| The Encourager |
Great men are not always wise, neither do the aged understand judgment” - Job 32:9. That is not exactly the most encouraging verse to begin with, but I want to use it as a platform for an encouraging message. When we think of encouragement, we oftentimes think of ways to help someone think and feel better. We want them to feel hope, and to know someone cares about them. And of course that is all correct. We as Christians should never feel hopeless, as our hope is that Jesus Christ will one day return, and maybe today. But there is another side of encouragement that I want to look at. We are to encourage each other to do something, not just feel something. We are to “embolden, strengthen, fortify, hearten, urge, and instigate”. If we help the saints feel better without strengthening them to do something, we have not really encouraged, but simply enabled them to sit and let the will of God slip by. That is easily understood and grasped, so let’s move on to the next part. We need to be able to encourage ourselves - I Sam. 30:6. David was about to be stoned by the folks who had been following him, and now were blaming him for their hardships. David did not have anyone else to pick up his chin and tell him the “sun will come out tomorrow”, so he had to do it himself. The best of your friends, at times, will not understand what is going on in your life. Sometimes I’m not so sure that we understand what is going on in our own lives. But it is those times that we need to get to the place where we can put together some things and encourage ourselves in the Lord. Keep in mind the principle that we established in the first few paragraphs. Encouragement is to fortify someone to be able to do something, not just feel something. So our encouragement of ourselves is not just positive thinking, or motivational speech. It is to strengthen us to get up, to urge us to go on, and to instigate us to do something for God. But to do that you have to already consider some things before you need the encouragement. This is where the verse in Job comes in. There are two type of men mentioned, great men and aged. Great men are men that are esteemed great because of various reasons. All of them are esteemed great by other men. It doesn’t mean they are great, but they think they are. Many men become a legend in their own mind, and believe their own publicity. They feel deserving of every compliment, and disdain for every criticism. These men are not necessarily old, and may or may not be rich, but they are considered great by whatever standards their culture deems greatness by. The other men are aged. These men are “streetwise”. They have been “around the block”. They graduated from the school of hard knocks, and earned a degree is the field of “been there, done that”. Whether they measure up to the qualifications of great does not matter, they have achieved it simply by their age. The problem with both of these groups of men is that many times they reserve their greatness or aged “cards” to be pulled out whenever they need a pass to get by a rebuke or challenge. To encourage ourselves, we need to examine ourselves. We need to face the facts of our failures. We just simply mess up at times; “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” - Rom. 7:19. When we become uncorrectable, we also lose the ability to encourage ourselves. They then will sit down and wallow in self pity, blaming everyone else for their problems and denying any fault of their own. So you messed up, and now what are you going to do about it? The only thing we can do at times is to repent, ask forgiveness, and then get back up and start over. “Man up” and get back in the game. And a just man will have to do it several times - Pro. 24: 16. The same blood of Christ that washed away our sins at salvation, is the same blood that keeps us saved and takes care of us now - Gal. 3. Another part of encouraging ourselves is to educate ourselves. Often times in sermons I mention that I want our church folks to know what they believe and why they believe it. We need to be able to back up those things that we say. But we often fall short of doing so and take things for granted. We get in a mess many times because we have been thinking wrong or taken what someone else said as truth without confirming it to be so. That can apply to a multitude of things. We see it in religion, many times people will take what a church or man says without regard to what God actually said. Dogmas and Creeds abound in religious circles and many have no idea of what God’s word actually said about those topics. Even Bible believers can be as “fad” oriented as anyone else. We can fall for the latest gimmick to come down the pike, and be swallowed up by things because our church or favorite preacher said so. Many have “old preacher syndrome” , where they believe since they are the preachers, they have to be right. They then pontificate on every topic out there in cyberspace and beyond, saying things that they really have to clue as to what they are talking about. To educate ourselves, we are learning from our mistakes. We are seeking God’s wisdom ourselves, and applying it to our own lives, even if it is a rebuke. Christians can also be responsible for dire consequences of our actions if we fail to educate ourselves. For example; Robert Bork was a contender for Supreme Court Justice. He was a strong conservative [which I label myself as a constitutional conservative; a Lincoln conservative], and called himself a defender of the constitution. When he was defeated in his nomination by Senate liberals, all of the conservatives and many Christians were livid. But since then, I have read some accounts of Mr. Bork, and he is quoted as saying he stands for popular sovereignty. In other words, if the majority of people believe a certain way, then that makes it right. [cited by Thomas L. Krannawitter in his book, “Vindicating Lincoln”]. That is exactly the kind of thinking that is putting millions of unborn babies in hospital garbage cans. It doesn’t matter if the whole country thinks abortion is a good birth control, it is still wrong. I don’t know what Mr. Bork’s answer would be if asked about the abortion issue, but I know what his philosophy will produce. And many Christians were behind it, supporting him and his philosophy. After reading that, I have wondered how many times we have actually fought for the wrong side on an issue. I would not support the senators who opposed Mr. Bork, their philosophies are even worse, but we need to know who we defend and oppose. Our children have to live with the results. I have become much slower in giving my opinions about finance, government, medical, mental, and many other issues. If God spake clearly on an issue in the Scripture, I have no problem being bold and militant on that. But when He didn’t, then I am learning the need to educate myself before spouting my theories. Lastly, to encourage ourselves, we need to exhort ourselves. We have examined ourselves and repented of mistakes and sins. We have educated ourselves and tried to learn from our mistakes, seeking God’s word on any given subject, and tried not to be ignorant in our answers. Now, get up off your rusty dusty, and do something for God. David wouldn’t have lasted long if all he did was get up and say, “OK, now I feel better”. He had a plan to get the people and things back that were lost, and enacted that plan. There is always something to do for God; there is a whole world going to hell, so there is no shortage of people to witness to, pray for, and try to help. There are enough folks in the church family to keep you praying for quite a while if you have time you need to fill. There are enough small projects around to keep anyone busy who would like to do something extra. If all you do is feel good, then you are going to crash again sometime. We need real encouragement. The kind that will show up at the Judgment Seat of Christ in the form of gold, silver, and precious stones. The kind that is not in vain - I Cor. 15:58. The kind that will make a difference in our lives and in that of others. |
| Encourage For What? by Pastor Steve Hays |