Work In Progress

Introduction: A Work in Progress

Back in 2019, my wife and I came into possession of a school bus and decided to renovate it into an RV. We had to gut the whole thing and start from scratch, working from the back forward. Then COVID hit, and everything was put on hold mid-process — we'd only built the back part.

Because of COVID, some of our kids came back from college along with their friends, and that summer our half-finished bus became the quarantine headquarters for a lot of summer staff who needed a place to stay. The whole time, I found myself constantly explaining to people my vision of what it would become. I kind of wish I'd had a sign that said "Work in Progress" that I could just point to and say, "It's going to get better." Eventually, it did.

If you had looked at my bus mid-process, you would have thought, "This is your vision? This is what you're thinking about?" And this is why I love the story of John Mark. If all we knew of him ended in Acts 13, when he abandoned Paul and Silas, or even in Acts 15, where he just sails off into the sunset with Barnabas, we might think: what a failed project. He quit. He's unreliable. He's a failure.

But God wasn't done with John Mark. And like my bus, a lot of God's work is messy mid-process. This is true for all of us — we are all a work in progress.

After some days, Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are." Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John, called Mark, but Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul took Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Acts 15:36-41)

What we just read here shows two things happening at the same time: a painful disagreement between godly men, and a redemption story that God wasn't done writing.

Conflict Happens

Paul and Barnabas sharply disagreed over whether to take John Mark with them. Barnabas wanted to; Paul said no, because Mark had left them in Pamphylia — he saw it as a ministry reliability issue, not a minor thing.

Here's what I want us to know first: this disagreement didn't destroy a godly friendship. Often, because we don't handle conflict well, we assume they became bitter enemies. But the Bible doesn't tell us that — it just says they separated. Barnabas took John Mark (also his cousin) and sailed to Cyprus, retracing part of their earlier mission trip and returning to where Barnabas was from. Paul took Silas and headed north through Syria and Cilicia, passing through Tarsus, Paul's hometown.

They weren't enemies — they simply didn't go on a mission trip together. And God still used both of them. This is the last time we see Barnabas in the book of Acts, but the lesson stands: godly people can disagree in a healthy way without becoming enemies.

There's an old expression: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity." Christians can't compromise on gospel issues — the reliability of God's Word, the deity of Christ, salvation by grace alone through faith. Those are non-negotiables. But on wisdom issues, strategy, or secondary matters, we can preserve love and agree to disagree.

This is true in marriages, community groups, friendships, with neighbors, family, and co-workers. Conflict doesn't have to make us enemies — it's actually a natural part of close relationships. Having conflict in your marriage doesn't mean you have a bad marriage; it means you have a marriage.

Grace Redeems

Mark failed early on — we're not told exactly why. Maybe fear, hardship, or immaturity. But Paul saw it as serious, especially given what was at stake: Acts 15 tells us Paul and Barnabas had risked their lives for the gospel, right before persecution intensified (Paul was almost stoned to death in Lystra).

At this point, Mark could have looked permanently unreliable. But Barnabas — the "son of encouragement" — saw potential. He believed failure wasn't final. Grace is a second chance, not a free pass. It doesn't excuse sin; it propels us forward. Where Paul saw risk, Barnabas saw restoration, because Mark's story wasn't over.//

God often writes his best chapters after what looks like failure. Fast forward 12-15 years: Paul and Mark are restored. Paul mentions Mark as a faithful ministry partner in Colossians and Philemon. Then, near the end of his life, in his final letter, Paul writes:

"Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry." (2 Timothy 4:11)

Think about how stunning that is — the man Paul once refused to bring becomes his final ministry request. Mark also went on to write the Gospel of Mark, recording the story of redemption for generations. Early church history tells us Mark became known as Mark the Evangelist, served as a bishop in Alexandria, and was ultimately martyred for his faith.

If Acts 13 were all we knew, we might write Mark off as unfinished. But God was still writing. As Tim Keller has said:

"The mistaken belief that a person must clean up his or her own life in order to merit God's presence is not Christianity. This means though that the church will be filled with immature and broken people who still have a long way to go emotionally, morally, and spiritually."

Mark was one of those unfinished people. So were Paul and Barnabas. So are you and I. Christianity is not a museum of polished people — it's a construction zone full of grace.

See Everyone Through the Lens of Redemption

The big-picture application is this: see everyone — including yourself — through the lens of redemption, trusting that God is still at work.

1. View Your Story With Hope

Some of you feel like a John Mark this morning. You failed. You quit. You drifted. You sinned again — maybe even last night. You disappointed others. But your worst chapter doesn't have to be your final chapter. His grace is always deeper than our depravity.

What do you do when you're faced with failure? Repentance — not just a one-time event at salvation, but a daily turning and trusting. It's never too late. Trust the promise:

"He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

And:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

Charles Spurgeon put it beautifully:

"Let not your sense of sin make you think little of my master. You are a great sinner, but he is a greater savior. Do not say that you have matched Christ or overmatched him. Come, Goliath sinner. The son of David can conquer thee or save thee yet. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

You could be a hundred times worse than you are, and it's no match for God's grace. This isn't a license to never change — it's an invitation to keep growing without feeling like the younger brother in Luke 15 who said, "I'm no longer worthy." God's love for you is not based on your performance.

2. View Others With Grace

If we're all a work in progress, we ought to extend that same grace to others. Maybe your struggle is like the older brother in the prodigal son story — looking at someone else's immaturity or slow pace and wondering, "How can they still be struggling with that?"

But everyone around us is still immature, including us. Imagine walking into a gym and mocking everyone there for being out of shape — that's exactly why they're there. We're all at different points in our growth.

Do you see yourself the way God sees you? As Titus reminds us:

"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:3-6)

God's love for you is not conditional on your performance. If I truly understand that I have nothing to offer that could earn God's favor, how could I ever look down on someone else? We're just one beggar telling another beggar where we found bread.

This doesn't mean we ignore sin or remove accountability — Paul's caution about Mark mattered. People need grace and truth. But don't freeze someone forever in their weakest season. It's like family photos: if all you saw was the mid-process chaos — kids crying, someone blinking, dad frustrated — you'd think very differently of that family than the final portrait. Acts 13 is only a snapshot of John Mark's life, not the final picture.

3. View Your Family With Patience

This last spring, we had about 25 middle schoolers over at our house at once — loud, chaotic — and it got me thinking about my own middle school years, over 40 years ago. I had so far to go. I once tried to jump over a bonfire at the beach to impress some eighth graders and a girl I liked, and landed right on the fire. I just had so far to go.//

One of the hardest parts of being a parent is not overreacting to a single chapter — a bad week, a foolish choice, a rebellious season, a spiritual high or low — and assuming that's who your child will always be. We start treating one chapter as the whole book.

But God writes longer stories than we do. If the church is filled with immature, broken people who are still growing, why would we be shocked that our own children are works in progress too? John Mark was unreliable and immature — later, he was trusted and faithful.

So don't idolize the good seasons, and don't despair in the rough ones. Keep praying, discipling, correcting, encouraging, modeling — and trusting God with the outcome.

Conclusion: God Is Still Writing

Acts 15 isn't just a story about conflict — it's a story about redemption after conflict. Paul and Barnabas disagreed, the church moved forward, Mark was restored, and God kept writing.

Interestingly, Mark is the only Gospel writer who includes the parable of the seed growing secretly — a crop that grows even while the farmer doesn't fully understand or control it. It's a reminder that God accomplishes his purposes whether or not we can see them, bringing forth fruit in his own time.

The God who redeemed John Mark's story still specializes in doing the same thing today. You are a precious work in progress. In the Bible, this ongoing process is called sanctification — becoming more like Jesus, made possible by the Spirit's work in us. Because God is sovereignly committed to us, no story is ever a lost cause.

Jesus prayed, "Father, sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth" (John 17). It's through God's Word that he grows us — you can't be close to God and far from his Word.

So consider your own application today:

• View your own story with hope — receive the gospel and God's free gift of grace.
• View others with grace — remembering we are all just a work in progress.
• View your family with patience — trusting God is still writing their story.

God is building his kingdom out of broken people, despite ourselves. He loves us — and loves us too much to leave us the way we are.