And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister. Acts 13:5
Barnabas and Paul must have felt very blessed to have had such an excellent assistant as John Mark. This young man came from an excellent family and had been a good help to many of the Christians for a long time. He had no doubt been very excited at being selected by his uncle Barnabas to travel on the very first missionary journey into Gentile territory. As the missionaries launched into the work at their first stop in Salamis, John would be kept busy tending to the preachers’ needs. We can only assume that he did a good job. But something happened to destroy his enthusiasm and commitment, because only eight verses later, as the missionaries arrived in Perga, John abandoned the mission and went home to Jerusalem. How disappointing for the missionaries! But such setbacks are all too commonplace in the work of the Lord.
It is comforting to note that John Mark was eventually restored in his service and commitment and became a valuable companion of both Barnabas and Paul, as well as an author of one of the Gospel accounts. He returned to the type of service he was rendering in today’s text. We have seen many such young men and women over the years, who started out well for their Lord. It was encouraging to see them desire to be a help, and to see their spiritual development. But it was heartbreaking to see them lose their fervor and their love for the work of the Lord. Sometimes it is just discouragement, sometimes it is the attractions of the world, sometimes it is the influence of unwise or ungodly companions that leads them astray. It is sad to see such a loss. But we know that it does not have to be a permanent loss, as the example of John Mark shows.
Having John to minister to them was a great privilege for those preachers. Because he tended to the mundane and background chores, they could concentrate on the preaching and the visiting and the witnessing. Did they take John’s service too much for granted? We don’t know. All we know is that he served them well for awhile, but eventually abandoned them. We need to be careful that we don’t take the humble efforts of newer and younger Christians for granted. They need to be assured of the value of their efforts, and be encouraged to grow and develop. We need to see them as trainees who will eventually take the places of the older and more experienced among us.
Try to imagine your Assembly 20 or 30 years from now, and try to picture the role that the younger men and women of today will play in that future setting. Will they all be still there and be contributing? Something for us to pray about! -Jim MacIntosh