Athletes in Action Playbook: Influencers in SportSample

Mark was a young man living in the days following Jesus’ resurrection. His mother’s house was a meeting place for the early church in times of persecution. When two of the leaders, Paul and Barnabas, set out to take the message of Christ to other countries they took Mark along.

Traveling with Paul was a dangerous venture. He was usually threatened, jailed, persecuted or run out of town most days. We don’t know the details, but somewhere in the mission Mark bailed on the team.

When Paul and Barnabas made plans for a second trip, their disagreement over including Mark became so heated that they split up (Acts 15:37-41). Paul chose new mission companions, and Barnabas went in another direction with Mark under his wing.

Several years later, Paul was in prison in Rome just months before his execution for his disruptive preaching. He wrote to one of the church leaders, “Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.”

We know little of Mark’s life between the first and last episode. He lived in the shadows, but he was found worthy of service by the old sage he had once abandoned.

His account of the life of Christ (Gospel of Mark) is part of the best-selling book of all time AND the best-selling annually. Billions of copies are in circulation!

Most of us live in the shadows. Our names might show up on a Google search if we were ever mentioned in the media, but we wouldn’t qualify for a page in Wikipedia. We watch the celebrated ones who dominate the public arena and assume they are the ones who will have the most influence in our world.

List the prominent names in the Scriptures. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Joshua, David, Mary, Paul, Peter … God used them in significant ways.

You will need to search to find information on Mark, Joseph, Lydia, Andrew, Stephen … but you will be challenged by the way that God used these who lived in the shadows.