our personalities are shaped differently. We’re given different gifts, and we’re all given it in order to effect growth and strength in the church of the Gospel.

Now, for years I’ve studied this dynamic of the powerful gifts and the opportunity to grow them through use in the power of the Holy Spirit. I’ve studied the various characters God has called and considered. I’ve even considered their unique authority to feed the body of Christ and strengthen it.

And I found there to be a combination lock. A combination lock that’s inside each of us. It’s in each of us. It’s in every single one of us, and it’s waiting to be unlocked, and God and Jesus did that for us with Simon.

God and Jesus did that for us with Saul.

And now we have the opportunity to look for that combination luck inside of ourselves, inside of our brethren.

We find something really curious in Acts, chapter 6, verse 3. It says, Wherefore brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom whom ye may appoint over this business.

Now this is an example of how the early church distributed responsibility. I think it might also be a picture of the seven messengers to the Gospel age church. But in an individual sense, it shows us that service in the house of God begins with character.

Service in the house of God begins with character. It begins with honesty.

It begins with the demonstrated in working of the power of the Holy Spirit and the concomitant wisdom that follows.

Now, Barnabas was uniquely qualified to go to Antioch because his personal combination was a perfect fit for the mission. He was from Cyprus, he knew Greek, so he could relate to the people. He was a Levite, so he knew the Scriptures and he had the gift of exhortation, and Barnabas heart was full of the Holy Spirit. This was Barnabas combination.

And this was called out by the church.

In my earlier service, I shared the formula for success that I think the Scriptures have compiled for us, and that is our gifts plus our talent multiplied by our behavior with the gifts we receive from God, the talent we receive from our experiences, our upbringing and our education and our trials and our failures, and the lessons learned from those things. So if we think of the gifts from God plus talent and think of those in a parenthesis, then our part is in behavior, and that’s a multiplying factor. Our behavior is a multiplying factor based upon our obedience to God, in our desire to follow him and to follow our Lord Jesus Christ. So I ask you this question.

What’s your combination of gifts and talent? What’s the combination of the person sitting next to you? What’s their combination of gifts and talent?

I think what we’re finding in the Scriptures is that unlocking this potential in ourselves and in others requires us to understand three distinct elements.

Now think of these three distinct elements like you would understand a computer. First, you have hardware. We all have a hardware piece of hardware of a computer, and this is a nice metaphor of how we are hardwired by God. It’s our innate and perhaps sleeping talent.

It’s our core strengths and our capabilities. It’s the gifts that God gives us, and it’s hardwired into us at birth.

Now, some of us, like the Apostle Paul, are logical and informational. Others of us, like Barnabas, are relational and inspirational.

So I have a question. Are you a Peter? Are you a hurdler who acts first and asks for forgiveness later? Or are you a Thomas, a thoughtful, analytical thinker? Are you a Martha, an efficient doer who sees what needs to be done and does it?

Are you a Mary who is inspirational and treasures the present moment?

Your gifts are your human hardware.

Your gifts and your talent are things that God gives you and that he provides for you to profit in your life.

These are the raw elements that God gives you. This is the masterpiece that God has created. This is the new creation.

And your gifts and your talent are manifested in how you operate in your consecrated life.

Now, you see me operating out of my gifts and talent, and you may assign me a certain temperament in your mind’s eye, a personality, if you will.

But in a moment of self disclosure, I used to be embarrassed about the operating system that God gave me.

And this came when I compared myself with other people and I thought that they were more Intelligent, gifted, capable, had more opportunities. I gave my life to the Lord at 19 years old. I married my lovely wife at 19 years old and started my family in the hope that I would someday become normal.

Now, I did not figure out that I was simply okay just the way I was until I was 35 years old. Can you believe that I was sitting in this saddle for 16 years before I figured out I was okay. It’s a frightful place to be.

Like the apostles Peter and Paul, our operating system that God gives each one of us is not a flaw to be embarrassed about. It’s a gift. It’s a gift from God, and it’s a gift that is to be understood. It’s a gift that is to be leveraged for his kingdom.

A couple of biblical examples for you to think about.

Moses was the meekest man on earth, and God used that meekness to lead a rebellious nation.

David was a warrior with a good heart and, and God used that combination to establish a kingdom.

The hardware and the software of your human operating system is the unique divine fingerprint that God placed on you.

Now, an ecclesia that uses the Barnabas key doesn’t try to make everyone the same.

The Ecclesia that uses the Barnabas key identifies the unique wiring of each person and finds the perfect place to plug them in. To plug them in where? To plug them into the ministry. To plug them into the garden of the Lord. I think of that beautiful scripture in Song of Solomon, chapter 4:16, that talks about the north wind and the south wind.

They blow in the garden of the Lord and the spices come out of the.

Of the items in the garden. The north wind, I think, are probably our difficult experiences. The south, warmer air wind are blessings and we need both, and our objective in our brethren’s life is to plug them into the ministry to find them that perfect place.

That was the example of the early church with Barnabas.

Now, the second piece of our operating system to think about is our software. That’s the software that actually runs on top of our hardware, and this is all the things that we learn and experience. It’s the programs that life has installed inside of your mind.

This includes our knowledge of the scriptures. This includes the skills that we’ve acquired during our youth and even during our secular work, and yes, even the skills of resilience and thoughtfulness that we have gained from our tragedies and our failures.

You know, we often look at our failures as disqualifiers. In fact, it’s easy to do that with our brethren too. We look at their failures as disqualifiers, and we think, you know, for ourselves. We think, you know, if only, if only the brother would know what I’ve done, they would never let me serve.

That’s a big idea.

It’s shipwrecked a lot of ministries.

I really appreciate the scripture and I think it’s Luke 17:1 3. It talks about if our brother repents, forgive him 70 times, something like that.

We often look at our failures, disqualifiers, but God’s grammar is different from ours. God uses different grammar than we do to create the sentences of our life. Where we put a period, God often puts a comma.

The death of Lazarus wasn’t a period.

Jesus inserted a comma.

Joseph in prison wasn’t a period.

Joseph inserted a comma before his exaltation is Pharaoh’s number two. It was a two year comma forever because all he had was hope, and then till that hope manifested.

Now Saul of Tarsus’s persecution of the church wasn’t a disqualifying period. For crying out loud. God used Paul’s software, his zeal, his knowledge of the law, his understanding of the Pharisee mindset, and God repurposed it to make him the greatest missionary the world has ever known.

God sent Saul of Tarsus to clean up the mess that he created. The ultimate deliberate act of repentance is to clean up the message that we create. My brethren, your tragedies, your mistakes, that mess you made, that’s all software that God can use to further the Gospel. Remember, if you create a mess, if you sin, you need to repent. There’s no way around that.

But when you do, God inserts a comma and he can emancipate your gifts and talent for the ministry of the Gospel, and where you come in is you multiply that masterpiece that God wrote inside you with your behavior. It begins with obedience.

Your tragedies and your mistakes are the very thing that allows you to connect with and minister to others who are in the same place, and it’s that very thing that allows you to see the true repentance of others, and like Barnabas found in Paul, set them on fire for a powerful ministry.

I think it’s interesting how Saul of Tarsus scattered the body of Christ. But then when Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus, Saul spent his whole life unifying the body of Christ.

God sent Paul the apostle to clean up his mess and Paul responded. Do you remember those three things that the apostle Paul was to do through the mouth of Ananias it says, go thy way, Ananias, for he is a chosen vessel unto me. God saw Saul of Tarsus as a masterpiece, and God saw Saul of Tarsus as somebody who could, continuing in the Scripture, bear my name before the Gentiles and the Kings and the children of Israel.

Barnabas, the encourager. He was the key figure in affirming Paul and launching him toward his ministry and bringing him into the Jerusalem church and normalizing him as somebody that could be respected and trusted.

My brethren, we should stop seeing our past as a liability. We should start seeing it as a part of the software package that God has given us for our mission, and in addition, if our brethren have repented for their past sins, we are obliged to help them find their mission as well. Now, this is a really difficult trial for many of you. This is a real difficult trial for many of us.

But it’s necessary, and once you do that in humility and thoughtful consideration of the power of God, it emancipates you and it helps you grow.

Otherwise, you’re stunting your spiritual growth. I offer that as a challenge by the example of the Scriptures. Now, we spoke about our hardware and software, and finally, the most important thing that we’re going to talk about, I think, is the interface of this computer system that we’ve talked about. We’ve talked about our hardware and talent as gifts and experiences. Now we’re going to talk about the interface of our computer system.

And this is where our behavior comes in, and we can change our behavior based upon the need, and it begins with our heart condition. You know, Matthew 12:34 talked of, Jesus is speaking about the Pharisees and lambasting them, and he says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.

That’s an eternal principle. We need to remember that out of the abundance of our heart, the mouth speaketh. Don’t forget that.

Are you a Pharisee or are you a disciple? Either way, that concept works both ways. Now, the scripture says in Acts of 1124 that Barnabas was effective, for he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit of faith.

That was his interface. He could have the right hardware and the right software, but without the power of the Holy Spirit, the system doesn’t run for the Gospel ministry, and this interface is really about humility. It’s about a rugged determination to serve our Heavenly Father and his mission for us. What is that mission?

It’s the Gospel. It’s the ministry of reconciliation. It’s a spirit that says that, you know, what this is not about me, it’s about the mission. Barnabas said, this is not about me, it’s about the mission. Saul of Tarsus said, this is not about me, it’s about the mission.

And Peter the apostle learned how to say, it’s not about me, it’s about the mission. This mindset, this interface of this computer system is what allowed Barnabas to get to Paul. It’s what allowed John the Baptist to decrease so that Christ could increase.

You know, the most talented person in the world is useless to the kingdom if their interface is corrupted by the sins of pride, of ego and of self interest.

But a person with a humble heart, full of faith and the Holy Spirit can actually be used by God in extraordinary ways regardless of their hardware, regardless of their software, regardless of their operating system, regardless of their interface. It could be rough, it could be tumble, but God can turn that into priceless activity in his service.

Going back to the story of Barnabas and Paul, Barnabas saw Paul’s interface as an amazing teacher and therefore sought him out for the ministry.

Now to explain this interface clearly, let’s consider the example of Jesus Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ. What a beautiful example. We have to walk in his footsteps. So which of these words would you use to describe Jesus during his ministry? I have five words here.

Was he a wanderer? Was he a healer? Was he a teacher? Was he a martyr? Was he a warrior?

Well, I think we would all use these all five words, wouldn’t we? But the secret to Jesus success was to use the right interface at the right time, and when it was time for Jesus to heal, he did not wander off. When it was time for him to judge the money changers in the temple, he did not try to heal them. When it was Jesus time to pay the ransom price as a martyr, he did not try to escape.

And as we discern the Lord’s will in our life, we must use the appropriate interface at the right time. But all according to God’s will, and only as a person with a humble heart, full of faith and full of the operation of the Holy Spirit.

Now there’s a danger that we face. There is a temptation that can cause our entire mission to grind to a halt.

The book of Jude rightfully warns us to be on guard. Jude exhorts us to earnestly contend for the faith, and then he warns us of wolves in sheep’s clothing. This is a vital message. We must test the spirits.

We must protect the flock, we must be discerning. But along with that is a subtle and Deadly temptation to take this one message and make it our only message. There’s a danger that we become so focused on looking for what’s wrong with people that we become blind to what’s right with them.

We develop a culture of perfectionism where our young people are afraid to ask a question in class for fear of being judged.

You know, it’s easy to build walls based upon our fleshly preferences and call it doctrinal purity. But we become professional fault finders instead of spirit led talent scouts in this overly critical spirit. It hurts our brethren’s spiritual growth, and it is the opposite of the Barnabas key.

The Apostle Paul gave Timothy a list of scriptures, a list of uses for scripture, and he says this doctrine for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

You know, sometimes we often focus on reproof and correction, but those words have a deeper meaning. The word for correction here is eponorthosis, which means a straightening up again, an improvement of life and character.

It’s not just about pointing out a flaw. It’s about restoration.

Scripture is not a hammer. It’s not just a hammer to condemn. It’s a key to emancipate the talent through obedience, through repentance, through the being full of the Holy Spirit, and the way we demonstrate that is by being it ourselves. Not backbiting, not evil speaking, not fault finding, but seeking out people to help, seeking out people to heal, and thus demonstrating the full power of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of the gospel, in the ministry of the reconciliation.

Our primary job is not to find the flaw, but to find the faith. It’s to look at our brothers and sisters and ask, you know, and this is what Paul Malley did to me. This is what August Tornquist did to me. This is what countless other brethren did for me. Some of them are in this very zoom room.

It is to look at our brothers and sisters and ask, what is that sleeping talent that God has placed in that beautiful masterpiece and how can I emancipate it? How can I pick them up, dust them off, polish it up? Heavenly Father, please help me to find their masterpiece.

And it is our responsibility as a church to evaluate the gifts of our members and provide opportunities for them to serve the work of the gospel. Yeah, Paul did this for Timothy. He saw Timothy’s timid spirit and he said, you know, I know your mother and grandmother, and God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. He was activating the Barnabas in Timothy. Paul was using the Barnabas Key.

So who are we activating? Or have we become so preoccupied with tending the aquarium that we’ve forgotten our call to be fishers of men?

An abundance of teachers in the Antioch Church was seen as a sign that it was time for missionary work.

What do we see an abundance of in our Ecclesiastes? Is it an abundance of criticism or an abundance of encouragement?

Now, one of the missions of the Apostles was to establish the church and our Ecclesias as the good ground, the pillar and ground of the truth of the Gospel. So let us continue that mission.

I’m going to go a little bit over time. Sorry about that. Maybe four minutes.

We cannot give away what we do not possess. We can’t help others discover their gifts until we understand our own. So this is where we must begin in discovering our gifts. The work starts not by looking at others, but by looking in the mirror. So here’s your mission, should you choose to accept it.

I call it the Barnabas Challenge, and it has three steps. Step one. Look in the mirror this week. Take some time to be alone with God and to take a personal inventory.

Ask him to show you your combination. What is your hardware? Are you logical? Are you relational? Are you a doer?

Are you a thinker? Don’t sit in the doldrums. If you’re in the doldrums, don’t sit in the doldrums. God is waiting to put wind in that sail.

Ask God to show you your unique combination. Think creatively about how God has wired you. What is your software? What have you learned? What skills do you have?

What tragedies has God carried you through that could now be used to help someone else? And what is the state of your interface with your family and with the world at large? Is your heart humble? Is it full of faith? Is it honest?

Are you surrendered to the Holy Spirit?

Until you understand your own God given design, you cannot help others discover their God given Design. Masterpiece. Step 2. Look through the window. Once you begin to see yourself as God sees you, I suggest that afterward you look for one person this week.

Just one. It might be a young person in your ecclesia who is quiet and overlooked. It might be someone who recently made a mistake and is feeling the weight of shame. Might be a faithful brother or sister who serves tirelessly in the background and could use some affirmation, some recognition. Some of you are especially good at that.

I know that from experience, and look at these people through the window, and instead of looking for flaws, pray that God will show you Their sleeping talent.

Pray that God will show you their sleeping talent. Pray to see the rock inside the impulsive fisherman, and then go to them and speak a word of encouragement. Not flattery, not empty praise, but a specific heartfelt word.

Tell them the gift that you see in them. You know, a right word at the right time can be a miracle in somebody’s life.

The wise man says that they are apples of gold in pictures of silver. Proverbs 25:11.

Your one sentence of encouragement could be the key that unlocks a ministry that you cannot imagine. God will help you. Jesus has promised to be with you till the end of the age. The last phrase in Matthew chapter 28. We’ve talked about step one.

Now step two we’ve completed. Now let’s take a look at step three.

Look out the door.

Pray for God to change the culture of your ecclesia. Pray that we would be known not as communities of critique, but but as communities of activation.

Who did I learn that from? You’re right, Paul Malley. Communities of activation. That’s what we are. Pray that God would raise up a generation of Barnabas’s who are more excited about launching others into their ministry than building their own.

Faithful is he that hath called you who will also do it. So in conclusion, remember that scene on the shore?

Jesus looked at a flawed, impulsive man and called him a rock. Jesus began God’s good work in Peter and he was faithful to complete it.

In the beginning of the Gospel age, God chose a handful of disciples for a unique purpose, and now in the closing of the Gospel age, he has chosen you.

He has chosen you for a unique purpose.

There are people in your life who are waiting for your attention.

They are waiting for someone to see them, to believe in them, to speak a name of potential over them, and then to bring it into existence. They are waiting for you. They are waiting for you to use that Barnabas key.

Let us expend our best energy to find our own gifts, and let us double down and turn and help others find theirs. Let us be a people who don’t just point out sin, but who activate saints. Let us become an army of encouragers, of talent scouts for the kingdom of God. Because there are people in our ecclesias right now waiting for us to activate the Barnabas in them.

Heavenly Father, instill in each one of us the Barnabas key. Direct us to those whom you have chosen in Jesus Christ. Amen.

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