The Other Guy

Read‍

Acts 4:34-37 "...that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means 'son of encouragement'), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet."

Think

Chapter divisions in the Bible were added much later, which means when Luke wrote this, there was no gap here. The story of Barnabas and the story of Ananias sat right next to each other, back to back, on purpose.

Read them together and you notice something strange. The two stories are almost identical.

A man owns property. The man sells the property. The man brings the money and puts it at the apostles’ feet.

That is Barnabas in Acts 4. That is Ananias in Acts 5. If you had been standing in the room, both would have looked exactly the same. Same action. Same amount of walking. Same money on the same floor in front of the same people.

One is remembered as the son of encouragement. One drops dead.

The difference was never visible.

That should stop you, because most of what we call holiness is measured by what people can see. Who shows up. Who serves. Who is at every Mix night. Who carries a Bible into school. Who has the reputation.

And every single one of those things can be done by a Barnabas or by an Ananias, and from the seats you cannot tell which is which.

Two students can be in the same seat on Wednesday. One is there because they cannot stay away from God. One is there because their mom checks, or because a person they like will be there, or because being known as a church kid is working out for them socially.

Two students can serve on the same team. One is serving. One is being seen serving.

Two students can post the same verse.

Same action. Different heart. And the only one who can tell the difference is God.

Now here is the trap, and you need to hear it before you start going through your own motives with a flashlight.

You cannot fix your heart by inspecting it harder. Anybody who has tried this knows what happens. You start examining every good thing you do until you have talked yourself out of doing anything, because there is always some selfish thread in there somewhere. That is not holiness. That is paralysis, and it stops more students than open rebellion does.

Notice what Barnabas actually did. He did not sit around auditing his own motives. He saw a need and he handled it.

And notice his nickname. The apostles called him son of encouragement. Nobody hands you that nickname because of one act of generosity. That name came from a pattern. From being the guy in the room who consistently built other people up when there was no reason to and no audience for it.

Barnabas had been who he was for a long time before Acts 4. The field was not a performance. It was just the next thing a person like that would do.

That is what God is after in you. Not one impressive moment. A direction.

The real test is not what you do on Wednesday night. It is what you do on Thursday when nobody who saw you Wednesday is around.

So the question for today is not whether I have perfectly pure motives. Nobody does. It is simpler and harder than that. Would I still do this if no one ever found out?

Because Barnabas would have. And that turned out to be the only difference that mattered.

Apply

Do one hidden thing – Do one good thing today that nobody will ever know about. Do not hint at it, post it, or mention it in small group. Let it be between you and God, and pay attention to how badly you want to tell someone.

Pray

God, you see the difference between what I do and why I do it. I do not want to be the person who looks surrendered and is not. Make me somebody who is the same on Thursday as I am on Wednesday. Help me do good today with nobody watching. In Jesus’ name. Amen.