Whatever else you may say about the apostles Paul and Barnabas, you cannot deny that they were men of integrity. At least two of their statements in Acts 14 bear this out. After Paul was used by God to heal a lame man in the city of Lystra, the people praised Paul and Barnabas as if they were two of their Greek gods, and brought articles from the temple of Zeus to offer sacrifices to them. But Barnabas and Paul rushed to the crowd, and rather than accept the peoples’ worship, they cried out to them:
Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you in order that you should turn from these vain things to a living God (Acts 14:15).
Yet in this same city, Jews came from neighboring towns to win over the majority against Paul such that they stoned him and left him for dead outside the city. But after a time Paul arose, and amazingly went back into the city! Together with Barnabas they preached the gospel in other nearby towns, and then re-visited to encourage the believers, as given in verse 22:
Strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Like our Lord, these men – especially Paul – could exhort believers with integrity and power about enduring tribulation; just like they could speak about being all about Jesus rather than about their own glory. Their lives matched their message. Men of integrity – hard to find, hard to be. It begins with a life centered on Christ alone such that we are not swayed off course by either the praise or persecution of men.