The devil, according to an old story, once advertised his tools for sale. On the date of the sale, the tools were placed for public inspection; each marked with a price. It was a treacherous lot of implements…hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, lying, pride, and so on.
Laid apart from the rest was a harmless looking tool, well worn and rusted, yet it was priced very high. One curious customer asked, “What is this tool?” “That is discouragement,” replied the devil. “Why have you priced it so high?”
“Because it is more useful to me than the others. I can pry open and get inside a person’s heart with that when I cannot get near them with my other tools. Once I get inside, I can make them do what I choose. It is badly worn because I use it on almost everyone.”
Though legendary, this story does emphasize the damage that discouragement can do to the heart of a person. Discouragement can make the greatest person ineffective. It can choke all growth. It brings progress to a standstill. It can render a Christian, a leadership, a congregation useless more easily than any thing. When we are discouraged we don’t pray like we should, we let our Bibles lie on the shelf. When we are discouraged we don’t step out in faith; we don’t trust God. In discouragement we stumble back into old sins and destructive habits.
This is why we are told so many times in the New Testament to encourage one another. In 1 Thes. 4:18 the Thessalonians were told to encourage each other with the words of Paul’s letter. I think the echoes of that command reach us with this idea, we are to encourage each other with the words of Scripture. In Titus 1:9 Paul reminds the young minister Titus that the church’s elders are to encourage others by sound doctrine. Heb. 3:13 calls us to make encouragement a consistent and constant part of our lives as Christians, “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” It’s not just on Sundays we need encouragement. It could be any day, and every day we need to be prepared to encourage one another. Heb. 10:25 reminds us that one of the core purposes of the church, especially the church meeting together is mutual encouragement, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
So let me issue the challenge in the same way that Paul does in 1 Thess. 5:11, “encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” I like how J.B. Phillips puts it in his paraphrase, “So go on cheering and strengthening one another…as I have no doubt you have been doing.”
Imagine a church were everyone there is your greatest cheerleader. They all believe you can do it. They’re all ready to help you make it happen. They’re all there to help you back up when you stumble. And they’re all thrilled when you do succeed. That’s the kind of church we are called to be. I think that’s the kind of church we are becoming. We’re not there yet, but that’s the direction we’re going. You heard the testimonies last week. Many of you have experienced the encouragement of this body. I’m just here to cheer you on, to encourage you, to keep going.
Now when the Bible calls us to encourage one another, what exactly does that mean? The New Testament word for encourage is such a beautiful picture in itself. The Greek word the Bible uses means to “come alongside of, to stand with.” You encourage someone when you come alongside someone and help carry the load, you help them keep going. You guide them in which way to go.
ESPN calls it one of the 100 greatest moments in sports history. I call it the perfect picture of encouragement. IT was Derek Redmond’s dream to win an Olympic medal in the 400 meter race. In the semifinals of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, the stadium was filled 65,000 fans including Derek’s father, Jim Redmond. During the race, Derek broke out to an early lead and pulled away. 175 meters from the finish line, the race looked to be all his.
Suddenly, Derek hears a pop. It’s his right hamstring. Derek pulls up as if he had been shot. After hopping on one leg a few steps, he collapsed to the ground. At the top of the stadium, Derek’s dad, Jim, feels as though he’s just been sucker punched in the gut. Seeing his son writhing on the ground, Jim scrambles down the stands as fast as he could. Jim had no credentials to be on the field, but pushing by people as fast as he could, he yelled, “That’s my son out there, and I’m going to help him.”
Meanwhile, in incredible pain and tears, Derek realized his Olympic dreams were lost, but he was determined to finish the race. In great anguish, he pulled himself to his feet, and slowly hobbled down the track. With tears streaming down his cheeks he refused to surrender as he limped his way around the track. In the final turn with about 120 meters remaining Jim finally reached his son.
In an unforgettable moment, Jim tells Derek, “I’m here, Son,” as he took Derek in his arms. Between sobs he said, “We’ll finish together.” Arm and arm, father and son continued down the track. 65,000 fans were all on their feet cheering and clapping and crying. A couple feet from the finish line, with the crowd in an absolute frenzy, Jim let go of his son, so Derek could cross the finish line by himself. That’s what means to encourage- to come alongside of.
Jesus uses this very same word in the gospel of John to describe the Holy Spirit. When Jesus called the Spirit the Comforter, He is saying that the Holy Spirit is the one who comes alongside us, and stands with us, and helps us to move on. That’s what encouragement does.
So how can we as a church, how can we as Christians better come alongside each other? Stand with each other? Well, I’d like you to meet Joe. Actually, his name is Joseph, but really no one calls him Joe or Joseph. He’s known by a nickname that the apostles gave him, Barnabas. That’s right, Barnabas is a nickname, which means son of encouragement. If there was every anyone who had the gift of encouragement, it was this guy. Throughout the book of Acts we see him bringing encouragement time and time again.
Let’s look at some of these passages and see what made everyone call him the son of encouragement. By looking at Barnabas we can see how we can come alongside of others and stand with them.
I. We Can be Generous With Our Resources_to Meet the Needs of Others
We first see Barnabas in the Jerusalem church in those earliest days following Pentecost. In Acts 4 we see a beautiful picture of what the church can be, when she is all that she should be.
Acts 4:32-37
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.
This wasn’t the first or only time that Barnabas did something like this. Notice that by the time he did this he was already known as the son of encouragement. Now Barnabas wasn’t the only one who sold property and used it to help the church, but apparently, from the fact that he is singled out here, he was a model that others followed. Ananias and Sapphira were trying to mimic him when they came up with their little scheme to trick the church.
Something that we will see several times with Barnabas’ encouragement is that many times he was the first to step out, the first to come forward, the first to offer acceptance, the first to jump in and help. That’s what encouragers do. They’re willing to be the first. They won’t wait for someone else to do it first. But once they do it, then others are inspired to jump in as well. Barnabas sells property and uses it to help the church. Others think, “Wow, what a wonderful thing, I’d like to do that too, and so they do.”
Encouragers are God’s jumper cables for the church. We’ve all had the experience of being out some place and the car won’t start. The battery is dead? Aside from the more serious reasons a battery goes dead, the short term solution is usually for another car to come alongside (there’s that encouragement word picture there) and hook up a set of jumper cables from their car to yours. That’s what encouragement does in the church. It jumps starts others, it gives them energy and power. It gets them going.
One of the ways that Barnabas did that was by sharing his resources. Luke was able to write that there were no needy persons among them, because there were people like Barnabas who jump started everyone into giving.
We need to be generous with our resources as well. This doesn’t mean we all need to go out tomorrow and sell a house or a piece of property. But would we, if we needed to? Many times it’s the small things, preparing a meal, loaning a car, giving a few dollars, or buying a couple bags of groceries. Sometimes though, God calls us to the bigger things. Buying a weeks worth of groceries, giving away a car, making a big donation. The world tells us that we succeed by acquiring, owning, possessing, getting more and more, compounding our wealth. God says that we succeed, as Christians and as a church by giving and sharing. As Jesus himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
II. We Can See in People What God_Sees in People
A second way that Barnabas came alongside people and stood with them is that he saw in them what God saw in them. We tend to look at people on the outside. We look at them according to their past, according to what they’ve done to us and for us. God looks at people on the inside. He looks at their future, what they can become through Him, what He can do in them and through them.
Encouragers see people the same way. They try to see in people what God sees in them. They look for the promise and the potential. They look beyond what is to what could be. Barnabas does this several times in the book of Acts. He was among the first to accept Gentile Christians into the church. He welcomed them. He lived with them, worked with them. He equipped them for ministry. This is something most Jews would never do, but Barnabas did.
But perhaps the best example of this comes in Acts 9. Saul has just become a Christian. After a long history of persecuting Christians, throwing them into jail, of overseeing their executions, no one in the church wanted to get close to him. No one trusted him. No one thought of him yet as the great Apostle Paul called to be evangelist to the Gentiles. Look what Barnabas does.
Acts 9:26-28
26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.
Actually, this is just the beginning of what Barnabas does with Paul. Barnabas takes Paul with him to Antioch. He trains him as a minister of the gospel. He became the great Apostle Paul because Barnabas was willing to see in Him what God saw in him.
We need to come alongside people in the same way. Florence Littauer has a wonderful little piece in her book Silver Boxes: the Gift of Encouragement.
Do you know someone who has:
A song waiting to be sung?
Some art waiting to be hung?
A piece waiting to be played?
A scene waiting to be staged?
A tale waiting to be told?
A book waiting to be sold?
A rhyme waiting to be read?
A speech waiting to be said?
If you do, don’t let them die with the music still in them.
III. We Can Give people Second Chances.
There is one more time in Acts that I want to draw you attention to where Barnabas really comes alongside someone and stands with them. This event shows us something very important about encouragement. It gives second chances. It doesn’t hold peoples failures against them. It is willing to extend a hand, help you back up, and give you a second chance.
When Paul and Barnabas went on their first missionary journey they took a young man with them named John Mark. John Mark was training for the ministry, but part way through the trip, John Mark quit and went back home. Now Acts doesn’t tell us why John Mark left, but when Paul and Barnabas were getting ready to go on another mission’s trip, Paul definitely didn’t want to take John Mark again because he felt he had deserted their cause. But Barnabas was willing to give him another chance.
Acts 15:36-41
36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
This is a serious disagreement that Paul and Barnabas have. Interestingly, Luke does not take sides or say who was right or wrong. Paul took Silas, and they had a very successful missionary journey. Barnabas, staying true to his nature as a son of encouragement, took John Mark. Luke doesn’t follow this storyline in Acts, but we know his encouragement of John Mark and his willingness to give him a 2nd chance paid huge dividends.
For one thing, John Mark went on to write the Gospel of Mark. This was the first of the gospels written, and it blazed an important trail. John Mark also proved his usefulness as a minister of the gospel. Listen to what Paul himself would request of Timothy many years later, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry (2 Tim. 4:11).” What would have happened had Barnabas never given John Mark that 2nd chance? Think of the missed opportunity. Think of all that would have been lost.
Remember when you were a kid and you’d be playing a game with other kids and something accidental would happen, or someone would make a mistake, and so everyone wouldn’t have a big fight, everyone would agree to a what? A do over. They would give a 2nd chance. The church should be the home of 2nd chances. South Shores Christian Church must be a place where people with broken hearts, shattered dreams, failed attempts, and wrong turns can find a group of people who in the grace of God are willing to say “Do over.”
We should never underestimate the power of 2nd chances. Edward Steichen, who became one of the world’s most renowned photographers, almost gave up on the day he shot his first pictures. At 16, young Steichen bought a camera and took 50 photos. Only one turned out -- a portrait of his sister at the piano. Edward’s father thought that was a poor showing and thought Edward should pursue other more useful interests. But his mother insisted that the photograph of his sister was so beautiful that it more than compensated for 49 failures. Her encouragement convinced the youngster to stick with his new hobby. He stayed with it for the rest of his life. However, it had been a close call. It’s a good thing that his mom’s encouragement determined his future, rather than his failure.
This is what Barnabas did for people. This is what we can do for people. As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. We all need to be sons and daughters of encouragement.
