I know sometimes people think that the preacher is preaching at them. In reality, I am, often times, preaching to myself. Studying the Scriptures brings one face to face with mirror of God's Truth. It challenges me and my thinking and my actions as much as anyone.
When I said that I understood the apostle Paul and the choice he made to separate from Barnabas I meant it. It is always easier to end a relationship than fix it. It is always easier to burn a bridge than build one. What is not so easy is to honestly and brutally look at one's own actions in the light of the Scriptures. We can be quick to point out where others have failed, while ignoring our own failures in the past and in the present.
While we should strive to be more like Barnabas in the way he encouraged others, we also need to remember that he was man with his own faults as well. Paul tells us in Galatians 2:13 that "The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray". You see one can be too focused on relationships and lose sight of their Christian principles. Barnabas who had opposed the attempt make the Gentiles disciples into Jews, was now treating those same Gentiles with disrespect for the sake of maintaining a relationship with those same Jewish believers.
As Christians, we must balance people and principle properly in our lives. That balance is found in our continued study of God's Word and in our authentic community with one another.
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