Snapshots from our 31st Anniversary
From the Desk of Pastor Renato del Mundo, SMO National Director:
This year’s anniversary theme, “Together for the Gospel”, made me think of a partnership between two faithful workers of the Lord – Barnabas and Saul. Barnabas, also known as Joses or Joseph mentioned in Acts 4:36-37, was a Levite who sold his property and gave the proceeds to the early Jerusalem Church. In contrast, Saul, who later became Paul was a former persecutor of the church who eventually became a believer through a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus himself. Both Barnabas and Paul became teachers and ministers to the Church in Antioch Syria where the early believers were first called Christians. They were then chosen by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the church to become official missionaries and team partners for the mission work in the neighboring countries.
The Book of Acts chapters 13 and 14 recorded the mission trip events of Barnabas and Paul. As mission partners, they were “together for the Gospel” having one heart and mind, agreeing and uniting for the same cause. Their unity was based on these three principles: They were committed and passionate about the same Mission they Performed, about the same Message they Proclaimed, and about the same Motivation they Pursued. Through their mission trips we can get strategies and insights on how to work together as fellow workers in the Lord’s ministry. Firstly, Paul and Barnabas were focused on their Mission: “Go and Make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:20-21). In obedience to the Great Commission, Paul & Barnabas became witnesses of the Lord Jesus in every place they visited. With all zealousness, they went about taking the gospel from one synagogue after another, city after city, reaching out to the Jews, as well as to the Gentiles. As the Holy Spirit led them, they were bold in performing their mission regardless of the opposition, persecution and rejection.
Secondly, both of them have the same passion about the message they proclaimed. Their Message: “Gospel of Jesus, The Christ of God”. Paul and Barnabas proclaimed the gospel by proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the anointed of God, the Messiah as prophesied, and that salvation and justification is by Grace alone through Faith in Jesus’ finished work on the Cross (Acts 13:16-41). They introduced to them the Gospel of Jesus which resulted in the salvation of the Gentiles, as well as persecution from fellow Jews.
Thirdly, both of them have the same Motivation: “Glory of God & Expansion of His Kingdom”. In Acts 14: 8-18, there was an incident when the people from Lystra, a place where Paul and Barnabas healed a crippled man from birth, that the people exalted them as gods and were to present a sacrificial offerings for them. When Paul and Barnabas learned about this, they rent their clothes and forbid them to do such, acknowledging that they were only men and that the glory belongs only to God who made the heavens and the earth. They were very careful not to receive the glory but to offer it only to the One who truly deserves it- GOD alone. So, regardless of the hardships and troubles, even Paul’s experience of death but was later revived by the Lord, they both persevered because they understood that after all, God’s kingdom is not about them, but it’s about God’s glory.
However, their unity doesn’t necessarily mean uniformity, where the two of them were exactly alike in all things. Like any other workers, we all have varying perceptions or opinions. On their supposed second mission trip (Acts 15:36-40), Barnabas and Paul had a serious disagreement regarding John Mark who deserted them during their first mission trip. Their sharp argument caused them to part ways. Barnabas brought John Mark with him to Cyprus, while Paul decided to take Silas to be his mission partner to the regions of Lycaonia and Macedonia. ‘Though there maybe differences of opinions between them, they didn’t allow their differences to hinder their service to the Lord. Both of them continued on in the ministry where God wanted them to go and what he wanted them to do. They maybe serving the Lord in different places, or in different ways, but they were united in their Mission, in their Message, and in their Motivation. They remained partners in the Lord’s ministry. That was somehow proven that later in Paul’s Roman imprisonment, he requested to send John Mark to assist him.
Likewise, the SMO ministry serves as a partner to Christian Churches, schools, and our government in fulfilling the Great Commission, in proclaiming the message of Christ, and pursuing the glory of God. Together, we can be partners for the Gospel in Christ!
