The Power of Encouragement

One of my favorite characters in the book of Acts is Barnabas. “Barnabas” was actually a nickname given to him by the church leaders in Jerusalem. His given name was Joseph; he was a Levite and a native of the island of Cyprus. Barnabas doesn’t stand out as one of the VIPs in Acts. However, he appears at all the key points in the story: When the Jerusalem church began to be persecuted and oppressed, Barnabas was there to be a strong support (Acts 4:36). When the authenticity of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus was being questioned by everyone else, Barnabas took him under his wing and personally mentored and advocated for him (Acts 9:27). When the Gospel began to be preached to Greeks in Antioch, the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to support them (Acts 11:22). It was Barnabas who recruited Saul to be a part of the mission in Antioch (Acts 11:25-26). When the Antioch church wanted to send support to the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, they chose to send it by Barnabas and Saul (Acts 11:30; 12:25). As a member of the leadership team in Antioch, Barnabas participated in launching the mission of Saul and joined it as a member of the team (Acts 13:1, 2, 7). It wasn’t long before the apostolic team of “Barnabas and Saul” became known as “Paul and Barnabas,” Barnabas empowering Saul/Paul to take the lead (Acts 13:42ff). When a controversy arose about placing restrictions on the Gentile converts, Barnabas joined Paul in defending the Gospel of grace (Acts 15:2, 12). However, when Paul refused to take Mark with them on his next missionary journey, Barnabas decided to stay behind and continue to mentor Mark (Acts 15:36-39).

As I’m sure you know, “Barnabas” means “Son of Encouragement.” Encouragement was the primary ministry of the apostle Barnabas.  In fact, observing the life and ministry of Barnabas paints a clear and beautiful picture of the power of encouragement. The word (Greek paraklesis) translated “encouragement” in the book of Acts means comfort, consolation, appeal; it means a calling near, a summons, supplication, entreaty. An “encourager” is someone who is called to come alongside of a person to be their personal advocate, tutor, guide, counselor, helper and supporter. This word is also used by Jesus to describe the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7).

“Encouragement” is a prominent theme in the book of Acts. It was recorded about the church that, “Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers” (Acts 9:31). The preaching and ministry of the apostles included a large dose of encouragement (see Acts 11:23; 15:32; 16:40). The brothers and sisters learned the power of encouragement and dedicated themselves to speaking words of encouragement (Acts 18:27). It wasn’t just Barnabas that had a ministry of encouragement, Paul also placed a high premium on the power to encourage others. “He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people” (Acts 20:2). Even while being shipwrecked, Paul took the time to minister encouragement to his shipmates (Acts 27:36).

When I was young(er), my mentor, Pastor Dick Iverson, used to say that the greatest enemy of a pastoral leader, the thing that pushed more leaders over the edge into failure than anything else, is not false doctrine or immorality or a lack of personal integrity and accountability; instead, the greatest enemy of the pastoral leader is discouragement. In fact, he pointed out that most of the other kinds of leadership failures have discouragement as the root cause. Therefore, learning how to be encouraged, stay encouraged, and to be an encouragement is vitally necessary for all members of the pastoral leadership team. There is a famous Old Testament story that illustrates this point. David and his men and their families were living in the city of Ziklag. When David and the men were off fighting a battle, the Amalekites attacked and burned the city and took all the families captive. When the men returned to the city, they “wept until they had no more power to weep” (1 Samuel 30:4). All of them were overwhelmed with discouragement, so much so that the men discussed the possibility of stoning David. “Why did we ever decide to follow David in the first place? Look where his leadership has led us.” “But David encouraged himself in the Lord” (1 Samuel 30:6).

What does it mean to be able to encourage yourself when you are in such a crisis that even your closest friends are thinking about killing you? What is the power of discouragement? What is the power of encouragement? Where does the power to encourage yourself come from?

When we find ourselves in the midst of the storm and it looks like the boat is surely going to sink, we have to trust in God to pour supernatural courage into our hearts – courage to carry on, courage to step out of the boat, courage to have a good word for others who are in despair, courage to keep from despairing ourselves. An EPIC church will face many opportunities to learn the power of encouragement. Perhaps we’re facing that need right now. May God give us the grace to encourage ourselves and to be an encouragement to others.