For those of you that have the whole truth

[Falla39]

Originally Posted by acerrak

i wouldnt call it simple or they wouldnt have split over it. probably more than what scriptures have revealed to us. but enough that paul did not want to take mark with him

what little we have
Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them speaking of mark.

so there is alot envolved in that we dont know but i wouldnt call it simple

Something I found interesting in a writing:

Barnabas restored a youthful deserter. When Barnabas and Paul set out on their first missionary journey they took John Mark with them as their helper (Acts 12:25; 13:5). For whatever reason, Mark defected before the journey was half over (Acts 13:13). Perhaps he was homesick, afraid, or ill.

When the time came to start the next missionary tour, strong disagreement arose between Paul and Barnabas over taking John Mark with them. Paul didn't want to take John Mark because he had deserted them once before; Barnabas wanted to give John Mark another chance because he wanted to encourage the young man. The disagreement became so sharp that Paul and Barnabas parted ways.

Paul later recognized the error of his ways when he wrote to Timothy:
(2 Tim 4:11) Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.

Think, for a moment, of how much the church owes to Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement. Because Barnabas was an encourager, Paul was able to go out and preach to the Gentiles and write 13 letters. Also, through Barnabas' encouragement of Mark we gained the second Gospel. Here is something remarkable. Barnabas never wrote a book that found its way into the Bible, but he encouraged two men who wrote over half of the New Testament.

Young John Mark may have simply been homesick.