Introduction
We’ve been studying how the power of God transforms all believers
through the Holy Spirit so that we in turn can help transform each other and
the whole world. The Holy Spirit
everyone who follows Christ as Lord a special gift. Romans 12:6-8 tells us tells us the Holy
Spirit gives some the gift of Prophecy,
others the gift of Serving, or Teaching, Encouraging, Giving, Leadership, or
Kindness. Today, we will consider the
spiritual gift of encouragement. The Word of God tells us how to encourage one another.
1 Thessalonians 5:14
14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn
those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those
who are weak. Be patient with everyone.
Encouragement
Preaching is
so enlightening for me. I learn so
much. Today’s message is a perfect
example. I’m 45-years-old and in all
this time, I never really thought very deeply about encouragement. But preparing and preaching a sermon
challenges me every week to look deeply into things I otherwise would have
taken for granted. The concept of
encouragement is a perfect example.
What is encouragement? The Greek word the New Testament uses is parakaleo. Some versions translate it exhort. Exhort is an outdated word people don’t use
much anymore. (I always have to look the
word exhort up to remember what it means).
So a lot of new translation use the word encouragement. But encouragement seems too easy that just
makes me think of cheering someone on. Cheering
people on is only part of what the New Testament means when it talks about encouragement. The spiritual gift of parakaleo (or
exhorting or encouragement) is much more broad than just cheering people on and
making them feel better.
Parakaleo/exhorting/encouraging
means to invite, invoke, beseech, call for, comfort, or intreat. It's a kind of encouragement, but it's more
like what a good football coach does. Think
of a football team with all the players having different personalities and
problems. Each player needs a different
kind of “encouragement” from their coach.
One player is being lazy and needs the coach to bark at them,
“Johnson! Get off your butt and get to
work!” Another player is discouraged
because they made a stupid mistake. The
coach says to them, “Shake it off Taylor.
Forget about it. You’ve got
this.” Another player has a serious
injury and is out of the game and the coach kneels with them and comforts them,
“Don’t worry about it. We’re gonna get
you fixed. You’ll be as good as new by
next week.”
A good coach
“encourages” each player according to exactly what they need. But always, a good coach is also thinking
about the bigger picture and leading the whole team in their mission. His words and actions are meant to drive the
team forward toward victory.
Well,
football is great, but the Church is on a mission from God. We are called to make disciples of Jesus
Christ for the transformation of the whole world. And for this purpose, the Holy Spirit has
given some Christians the special ability to encourage “the team” (the
Church). The gift of encouragement is
the ability to inspire, admonish, embolden, and support others so that they are
strengthened in resolve, faith and spirit.
The gift of encouragement is not so much about making people feel better
as cheering them on in the right direction to do what God is calling us to do. It is a motivational type of encouragement.
You want to
know something really cool? In the New
Testament, the Greek word for the Holy Spirit is the Paraclete. It’s the Greek word for Helper or
Encourager. So if you have the spiritual
gift of encouragement, you are doing the very work of the Holy Spirit of God! That’s just cool! It’s like you’re a little holy spirit walking
around getting people fired up to do God’s work!
Slide – Tips for Encouragers
Now let me
give a few tips for all the little holy spirits in the room—the encouragers and
exhorters.
First of
all, get to work! We need you! We need you to offer your encouragement. All Christians ought to try to encourage one
another. But those who have the
spiritual gift of encouragement can have a powerful influence on the
Church. Your words and actions get us
fired up. They motivate us to do the
Lord’s work. So speak up. Offer your encouragement. It really makes a difference!
Second,
ground yourself in the Word, the Bible. God
gives some people the ability to teach—to offer facts and figures and knowledge
about God’s story in the Bible.
(We talked about the spiritual gift of teaching last week.) But exhorters/encouragers are practical teachers
who emphasis getting things done rather than just knowledge for knowledge's
sake. Teachers says, “This is how you
should live.” encouragers says, “I will help
you to do it.” So encouragers need to
know the Bible so they can help people live the Bible’s teaching. (One of the best partnerships is between
Teachers and encouragers. The Teacher
shows the deep meanings of the Bible to the encourager and then the encourager
helps people put it all into practice to accomplish God’s mission.)
Third, plug
in to ministry. Find ways to put
your encouraging gift into practice.
People with the spiritual gift of encouragement make great counselors,
Sunday school teachers, pastors, deacons, people who visit shut-ins or people
in the hospital. If your spiritual gift
is encouragement, get some training in one of these ministries and then get to
work!
Lastly, go
deep. Be careful that your
encouragement is more than just superficial cheeriness. You know what I mean? Yes, sometimes people just need a cheerful
word and smile. But other times, they
need a kick in the butt! And if they
need a kick in the butt and you just give them a cheerful word, you’ve not
helped. You might have made the
situation worse. So make sure your
encouragement caries the full strength of this remarkable gift. Let God lead you to be honest and truly
helpful as you provoke people to be all that God wants them to be.