Who Are You Encouraging?

Who Are You Encouraging?

The importance of being an encouraging voice in a world full of criticism.

When I first starting attending church in high school I found myself in a summer small group that was led by one of the church elders. Joe was an older man, although in retrospect he probably wasn’t nearly as old as my young eyes thought he was. He was not your stereotypical high school small group leader. He was not “hip”. He didn’t know anything about the music we listened to, the video games we played, or the movies we quoted relentlessly. What he lacked in youth culture knowledge, he more than made up for in the way he loved us. He was a constant in our ever changing world. It has been well over a decade since I last attended the church that was pivotal in introducing me to this journey that I have been trying to figure out since. Joe had also moved on to a different at some point and the church we once knew is no more.

A few years ago, a few months into being thrust into weekly preaching and learning how to be a lead pastor, my cell phone rang. It was a number I did not have saved in my phone, but recognizing the area code I chose to answer the call. I am glad I did. It was my former elder, Joe. He had heard about my new adventure from a mutual friend and wanted to talk to me about what I was learning as I walked in obedience with God. He was a voice of encouragement. I remember hanging up the phone and feeling full. It meant a lot to me that after all these years he still cared about me.

Fast forward a year or so… and I get another call from Joe. He will be in the area and wanted to connect! It was great catching up with him. We talked about prayer and how there were seasons of life where prayer was hard. A few days later I was preparing to preach a sermon about reasons some people had issues with the organized church… and in comes Joe. He had chosen to spend an additional night just to come watch me preach.

Since then, every few weeks I get a text from Joe, who watches almost all my sermons online from Illinois. Sometimes the text includes a long reflection on something that we talked about, other weeks it is a short “great sermon Chris!” With each word of encouragement I find my spirit uplifted. Here you have a man who hadn’t seen me in well over a decade… but still takes the time to invest in me, encourage me, and walk with me from afar. I am not the teenager he once knew and he is no longer the elder of my church like he was… but he still goes out of his way to encourage.

Each time I get these messages I find myself challenged. We live in a world that is so quick to criticize. We have a tendency to always find the things we don’t like. To highlight the mistakes and focus on the things we do not agree with or enjoy. Just look at the yelp reviews of small businesses and see first hand… so often we only review things after a bad experience. It is easier to nitpick than it is to celebrate.

In this critical world… how refreshing is a voice of encouragement! One kind word can totally transform someone’s day! The best part? Encouraging words are free! The words we speak have the ability to create both life and death. As followers of Jesus, what if we were constantly mindful of how many times we can speak life into peoples life? What a difference that would make in our communities! How many people can we encourage into a life saving relationship with Jesus?

Here is my challenge to you: Who are you encouraging? How many encouraging words can you speak in a 24 hour period? What if you were to challenge yourself to say one encouraging think to each person you encounter for one whole day?