100 Days to a Healthier ChurchSample

Get Ready

Weeks 10–11

Day 64 (Saturday)

Today’s Big Idea: Leadership lessons from the life of Paul. The apostle Paul is one of the great figures not just in the Bible, but in world history. After having one of the most dramatic conversions stories ever known, he goes from being the leading persecutor of Christians to being the leading promoter of faith in Jesus. In addition to his faithful life and his foundational writings, Paul’s life and ministry are also a great example of what we’re doing during these 100 Days—leadership through a time of church transition.

This week, we’re going to look at six episodes from Paul’s life from the book of Acts to see how we can become better leaders in the church, just as Paul was.

Key Verse: “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2).

Thoughts to Consider:  The apostle Paul didn’t start out as the apostle Paul. He began as the traveling companion of Barnabas. Barnabas was one of the greatest of the early disciples. His real name was Joseph, but the other disciples called him Barnabas, meaning “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36). Barnabas was Saul’s mentor. He was the one who convinced the other disciples to receive Saul after his conversion (Acts 9:27), and, after being sent to Antioch to determine if the revival there was legitimate, he brought Paul from Tarsus to mentor him (Acts 11–12). 

What we commonly call Paul’s first missionary journey was actually Barnabas’ missionary journey, with Paul as his traveling companion (Acts 13:1–3). But not long after they started out, Paul’s ministry became so effective that it appears Barnabas willingly stepped aside to let Paul lead instead of him. Though the Bible never states this outright, it becomes apparent by several pieces of evidence including the fact that, instead of being called “Barnabas and Saul” as they were when they started out (Acts 13:2), they were later listed as “Paul and Barnabas” (Acts 13:42)” or “Paul and his companions” (Acts 13:13). In their culture, the order of names indicates a subtle, but important shift, signifying a change in leadership.

Few people ever lay aside leadership as readily as Barnabas did. But that’s what we should be willing to do when we realize all our leadership roles are always under Christ’s authority anyway. What does this lesson from Barnabas and Paul say to you about your role in the church? Are you willing to step into leadership like Paul when it’s your time? Are you willing to step aside like Barnabas when that’s what’s needed? If we really see Jesus as the ultimate leader, we’ll be willing to serve or lead whenever and wherever He asks.