5th Sunday in Easter

In her 2013 bestseller, Quiet, Susan Cain explores how the rise of what she calls “the extrovert ideal” has come to dominate our contemporary society, to the detriment of those of a more introverted nature. We live in a culture that hero-worships the extrovert. The media has enabled many people from Cristiano Ronaldo to Barack Obama to Oprah Winfrey to Mother Teresa to become icons of human excellence and virtue, known across the globe. They are valued for their ability to influence global trends by sheer dint of their charisma. The rise of the extrovert ideal tracks the shift identified by the cultural historian Warren Susman from the “Culture of Character” to a “Culture of Personality.” In the culture of character, the ideal self was a serious, disciplined and honourable person – these characteristics, while not the sole preserve of introverts, certainly have an introvert bias. With the culture of personality the ideal self morphed into the person who was bold, entertaining and able to give a confident, articulate account of themselves and their opinions on the world. Consequently, in a culture that celebrates the individual extrovert, the many introverts who work silently away in the shadows to ensure the success of the extrovert are forgotten and frequently taken for granted. Their gifts and talents are not celebrated or valorized.

When we look at the book of Acts, it is clear that Paul is the star of the show. Although it is entitled “Acts of the Apostles,” it is Paul, far more than any other apostle who gets most of the lime-light. Perhaps I am reading too much into the Scriptures, but to me, Paul is the quintessential extrovert, someone with enormous energy for relationship and someone who is energized by these relationships and has a magnetic personality that is able to attract and influence large amounts of people. When we tell the story of Paul, we often forget to include in it the story of Barnabas.

We will never know whether Barnabas was an extrovert or an introvert. But one thing is clear: in the radiance of the 1000 watt personality of Paul, Barnabas definitely faded into the background. This does not diminish in any way his contribution to the missionary efforts of the Church. We need the people in the background, the encouragers. The gift of encouraging is a very important one, and perhaps one that is undervalued in our Church today.

We need to realize, that without Barnabas, there might have not been any Paul. Barnabas was someone of great virtue, and was originally named Joseph. The Christian community decided to give him a nickname, Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, because they had seen his great gift in encouraging people. Paul’s reputation in Jerusalem was completely burnt, thanks to his over-zealous extermination of the Christian community there. The Christian community in Jerusalem simply didn’t believe that Paul had truly converted. They believed him to be a spy, out to get them again, only this time in a far more devious way. They were right to be suspicious, Paul had given them every reason to be. But there was one person in the community who decided to believe the best in Paul, and not the worst. Barnabas takes Paul under his wing and vouches for him with the Christian community in Jerusalem.

Barnabas was the type of person who, because of his unassuming nature, did not have a lot of drama in his life. His unillustrious personal life left him free to focus on what was going on around him. He was certainly not the centre of his own life, and this enabled him to make others and their problems the centre of his life. Furthermore, he was not someone who let his judgements of people be informed solely by their past. The rest of the Christian community had written off Paul because they believed it was not possible for a person to change that drastically. Barnabas looked at Paul with the compassionate eyes of God and believed that a person’s past need not overshadow their present. Instead of condemning Paul, Barnabas opens up a future for him with his encouragement and belief that God will use his talents. Barnabas’ vision for Paul came true, in part, precisely because of his hope for him. This is our Christian vocation: to hope in others presently in order to allow God to shape their future.

Questions for reflection:

1. When was the last time I hoped in someone else, and encouraged them to develop their gifts?
2. Am I good at observing the talents in others, or am I too busy navel-gazing to notice others’ around me and their predicaments?
3. How can I value more and celebrate the contributions of those who work away unnoticed in the background?