Just Another Boring Character Trait – Acts 11:19-26

Whitney Houston died the other day.

Some of you might be asking yourself, “Whitney Houston? Whitney Houston? Who is Whitney Houston?”

Others are saying, “Whitney Houston? Singer, movie star, reality TV victim. I know Whitney Houston.”

Some are thinking, “What a shame,” and others are thinking, “What do you expect from a drug addict.”

And some people themselves will be addicted to the tabloids and talk shows trying to find out more about this woman and her death.

The world is highly interested in highly interesting people.

And many of those highly interesting folk, are that way because of their wicked or dangerous lives.

There are thousands of books published, printed and read every year about mass-murderers, dictators, tycoons and wizards, whether financial or pharmaceutical.

Our neighbors like biographies about wicked people, and in the flesh we are drawn to them as well.

Sometimes we like heros and courageous people – male and female, Christian and worldly.

But on the other hand, some character traits are just not that exciting – like “goodness.”

Few people go out and buy a biography about someone who was merely “good.”

Few movies are made about “good people.” What a shame.

One day a man came to the Lord Jesus with a deap and important theological question.

I don’t know if he was nervous and hesitant or if he was proud and brash.

He ran up to the Saviour and inquired: “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”

In a backward sort of way I am interested in his question.

But I am more interested in the word “good” that he used.

“Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Before answering the question, the Lord Jesus first addressed that word “good.”

“Why callest thou me good, there is none good but God.”

Why did Jesus answer in the way that He did?

First, I think that it was to remind us all that we are accountable for every idle word that we speak.

And this was one of those idle words.

It was spoken out of conventional politeness, without any real forethought.

I doubt that the man was especially thinking that Jesus was good, or that He was especially good.

Our acquaintance says, “Hi, how are you?,” and we reply with “Fine, thank you. How are you.”

How often is it that he doesn’t really care, and we don’t really care that he doesn’t really care.

“Good master,” said the rich young ruler.

And Christ Jesus replied with, “Wait a minute, Why callest thou me good, for there is none good but God.”

“Are you implying that I am god? Do you recognize my deity?”

That was certainly not the man’s intention, although it should have been.

Well then was Jesus denying that He was good or that he was God? Of course not.

He was just trying to open the man’s eyes just a little bit.

The second thing that Jesus did that day was to open a wonderful window on the nature of Jehovah.

It is true that only God is good.

We could certainly spend many hours thinking about that.

That would in itself be a wonderful spiritual and mental exercise for any Wednesday evening

How is only God good?

He is the only being in the universe who is good by nature…..intrinsically good.

Certainly as far men are concerned “there is none that doeth good no not one” – Romans 3:10.

And the Lord God is the only being in the universe who is immutably good.

It is impossible for the Lord to be anything less than good.

And then Jehovah is the only one who is infinitely good.

And yet there was a man in the Jerusalem church of whom it was said that he was good, Barnabas.

Are we to accuse the penman of Acts of lying to us, because Jesus said only God is good?

Maybe the explanation is in the use of different Greek words between those passages.

Nope, the Greek word is “agathos” in both cases.

And it is said that Dorcas was a woman of “good works.”

And Cornelius was a centurion “of good report.”

And Paul testified that he possessed “a good conscience.”

And that was after he had said that “in me dwelleth no good thing.”

What is the explanation of these apparent contradictions?

Let’s think about the word itself — “GOODNESS.”

There was a poor Jew that was going down to Jericho who fell among thieves.

They stripped him of his garments, robbed him of his wealth and left him for dead.

And similarly there was a perfectly good word, that has fallen among thieves as well.

There were plenty of good guys down at the bar watching the Superbowl a couple weeks ago.

They cursed like sailors, broke a few rules and slapped the waitresses rear ends, like one of the guys.

I’m sure that Goliath was considered a good guy by the rest of the Philistines.

What about those people who never swear, steal, cheat or lie? Are considered good as well.

They may, in fact, be considered too good – goody-goody.

They would never consider watching the Superbowl from a bar stool surrounded by the drunks.

On the other hand, they may be as useful as a store mannikin and as warm as an ice sculpture.

But they are still good in some people’s eyes.

Why is it that “good” has lost its reputation?

Why is it that to be “good” is considered to be weak or warped today?

I’d like to assert that “good” is neither weak or wicked.

It’s a strong, brawny, masculine word, like “love” and “surrender.”

“Good” was a word used to describe Barnabas, not because there was nothing better to say about the man.

It was used in the Bible because it fitly described a fine, heroic man.

It parallels what used to be contained in the once powerful word “Christian.”

I would rather be poor and “good” than to be rich and not “good.”

It is better to be “good” than to be famous or secularly highly educated.

It is certainly better to be “good” than to be popular or notorious.

But we still haven’t defined what that “goodness” involves.

We could use the Lord to help us define that goodness.

But that may or may not be more of a definition than our finite minds can handle.

For example, when Moses was on Mount Sinai, he asked the Lord to show him His glory.

God then said, “Okay, I’ll set you in the fissure of this rock and cover you with my hand.

Then I will take away hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen.”

Exodus.33:19 quotes the Lord as saying, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee.”

The question has remained unanswered for 3,500 years, “What exactly was it that Moses saw, when he saw the goodness of God pass before him?”

A more practical description of goodness can be seen in the one whom God called “good” – Barnabas.

Not only is it practical, but I believe that it is a reflection of the goodness of God.

What does goodness look like in Barnabas?

The first time we see him, he is a wealthy land owner and a member of First Baptistic church in Jerusalem.

We see him selling all his land and giving the money from that sale to the Lord through his church.

Apparently Barnabas learned the Christian principle of God’s sovereign ownership of all things.

If he once cared much about making money, he had lost that concern by now.

If he cared about retaining his wealth, he had more concern now about keeping the smile of the Lord.

Need I remind you of what Jesus said to the rich young ruler, when he asked the Good Master about inheriting eternal life?

The Saviour told him to sell all that he had and to give it to the poor.

Does God have the right to tell us things like that?

Does giving all that we have make us children of God?

The giving away of our worldly substance, forces us – and proves us – to love and live upon Lord.

Barnabas was a good man because he was sound in the doctrine of stewardship.

I’m not sure that if this is the test of goodness whether I would pass the test.

What about you?

Is it enough to tithe and drop a few pennies into the mission offering?

What Barnabas’ sacrifice – what his “goodness” – accomplished was the feeding of widows and orphans and furthering the work of evangelism.

Another good thing about this man is revealed, and then concealed, in his name – “Barnabas.”

When he lived in Cyprus he was known by the name “Joses” – Acts 4:36.

Barnabas’ pre-salvation was one of presumption and pride, either in his parents or himself.

“Joses” means “exalted”, but “Barnabas” means “Son of Consolation.”

As a Christian he became a man of comfort and sympathy; a man of love and good cheer.

He proved it with the sacrifice of his wealth for the good of the church, the people of that church and for God.

But he proved it in other ways as well – real, tangible, helpful ways.

There was a Christian gentleman whose past was filled with a bad reputation.

Saul, the great Jewish persecutor, said that he had seen Christ and been converted.

The church in Jerusalem had suffered much under that man.

Some hated him, some resented him, some still feared him, and it seemed that few believed him.

But Barnabas was an exception.

~He believed him, supported him and gave him the encouragement he needed to go on to serve God.

He was a good friend to Saul when he desperately needed it.

And then there was the incident with John Mark, the associate missionary and missionary servant.

John began a missionary trip with Barnabas and Paul, but quit half way through it

His desertion, without doubt, caused the others quite a bit of difficulty.

But John later matured, repented and reapplied for the job of missionary assistant.

Paul refused to accept him and probably had plenty of good arguments.

But Barnabas saw the opportunity to help this young man back into the ministry.

When Paul put his foot down, Barnabas took Mark under his wing and the young man went on to become a useful servant of God under the leadership of good Mr. Barnabas..

Barnabas’ good work, may have been key to the establishment of a second generation missionary.

A third thing about Barnabas’ goodness, was his concern for men’s lost souls.

When God chose the first Christian missionaries that man was the Lord’s first choice.

He was willing, not only to give up his money, but his very life for the salvation of souls.

Would I be amiss in saying, “If a man isn’t concerned about eternal souls then he isn’t as good as he ought to be?

And what was the source of this goodness?

Remember that Paul analyzed the condition of men in Romans 3.

He quoted the Old Testament which said that “there is none righteous, no not one.

There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable.

There is none that doeth good, no not one.”

And the Lord Jesus said, “There is none good but God.”

So where did Cornelius, Dorcus and Barnabas find goodness?

“If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.”

In the grace of God, which produces new life in Christ, comes the opportunity for goodness.

No man can possibly be good, in the Christian definition, without the new birth, conversion, salvation from sin.

God is goodness incarnate, but man can only be good through Him.

Notice that Acts 11:24 links several things together – goodness, faith and the filling of Holy Spirit.

It might be debated whether faith produces goodness.

But there is no doubt that the more a person is filled with the Holy Spirit the more faith he will have.

So it is reasonable to say that the more we have the Holy Spirit the “gooder” we will be.

And the more faith we have the more of God’s goodness we shall possess.

And there lays the foundation for the character of the man who was called “the son of consolation.”

Paul says, “Covet the best gifts.”

We might add, “covet a good reputation – the better the better.”

And where does it begin? At the altar called “Calvary.”

Jesus’ death at Calvary alone didn’t give Barnabas this testimony.

After he met the Lord Jesus at the altar, he began a walk that eventually ended in Heaven.

The closer he got to the One who is alone “good” the better a man he became.

Are you a good person?

Do you think of yourself as good?

Do your neighbors say that you are a good person?

More importantly, what does the Lord say?