This month, we are going to examine a topic quite familiar to me since I was a little boy.  It was a generational sin I had to acknowledge and work to overcome.  I learned this behavioral pattern from my father.  If this problem is left unchecked, it could result in backsliding and spending eternity in hell.  This is a very serious subject.  We are going to discuss the sin of quitting.

 

I have been the type of person that quits and doesn’t finish things.  As a child, I quit little league. I quit guitar and piano lessons.  I never finished any painting I started.  I began quitting on people and relationships when they failed me or didn’t meet my needs.    I quit on friends when I didn’t feel I measured up to them.  There have been times I became angry with God and quit doing what He wanted.   It is a lifelong behavioral pattern that I have been forced to examine. 

 

Then God began showing me the damaging effects that this behavior creates when a person is trying to become like Jesus.  It was detrimental to my relationship with Him.  I couldn’t continue running away and quitting when the road gets too tough or things don’t go my way.   He showed me that I needed to persevere no matter what obstacles I face.  God taught me that if I wanted to be free of the destruction of my past, I couldn’t keep being a quitter.  Instead, I need to be loyal to God and persevere.   So I made the decision to quit one last time…I quit being a quitter!

There is a man in the Bible named Mark who struggled with this same tendency to quit and run away.   Throughout this article, we will see the devastating effects this behavior had on his life and relationships.  Also, we will see that God was able to take him and change him into a man who would stand firm.   He became a reliable man.   This is encouraging for those of us who need to stop quitting.

 

As a young person, Mark was privileged to be around Jesus.  The Scriptures seem to indicate that he came from a wealthy family.  His family used their wealth to support the ministry of Jesus.  It may have been their home which contained the upper room used by Jesus for His Last Supper with the disciples. 

 

The first time we read about Mark in the Bible seems to be in the book bearing his name.  Let’s take a look at the passage.

 

Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.  Mark 14:51-52

 

This event took place when Jesus was arrested and His disciples fled.  Since this account is found only in the Gospel of Mark, it is believed that the young man is Mark.   Apparently, Mark was in bed when he heard Jesus and the disciples leave the upper room.  He decided to follow them.  When the mob came and arrested Jesus, it is possible they may have tried to seize His followers.  This young man was grabbed, but he was able to escape by leaving his blanket and running away naked.  This is the first time we read about Mark running away.

 

It isn’t until many years later that we read again about Mark.  By this time he has grown into a man and finds himself with the opportunity to minister side by side with one of the greatest missionaries to ever walk the globe, the Apostle Paul.

Acts 13:1-5  Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Paul. ² As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Paul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John Mark as their assistant.

 

Paul and Barnabas were handpicked by God to go far and wide and preach the Gospel.  Mark was sent along as their assistant.  He would serve alongside them and take care of all of their needs.  However, things didn’t go quite as planned.

 

Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John Mark, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. Acts 13:13

 

It was a rugged trip facing this group of missionaries.  They traveled over rough terrain.  They met opposition from Jews trying to stop the spreading of the Gospel to the Gentiles.   The trip must not have been what Mark envisioned, for we read that he reverted to an old behavioral pattern.  He quit on Paul and Barnabas and went home.  Not only that, but it appears he stirred up trouble for the missionary team with the Jews who opposed Paul preaching to Gentiles.  Needless to say, Mark’s life of ministry seemed to end as quickly as it began.

Paul and Barnabas returned from their successful missionary trip and began to plan another journey to check up on the new converts.  As the two men began making plans, an argument erupted between them.

 

Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. ³⁸ But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹ Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; ⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas and departed, (Acts 15:37-40).

 

Paul was not about to take Mark back out on the road again.   Mark had already quit on him once!   He was not going through that again.  On the other hand, Barnabas, had a desire to help Mark and restore him to a place of usefulness for God.  He saw Mark’s potential and he wanted to help him reach it.  As a result, Paul and Barnabas went their separate ways.

 

It is important to understand that God allowed these two men to split up because He had different callings for each of them.  Now there would be two teams ministering instead of one.   Paul chose Silas to go with him to minister to the Gentiles. Barnabas chose Mark to accompany him and they ministered to the Jews.

 

Barnabas and Mark were relatives.  He encouraged Mark and was patient with him.   He knew that Mark had to overcome his behavioral tendencies to quit.    Barnabas wouldn’t allow Mark’s habit of quitting to continue in his life.  He discipled Mark.   He made Mark get back up, move forward and continue to minister.  Whenever the sin of quitting rose its ugly head in Mark, Barnabas was there to make him get up; not quit but keep moving.  What was the result?

Because Barnabas made Mark get back out there and minister, Mark became a man who learned to persevere.  He overcame his pattern of quitting.   He developed into a strong, dependable, persevering man who could be counted on even when things got tough. 

 

Mark became useful to God.  He was restored to a place of ministry.  He ministered alongside of Barnabas for years.  God used all the trials, new experiences, and people Mark encountered to develop perseverance in him.  Later, Mark worked under Peter.  He wrote the Gospel of Mark based on the teachings set out for him by Peter.   His relationship with Paul was restored.  Read what Paul wrote from jail in his second letter to Timothy:

 

Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful

to me for ministry. 2 Timothy 4:11

 

We know from our discussion of Onesiphorus that visiting someone in prison was a dangerous and degrading assignment, but Paul had a renewed confidence in Mark.   He asked him to come and help him.   Mark was able to face the behavioral pattern of quitting, deal with it and become a man who persevered.   He became a man that could be counted on and trusted.