Lynn Jones: “The Gift of Encouragement”
By Lynn Jones
When I was a young boy going to Sunday School at Plainview Baptist Church, our teacher wanted to encourage us to be faithful in attendance. So, she put on the bulletin board the names of all the students in our class. If you showed up on Sunday, she would put a gold star by the name of everyone present. It worked the same way at Plainview School. Our teacher wanted to encourage us to study for our spelling test, so she put the names of all the students in the class on the bulletin board. If you spelled all the words correctly on the weekly spelling test, you got a gold star by your name. I got a few of those gold stars at church and at school, and no soldier in the army having medals pinned on his uniforms in recognition of his accomplishments was ever prouder than I was.
In the same way, everyone enjoys receiving encouragement, and encouragers are people of great value. In the early church, a man named Joseph was a member of the church in Jerusalem. When he noted that some poor people in the church needed food, he sold a field and gave the money he received to the church to help provide food and other necessities. The leaders of the church were so impressed by this act of sacrificial love that they gave Jospeh a new name. They called him Barnabas, which meant Son of Encouragement (Acts 4:36-37). What a blessing he was to the entire church!
Later, Barnabas went to Antioch. He saw the need for someone who could help the church reach Gentiles with the gospel in Antioch. He thought of Paul who had a Greek background and now was living in Tarsus. Barnabas went to Tarsus and persuaded Paul to come to Antioch and help reach Gentiles for Christ. Paul agreed to do that, and it was the beginning of his powerful ministry (Acts 11:25-26).
Later, the church at Antioch sent Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark on the first missionary journey. During the journey, John Mark left Paul and Barnabas and went home. When it came time to begin the second missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to carry John Mark again, but Paul did not agree with Barnabas. So, Barnabas gave up his place on the second missionary journey in order to carry John Mark with him on a separate trip to Cyprus. John Mark would later write the second gospel, and we are indebted to Barnabas for encouraging him to remain faithful by using him (Acts 15:36-41).
Barnabas was the Son of Encouragement. Because of that wonderful gift, the poor in Jerusalem had their needs met, and both Paul and John Mark became great leaders in the early church. Encourage someone this week! In doing so, you can help change a life and make a lasting difference for Christ!
Lynn Jones is a retired pastor who lives in Oxford. He does supply preaching for churches in his area and often serves as an interim pastor. Jones is also an author, has written two books and writes a weekly newspaper column. He may be contacted at: kljones45@yahoo.com.
