Living in the Image of God M05S11
The breakup of the Gospel alliance of Paul and Barnabas provides insights based on understanding options for satisfying competing interests in a disagreement within an alliance. If the options are compatible, the disagreement could be resolved by implementing measures to satisfy the competing interests simultaneously. If the options are incompatible, then a path to resolution could be to seek an amicable breakup that would satisfy the competing interests. In any case, the parties need to understand how their interests would be satisfied through the available options.
This bible study discusses the breakup of the Gospel alliance of Paul and Barnabas to provide insights for managing disagreements within an alliance. The alliance could be for a Christian mission directly or for other aspects of living. The alliance of Paul and Barnabas began with their collaboration in growing the church at Antioch and blossomed through the First Missionary Journey, when they established several churches in southern Europe and laid foundation for the growth of Christianity worldwide.
The alliance broke up as they discussed plans for the second missionary journey, because of a disagreement regarding their relationships with a younger apostle named John Mark, now better known as the author of the Gospel according to Mark. At that time, Barnabas wanted to work with John Mark to mentor him and proposed taking him along. In contrast, Paul was concerned that John Mark would not serve the mission well, because of a previous experience with him. He had abandoned them early in the First Missionary Journey and had not worked with them thereafter [Acts 15:37–38]: “Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.”
Paul and Barnabas broke up and did not proceed together to the second missionary journey [Acts 15:39–40]: “They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.” Their breakup, however, led to two separate and successful Gospel ministries.
Additionally, the breakup provides insights for managing disagreements in an alliance, based on understanding the options for satisfying competing interests. If the options are compatible, the disagreement could be resolved by implementing measures to satisfy the competing interests simultaneously. If the options are incompatible, such as in the Paul-Barnabas example, then a path to resolution could be to seek an amicable breakup that would satisfy the competing interests. In any case, to find an amicable path to resolution, the parties need to understand how their interests would be satisfied through the available options.
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