South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies

SOUTH ASIA INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED CHRISTIAN STUDIES
<Critically analyze the Lukan Portrait of Paul and Barnabas drawing key
leadership strength of their personalities>
Submitted to
Rev. Dr. Charlie E. George
In partial fulfillment of the
Requirements of the course
Introduction to the New Testament
Submission Due Date: 03rd Aug 20 Actual Submission Date:06th Aug 2020
Expected Word Count: 900-1000 Actual Word Count: 998
I declare that this assignment is my own unaided work. I have not copied it from
any person, article, book, website or any other form of storage. Every idea or
phrase that is not my own has been duly acknowledged to the best of my
knowledge and ability.
Signature____PKLL__________
Student Name:_Pauline Kut Lin Loong ___
Date:_06th August 2020

Paul and Barnabas are two great leaders with different personalities but both have contributed
greatly to the spread of the Good News till the end of the earth through the help of the Holy
Spirit as have mentioned in Acts 1: 8 – ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the end of the earth. ‘
Luke only started sharing about Paul in Chapter 8 in the books of Acts and it can be seen that
Paul who was at that time named Saul was a determinant person. He was determined to get all
the Christian arrested and by all means, he will do so as it can be seen in Acts 9:1-2 ‘But Saul,
still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and
asked him for letters to eh synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the
Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.’ As a leader, we need to be
determinant in what we do and does not give up. This same person encountered the Lord on the
road to Damascus and his life completely changed. From Saul, he became Paul and his
determining spirit as a leader enabled him to continue spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ
despite all the persecutions he has endured. He received threats of imprisonment and death as
stated in Accts 20:3, 23; 21: 11 and 23:12-14 and he was even sued, jailed and tortured but still
he was determined to continue sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. He dares to even preach
to those who captured him both the Jewish and the Romans as mentioned in Acts 23: 1-10 and
Acts 24: 21-26; 26:32; 28:30-31. As a leader, no matter what circumstances we may face, we
must be determined to continue the work and trust God to help us.
As a leader, Paul knew his calling and allowed God to guide him step by step in his ministry as
shown in Acts 16:6-10. As a leader, we should know what God has called us to do and depend
on Him to lead us in the ministry. Jesus should be the center of our ministry as He is the one
who called us into His Work. In addition, Paul didn’t take glory for him but credits the Holy
Spirit for keeping him going in the face of adversity as stated in Acts 20:22; 21:4 and 23:11.
Another strength of Paul as a leader is that he is willing to disciple others in the ministry and it
can be seen how this has helped in the spreading of the Good News. In Acts 16 :1-4, he recruited
Timothy and coached him and the fruit of this discipleship can be seen in the book of 1st and 2nd
Timothy. He not only recruited Timothy but he also brought Silas on his mission trip and
recruited Priscilla and Aquila. We can see the fruit of his work in Acts 18:26 ‘Apollos began to
speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and
explained to him the way of God more accurately.’ As a leader, we need to disciple others to
follow in your step and even doing better for His glory.
As a leader, Paul was also respectful towards others. It can be seen in Acts 21:17-26 how Paul
respects the Jewish Christian leaders and complies with their odd request in order to show his
faithfulness to the Jewish law. He even speaks respectfully to a crowd to has just beaten him as
seen in Acts 21:30, to the Jewish Council as seen in Acts 23:1-10 or to King Agrippa and his
wife Bernice who has imprisoned him as seen in Acts 26: 2-29. As a leader, we should respect
others and as such, we can win them to the Lord.
We can also learn a lot of leadership strengths from the life Barnabas as shown in the Book of
Acts. Barnabas’s true name is Joseph and his nick name was given because he was a son of
encouragement. We can see this in Acts 4:36-37 ‘ For instance, there was Joseph, the one the
apostles nicknamed Barnabas which means Son of Encouragement. He was from the tribe of
Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the money to
the apostle.’ Indeed as a leader, we must be able to encourage others to keep going in their
Christian life as well as in the ministry that God has called us to do. Barnabas always wanted
others to do well and as a leader, he is willing to give a second chance. For example in the case
of John Mark, he is willing to give him a second chance as seen in Acts 15: 36-41 and it can be
seen the further how Mark has changed to be a better person and even Paul in 2 Timothy 4: 11
asked Mark to join him. ‘ Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is
helpful to me in my ministry.’
As a leader, Barnabas believed that one can be transformed by the Word of God and be
committed to serve the Lord. This can be seen in the life of Paul and it was Barnabas who
brought him to Antioch as stated in Acts 11:25-26.
Barnabas was not only an encourager but he was also generous as we can see from the above
mentioned verse. He didn’t keep the money to buy what he wanted but gave it to the apostles to
share with the other believers. As a leader, we should also be generous and think of others and
not only of ourselves.
https://barnabasfund.org/en/projects/category/christian-resources
https://www.theologyofwork.org/new-testament/acts/leadership-as-witness-acts-20-28
Introduction to the Book of Acts, Dr. Roji T George
Mr. Encouragement: The Life of Barnabas
Bibliography
D.A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo, and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House).

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SOUTH ASIA INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED CHRISTIAN STUDIES

Rev. Dr. Charlie E. George

In partial fulfillment of the

Requirements of the course

Introduction to the New Testament

Expected Word Count: 900-1000 Actual Word Count: 998

Student Name:_Pauline Kut Lin Loong ___

Date:_06th August 2020

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