Christian’s Expositor Journal
Winter 2006
This, of course, is a wonderful idea. Our old world seems filled with too many “discouraging words." We seem ready to criticize and condemn, but seldom ready to praise. What we need is more encouragers and fewer discouragers.
Among the many “one another” passages of Paul, we find several that recommend that we “encourage one another.” Paul instructs the Thessalonian brethren “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing" (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NASU). Again, he says, “Therefore encourage each other with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:18, NIV). To the same people, he admonishes, "We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone" (1 Thessalonians 5:14, NASU).
It is interesting to note that the first two verses use a Greek word (parakaleo) that means “to call to one’s side,” hence, “to call to one’s aid” (Vine). The Holy Spirit is called the “Comforter” (parakletos), which means “one called to another’s side to aid him.” Like the Holy Spirit, we are to be comforters and encouragers of our brothers and sisters in Christ. The religion of Jesus is about helping other people. If you do not want to help and encourage others, you will never enjoy being a Christian.
“Members One of Another”
The first eight chapters of Romans deal with the great doctrine of justification by faith. After this, Paul spends just as many chapters on the “one another” relationship that we have in Christ. In Romans 12, he tells us not to think too highly of ourselves: “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” (Romans 12:4-5, NKJV unless noted otherwise). The key phrase is that we are “members one of another.” We are not just members of a church or an organization. We belong to one another; our interests are intertwined; and the welfare of others involves our own welfare. What affects one will always affect the entire church body. Therefore, we are going to seek the good of others --- that includes encouraging them as they live this great life.
First Corinthians 12:14-27 uses the concept of the church as a body more than fourteen times. If repetition is a good way to teach, Paul is a master teacher. More than thirty times in Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians, Paul uses the body concept and its related members working together. Paul writes in I Corinthians 12:27, “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.’’ In the church, there is a real sense of belonging to each other. Just as you and I desperately need every member of our physical bodies to function, we all desperately need every member of our spiritual church body. I love every member of my physical body. I do not have any members that I do not need. Every member is important. When any member of my body suffers, my whole body suffers. When a part of my body receives an injury or becomes ill, the whole body rushes in to defend, to nurture, and to heal the injured member.
Ideally, this is the way it should be in the church. How often do we say of another person when he makes a mistake (sins), “He got himself into that mess; now let him get himself out.” Paul says in Galatians 6:1-2, however, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (NKJV). Do we hear this? Do we hear that we fulfill God’s law, please God, and help save ourselves when we bear the burdens of others? We are literally fulfilling the law of Christ when we take care of one another and help one another with
life’s burdens, problems, and heartaches. This is what encouragers do.
In a letter written to U. S. Grant, General Sherman eloquently expresses this same idea: ‘‘I knew wherever I was that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come --- if alive.” So it is with Christians who practice the “one another’ religion. If we are ‘‘alive,” we come to one another’s side to encourage and support.
Paul was an Encourager
In Romans 16, Paul encourages several members of the church with words of praise. First, he mentions Phoebe: “I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also” (Romans 16:1-2). How encouraging it must have been to that sister to read from the great apostle these words about herself. She must have concluded that she was a person of some worth. We need to give praise where praise is due.
Paul goes on to give Priscilla and Aquila the recognition they deserve: “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles” (Romans 16:3-4). What an example of praise giving for us! When someone does something special for us, give them proper thanks.
Paul then praises another Christian lady: “Greet Mary, who labored much for us” (Romans 16:6). Please note that in these passages Paul honors certain women. I am afraid that women receive less recognition in the church than they should. Paul, who some want to condemn for his stand on women, praises more women than men in these first six verses of Romans 16. In this instance, the lady is commended for much labor on Paul’s behalf.
Romans 16 is a chapter of encouragement. Paul takes time along with his great teaching to encourage the brethren, He urges Christians to follow his example in I Corin-thians 11:1. What better example to follow in encouraging one another.
Two Kinds of People
For all practical purposes, there are two kinds of people. There are the encourgers and the discourgers. (A third might be added --- the indifferent, which I would place in the discourger’s category.) The discouragers are the ones who break our spirits with their critical and judgmental evaluations while the encouragers are the ones who heal us with their loving and perceptive affirmations. The discouragers are the ones who put on their spiked boots and stomp all over our bare soul and personhood, but the encouragers are the ones who can, by one small sentence, change and lift our opinions of ourselves.
Who are the encourgers in your life? The first encourager in my life was my mother. It is because of her that I am a preacher of the gospel today. She was the one who encouraged and pushed me forward. She would listen to my feeble sermons in the beginning and cheer me with positive comments. She is the one who reveled in any accomplishment I achieved. She was always there showing her undying and very visible love.
Another encourager was a young preacher by the name of Lynwood Smith. He was the one who baptized me into Christ. I have never forgotten one sentence that he spoke when I was still a teenager. As I left his company one day; he simply remarked, “Preach the word, boy!” I took those words to heart.
Another encourager who came into my life was the girl of my dreams, Carolyn Fussell. She is my greatest encourager today. Any time I have gotten distracted by some enterprise to make money, she has always reminded me, “You need to preach the gospel, and let these other things go.” And I have. She still encourages me after every sermon.
Another encourager was Billy Orten, my beloved preacher friend, with whom I traveled when I was starting out to preach. He remained my good friend and mentor until the day of his death.
Two encouragers of my home congregation who made my life more pleasant for fifteen years as they led this congregation as elders are U. B. Futch and Jerry Tettleton. I will ever be indebted to them for their wise guidance and leadership. In fact, all the members of Midway Church of Christ have helped me with their kind affirmations through the years.
If I named all of the encouragers during my lifetime, this publication would not be big enough to contain them. I think they know who they are. Thank you, my good bothers and sisters in Christ for encouraging me to keep on keeping on.
Now; you write a list of all of your encouragers. You might be surprised how many you have, or have had in the past. Ignore the discouragers --- they will be evident enough. As you write your list, resolve to be an encourager and never a discourager.
We should encourage those about us because we respect their human worth and personal dignity, but we should especially encourage our fellow Christians because of the bond of love we have with them. The bond between Christians is stronger than any other bond. Godly encouragement is based not on what we are, or what we have accomplished, but just on the fact that we are who we are. For instance, consider the bonding that takes place when the doctor lays a newborn babe on the mother’s breast. The mother accepts her baby not for what the baby has achieved, but simply because the baby is. The first century Christians experienced this bonding, and they changed the world with their love.
Paul and the other New Testament writers knew that our spirits could soar to unlimited heights on the wings of anothers encouragement. They also knew that our spirits could plummet and shatter when hammered with blows of criticism or rejection. They therefore wrote considerably on the need for us to encourage one other. The problem is that rejection seems the rule and not the exception today. We run into rejection everywhere --- in homes, schools, stores, businesses, airports, and sometimes in the church.
Loving and encouraging one another means there is no room for critical and judgmental attitudes. Consider these passages:
· “Do not speak against me another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law” (James 4:11, NASV).
· “So get rid of your feelings of hatred. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with dishonesty and jealousy and talking about others behind their backs’’ (I Peter 2:1, TLB).
· “Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers” (1 Peter 2:17, N IV).
In Romans 12:10, Paul says, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” (NKJV). The living New Testament paraphrase says, ‘‘Take delight in honoring each other.’ Encouragers love, and delight in honoring those they love. They are not in competition with one another, and they do not keep score. Too few of us honor one another. We are too in interested in our own welfare, our own successes and achievements. We are too busy climbing our own ladder of triumphs to give time paying homage to another. True Christians encourage other Christians with honor and respect. Notice that Paul commands us to honor one another above ourselves. This is not always easy, but it is always excellent. Jesus sets the perfect example of honoring others above ones self in John 13:1-15. After eating His last meal with the apostles, Jesus takes a towel and a basin of water and begins washing the disciples feet. He performs an act of humility that is not normal. It is not natural for one greater to wash the feet of someone of lesser importance. It is not appropriate for the Master to wash the servant’s feet. After He finishes drying their feet, Jesus asks them, “Do you know why I have done this?’’ Of course, they did not. You remember that Peter had even protested saying that he was not worthy that the Master should wash his feet, Jesus, to set this example for us, even washed the feet of Judas, who He knew would betray Him.
This is a strong lesson --- for us to honor even those whom we do not judge as worthy as ourselves. Paul drives this principle home in Philippians 2:3: “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.” As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to practice this depth of love. Honor and build up those whom you consider weak. Honor those who need help. Christians do not just tolerate one another. If I tolerate you, it means that I feel like I am better than you. My hand does not just tolerate my foot, but is grateful for every step it takes.
Weaker members need encouragement from the stronger members. Paul teaches this lesson well in I Corinthians 12:22-25. In effect, he says that we should spend more time in honoring the weak than in honoring the strong. Paul reinforces this idea in Romans 15:1: “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of tile weak, and not to please ourselves.” These Scriptures emphasize that the weak members need extra special care, but many times that is not what happens. Whom do we usually encourage the most? It is the person who can teach the best lesson, lead the best prayer, or do the best job of conducting the singing. We praise and encourage those who are already demonstrating attributes of strength, while we often ignore the, weak member. Paul said that those “we think are less honorable we treat with special honor...” (I Corinthians 12:23, NIV).
Ways to Build One Another Up
Allow me to suggest two ways we can encourage others and help them gain a sense of self-worth. Every person needs to think that he is “somebody,” or a person of value. We can help them attain that attitude by first giving them total acceptance. That requires unconditional love --- a love that sets a value and responds to it (that is what God did for us when He gave His Son). The strongest motivational force in the world is to have someone who believes in you, someone who gives you self-worth.
Second, be a people builder, this means that you see your fellow Christians as important and worth fighting for. You are there for them to build them up and not to tear them down. Every human contact makes an impression, and every impression is either positive or negative --- it either builds up or tears down. If you are an encourager, you will be a builder of lives instead of a wrecker of lives.
Everyone Needs Encouragement
That everyone needs encouragement is an understatement. We all need it, from the weakest to the strongest. When Paul writes to the Thessalonians, he is writing to some of the strongest and some of the weakest. He begins his letter by telling them that he gives “thanks to God always” for them, that he remembers their work, labor, and patience, that they are examples to others and that their faith is known throughout the brotherhood
(1 Thessalonians 1:1-8). His second letter carries the same kind of encouraging words (2 Thessalonians 1:3-5).
When Nathaniel Hawthorne lost his government position, he was devastated. He went home dejected and desperate. His wife saw his plight. She quickly set pen and ink on the table, lit a fire, put her arms around him, and said, “Now you will be able to write your book.” That afternoon, he began The Scarlet Letter. His other great books you know. Just a word of encouragement made the difference.
When Martin Luther was entering Worms to make his stand before the Emperor and the Diet, an old knight slapped him on the shoulder arid said, ‘‘My dear monk, my poor monk, thou art going to make such a stand as neither I not any of my companions in arms have ever made in our hottest battles. If thou art sure of the justice of thy cause, then forward in God’s name. and be of good courage, God will not forsake thee.’’ That knight shares Luther’s Victory
Encouragers are always interested in finding ways to care for others. One such person was asked what the secret of his philosophy was. He answered, “The best man in the world is the man who helps himself, and the only way to help one’s self is to help others.” What a great philosophy. I believe it was first taught by Jesus. Jesus taught that the greatest person in the kingdom is the one who renders the greatest service (Matthew 23:11). One of the greatest services we can render to our fellow Christians is an encouraging word from time to time.
It Pays to Praise
Great rewards come to the encouragers. Solomon advises, “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days” (Ecclesiastes 11:1). Encouraging words are simple bread cast on the waters; they will return. When you cultivate the grace of appreciation, others appreciate you. God always rewards us when we give to others, and that includes giving encouragement. “Give and it shall be given to you.’ Do yourself a favor, and be an encourager.
Encouragers Make the Church Better
What a different world our world would be if people loved and supported one another. How blessed the church would be if every member took it upon himself to encourage his brothers and sisters in Christ. What a difference it would make to elders, leaders, teachers, preachers, song leaders, visitation workers, and everyone who serves in his or her own way. Dear Christian friend, say and do all you can to brighten and gladden other lives. God alone knows how much good you will do for one who is “pulling hard against the stream.”
6126 Land 0’ Trees
Shreveport Louisiana 71119
Wfussell1 @sport.rr. corn
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