The Power of Positioning
What John the Baptist, Paul, and Barnabas Teach Us About Knowing Your Place in God’s Work
What if your significance in the Kingdom of God isn’t determined by how visible your position is, but by how faithful you are in the position God has given you?
In this episode, we look at three very different biblical trailblazers: John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, and Barnabas. Each man played a unique role in advancing the Kingdom, but none of them were called to do the exact same thing.
John prepared the way for Someone greater than himself.
Paul carried the Gospel into territory where Christ had not yet been named.
Barnabas recognized the gifts in others and helped position men like Paul and John Mark for greater Kingdom usefulness.
Together, their lives teach us an important lesson: prominence is not the measure of Kingdom significance. Faithfulness is.
We discuss:
- Why knowing who you are also requires knowing who you are not
- John the Baptist’s willingness to point his own disciples toward Jesus
- What John’s moment of doubt teaches us about faithfulness in difficult seasons
- Paul’s “holy ambition” to preach Christ where He had not been named
- The difference between selfish ambition and Kingdom ambition
- How Barnabas helped position Paul when others were still afraid of him
- Barnabas’ willingness to move from the foreground to the background
- Why developing other people may be one of the greatest forms of leadership
- Barnabas’ investment in John Mark after Paul had given up on him
- How 1 Corinthians 12 changes the way we think about position, gifting, and importance in the Body of Christ
- Why fathers, pastors, disciplers, and leaders should be intentionally positioning the next generation
Key Scriptures
John 1:19–39
Matthew 11:2–15
Acts 9:15–27
Acts 11:19–26
Acts 13:1–13
Acts 15:36–40
Romans 15:20–21
2 Timothy 4:9–11
1 Corinthians 12
John 3:30
Questions to Consider
Do you know your assignment?
What has God actually placed in front of you to steward faithfully?
What is your ambition?
Are you primarily concerned with people knowing your name—or with people knowing the name of Christ?
Who are you positioning?
Who are you encouraging, discipling, developing, introducing, or preparing for greater usefulness in the Kingdom?
Sometimes God calls you to be a John who prepares the way.
Sometimes He calls you to be a Paul who enters uncharted territory.
And sometimes He calls you to be a Barnabas who sees something in another person and helps position them to flourish.
Whatever your position may be, the goal remains the same:
Know your assignment. Pursue holy ambition. Position others. Be faithful.
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