Acts 15:36-41: Why you can't have two captains

In this blog series, I’m going to take a look at the book of Acts from a strategic point of view. What was going on in the days of the early church and what can we learn from it today in the 21^st Century?

In the first missionary journey, it was clear that Barnabas was leading. Why do we know this? Firstly, the names are listed as Barnabas and Paul, not the other way around, and that’s not insignificant. Secondly, we know that Barnabas was Cypriot and the place where they start the journey is in Cyprus.

However, as the mission goes along, Paul rises in prominence, and by the end of the trip, Paul appears to be taking much more of the leadership responsibility.

I don’t think this is planned; it happens naturally. Great leaders will always emerge in fertile soil.

So now we’re heading into the second missionary journey and it’s Paul who’s instigating the trip. Paul’s apprenticeship is complete, he’s ready to lead.

Then an argument breaks out between Paul and Barnabas about John Mark, their assistant who went M.I.A. in the first missionary journey. Barnabas is an encourager, he sees the best in people, and wants to take John Mark with him. Paul has seen enough and disagrees, and the two leaders come to loggerheads.

In church leadership, we often have quite a rose-tinted view of a “plurality of elders” as is described in the book of Acts. We think the ideal is to have a group of co-Senior Leaders all happily making decisions together. I agree with the notion of a plurality of elders, but in every case in the new testament, there is always a first-among-equals leader. There’s always one person who ends up captaining the ship.

You can’t have two captains.

And in this passage we see what happens when you try to have two number-1 leaders. It doesn’t work, arguments ensue and people go their separate ways. There will always be a gap between the number-1 leader and the others on the leadership team, no matter how small we want to make that gap (and it should be small).

In your church, there will be people who rise to prominence, who God calls to be a Senior Leader, a number-1 leader. Instead of fighting it, release them. This is the essence of Church Planting, which is entirely different to multisite. In multisite, you send your assistants to lead under you in a different place, in Church Planting, you release a number-1 leader to start a brand-new church. Both strategies have their merit, It depends on the circumstances.

So what happens when an apprentice leader is ready to become a number-one leader? This passage gives some clues:

1.  The Mission Doubles

We think of the argument between Paul and Barnabas as a bad thing, but in reality, it was necessary for the advancement of the Gospel. Now, there’s not just one missionary journey, there’s two. That’s double the Impact. Now we’ve got Barnabas going to Cyprus and Paul to Syria.

Imagine what gains the kingdom can make if you’re prepared to release your up-and-coming leader?

2.  Specialisation can happen

It’s interesting that both Paul and Barnabas go to their old stomping grounds first. Paul goes in the direction of Syria and then on to Cilicia, where he was born. That’s a better fit than Cyprus, he knows it better, he grew up around there and is able to specialise more. Similarly, Barnabas heads to Cyprus.

When you release a leader to plant a new church, you allow more specialisation to happen. I have a saying which is, “different who, different church” – what I mean by that is that a church exists to reach a specific mission field (or target market, but I dislike that term). When you release a new leader in the form of Church Plating, you allow them to reach an entirely different mission field. The Church could be planted around the corner, but if it exists to reach a different type of person, a different mission field, there’s not conflict of interest.

The more we release leaders, the better we get at Specialisation of churches, reaching one type of person really well, and that sharpens our own church to focus on who we’re. called to reach.

3.  The leadership development opportunity doubles

Barnabas heads to Cyprus with John Mark, and Paul heads to Syria with Silas. Whereas on the first trip two leaders took one apprentice, now they’re taking one each.

And what was the impact? We know from the writings of Paul and church history that John Mark grows into his potential, eventually becoming the writer of the Gospel of Mark. Silas goes on to work with Peter, and gets mentioned in 1 Peter.

When we release leaders to become new number-1 leaders, we create space for the new assistants to rise, to become the eventual new leaders all over again.

You can’t have two captains

Paul and Barnabas were two captains, and they made a greater impact by separating. Are there leaders in your church who are called to be number-1 leaders? Allow them to apprentice under you, and you’ll know when they’re ready because the arguments will start! But don’t allow that to be a negative, use that to a Kingdom advantage by releasing the leader in the proper time.