Acts 9:20-31
Imagine for just a moment that you are Paul. You are excited to share your love for Christ. You are making plans to learn from the apostles everything they know about Jesus. Jesus has turned you inside out and upside down and you can’t wait to tell anyone and everyone. But when you go up to people to tell them about Jesus, they don’t want to hear what you have to say. Even if they don’t shun you outright, you see the looks they give each other and hear their whispers to each other. Had Barnabas not taken the time to listen to Paul; had he not taken the time to listen to the Holy Spirit, what would that have done to Paul. I don’t think it would have turned him away from Jesus because his experience with Jesus was unmistakable, but it could have caused him to hesitate in speaking Jesus.
All too often, mature Christians are quick to criticize new believers, treating them as if they should act like mature believers. Rather than welcoming them onto the team, they are quick to point out how immature and inexperienced they are. Sometimes the older saints are threatened by the zeal of the younger saints, sometimes they just don’t want to change the way things are being done. But we ought to learn from Barnabas to err on the side of acceptance and encouragement. If the younger believer needs to have some rough edges smoothed out, the Lord will take care of that over time.