Somebody Vouched for You When No One Else Would
Daily Scripture
Acts 9:26-27
When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him because they didn’t believe he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles. He explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.
“Be shepherds of God’s flock among you, watching over them not because you must, but because you want to. Don’t do it for shameful profit but do it eagerly. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care but be examples for the flock.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Every disciple in Jerusalem had a good reason to keep their distance. Saul had been dragging Christians out of their homes not long before. His conversion story was either true, or it was the most dangerous trap they’d ever seen coming. Barnabas is the only one willing to bet his own credibility on Saul being real, walking him personally into the room and vouching for him to people who had every reason to slam the door.
That’s the part of mentorship easy to miss when you only picture wise advice offered from a safe distance. Sometimes the most important thing you can do for someone is far riskier than words. It’s putting your own name behind theirs before they’ve proven anything to anyone else, simply because you believe what you’ve seen in them is real.
- Is there someone in your life whose potential you can see clearly, even though other people are still skeptical or keeping their distance? What’s actually stopping you from vouching for them?
- Barnabas didn’t wait for Saul to earn everyone’s trust first. He went ahead of that. Is there a specific introduction, endorsement, or word of trust you could offer someone this week before they’ve fully proven themselves?
Prayer
Faithful God, thank you for people willing to risk their own reputation on behalf of someone others had written off. Forgive me for the times I’ve stayed safely quiet instead of vouching for someone I believed in. Give me Barnabas’s courage, willing to walk someone into the room others wanted to keep them out of. Show me today who needs that kind of trust from me. Amen.
GPS Insights
Anna Herholz
Hi! My name is Anna Herholz, I will be beginning my senior year of college at the
University of Nebraska - Lincoln with a degree in Neuroscience! I grew up in Resurrection and was a student ministry intern in the Summer of 2024. Resurrection will always have such a special place in my heart for who it shaped me to become.
When I read this passage, I see a form of mentorship that often goes unnoticed. Barnabas is literally putting his name on the line for someone who had actually proven to be a bad person in previous encounters. Now, I don’t think that we necessarily need to do exactly this, but I do think that we vouch for people in our lives in ways we might not notice, such as inviting people into a new space.
Barnabas is bridging the gap between the apostles and Saul by introducing him in a new light and telling the apostles “I believe in Saul being a good person now, and I have seen it with my own eyes. Trust me that you’ll see it too.” This would be a hard thing to believe as an apostle. You would have to put all your previous thoughts about this person aside in believing your friend and leader. I think about this reflected in my own life; What negative connotations do I associate different groups or people with? How might these unconscious thoughts come out in my conversations that I am unaware of?
Now, on a different way of looking at this: how can we be more of a bridge between people like Barnabas was? What makes someone a “Barnabas”, and how can we bring that friendly light to people who may feel like an outcast? There is no doubt that we all have different pasts that shape how we see the world, but how can we look past what someone has done in order to focus on the person they want to become?
What are times in your life where you’ve had someone like Barnabas vouching that you will do a job right? I think we have more Barnabas’ than we think. I am currently applying to PA school, which includes letters of recommendation. These are letters from people vouching for me saying that I can be trusted to work hard towards an honorable goal. Additionally, I think about getting a position where someone trusts you to lead others. There was someone in your organization who vouched for you by believing in you so that you could believe in yourself and succeed.
What if we all became more like Barnabas? What if we made it a goal to invite one person to something new every day? It doesn’t have to be anything huge, but if we work towards one small thing per day, we would have a more friendly congregation and more of a cohesive community. The act of inviting, even if not followed through, provides a sense of love and appreciation for the other person. Let’s all be more like Barnabas.
