John Mark is an interesting character in the Bible. He is mentioned no less than 8 times in the Bible. What I know about him is mostly from the book of Acts. He was a relative of Barnabas. He was the reason why Paul and Barnabas departed ways and went to different locations to establish churches. In Acts13:13, John Mark left the group of missionaries from Antioch, and he returned to Jerusalem. We can speculate as to what caused him to make that choice but the Bible doesn’t say, because it is not important. What is important is that he abandoned the group in the middle of the huge task of evangelizing the Gentile world.
On the second missionary journey in Acts 15, Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark, but Paul was against it. They decided it was better to go on separate teams. Barnabas took John Mark, and Paul took Silas. It wasn’t wrong of Paul to not want to take John Mark. You have limited resources in the mission field. You have to be able to count on the people that join you to help accomplish the mission. Paul didn’t think that John Mark was “that” man.
When you know someone and have a close bond with them, you can see their potential. That you understand that they’re going to make mistakes and encouragement is needed in order to flourish. Barnabas saw that in John Mark. Only time will tell what happens. More next week