The world in which we live is a place where ungodliness and unrighteousness prevail, and it is therefore a place where there is much to discourage us. Sadly, discouragement is not confined to the world; there is discouragement to be found within the church amongst those who profess to be Christians. There are at some times and in some congregations attitudes of self centredness, rivalry, conceit, a lack of harmony and in general – a lack of love leading to a lack of concern for one another within the body of Christ.

Attitudes such as those mentioned above foster discouragement amongst the people of God. The New Testament recognizes that these wrong and sinful attitudes do manifest themselves in the lives of Christians, and that is why we have exhortations addressed to us calling us not only to be concerned for our own selves but also to have an interest in the well-being of others. Our Saviour himself called us to love one another as he has loved us.

In this atmosphere of discouragement we can thank God for those brothers and sisters in Christ who are in truth sons and daughters of encouragement. Every church has one or more of these. One man whom Scripture sets before us as an encourager is Barnabas. Barnabas was not his given name; his given name was Joseph, but the apostles called him Barnabas which means 'son of encouragement' (Acts 4:36), because they saw this as the chief characteristic of his life. These dear ones who are the encouragers in the church have cultivated the spiritual qualities of Barnabas. They have a genuine radiance about them, and they bring much help and joy by way of encouragement to others. These saints are not always the leaders of the churches; they are quite often humble Christians who exercise this vital ministry of encouragement within the body of Christ.

The ministry of encouragement is not just for some in the church. It is a ministry which ought to be exercised by everyone who names the name of Christ. The apostle addresses all Christians when he says, 'Therefore encourage one another and build one another up' (1 Thess. 5:11).

The verb 'encourage' carries the notion of coming alongside another to provide counsel and consolation. This word is applied by our Lord to the Holy Spirit who is called 'the Helper' or 'Counsellor' or 'Comforter' (John 14:16). The exhortation to be encouragers ought to be especially heeded by those of us who are committed to the Reformed faith. Christians of a Reformed persuasion sometimes tend to be hard and even unloving in their attitudes to others, and this ought not to be.

Let me add here that being an encourager does not mean that we are to turn a blind eye to sin in the lives of others. The Scripture also calls us to admonish and to warn those who are living in ways that are contrary to the standard of Scripture teaching. Indeed, admonishing is also a part of our ministry of encouragement.

What does it mean to be an encourager? Let us take a look at four examples in the life of Barnabas.

Generosity⤒🔗

He was an encourager to the church by his generosity (Acts 4:36-37). Of course, he was not the only person who was generous in giving to meet the needs of the impoverished within the early church. Such was the grace that was upon these early believers that there was not a person who continued in need amongst them, '...for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need' (Acts 4:34-35). Being generous and willing to meet the needs of those who lacked was one way by which Barnabas was an encourager.

Being generous does not always have to do with our material possessions. We can be generous with our time, as we are willing to sacrifice what we consider to be our leisure time. With that time saints may go and visit those persons who are home-bound and in need of someone to minister to them. Perhaps an offer may be made to do some grocery shopping for them. We can express our generosity to others in a host of different ways.

Willingness to 'Stick His Neck Out' for Others←⤒🔗

We see this in Acts 9:26-28. Saul of Tarsus, in his misguided zeal for God, had become the arch-persecutor of the early church. He had consented to the murder of Stephen. Afterward, receiving authority from 'the whole council of elders', he set out for Damascus to arrest and to bring back to Jerusalem any who were the followers of the Way (or the way of Jesus Christ).

On the road Saul himself was arrested by Jesus and gloriously converted. Following his baptism he 'proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, He is the Son of God' (Acts 9:20). It is no surprise, therefore, that there soon arose a plot to murder him, which caused him to flee Damascus for Jerusalem.

When Saul tried to join the disciples in Jerusalem, however, they would not receive him. Did he naively expect the disciples of our Lord to accept him because he said that he was now a disciple himself? Luke tells us that the disciples at Jerusalem 'were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple' (Acts 9:26). This is understandable. After all, it was not much earlier that these same disciples had witnessed the evil Saul had done to them and to their brothers and sisters. Was Saul pretending to be a disciple in order to identify the followers of Jesus just so he could arrest them and even put them to death?

However, we read that Barnabas was willing to stick his neck out and accept Saul as a disciple. Had word gotten back to Barnabas from Damascus that Saul had been converted and had preached boldly in the name of the Lord? Or had he taken Saul in and listened to his testimony, seeing in what he said that he had indeed experienced the saving grace of God? At any rate Barnabas brought Saul to the apostles, and they in turn accepted this one-time persecutor on the strength of Barnabas' witness.

Few of us would face an exact parallel to what Barnabas did for Saul, but there are other ways that we can be an encouragement to others. There are Christians who are willing to step out of their comfort zones not only to welcome to the church, but also to sit with those who are not the people with whom they would normally sit. I remember an incident when a young man who was shabbily dressed and without shoes walked into a service. Instead of sitting in one of the pews he walked to the front and sat himself down on the floor. Even as the eyes of the congregation were upon him a gentleman, a member of that church, who was smartly dressed in a three-piece suit, left his seat, walked up to where this young man was seated and sat on the floor next to him. Then he pulled his own shoes off to make the young man feel welcome.

Willingness to See the Grace of God←⤒🔗

We see this in Acts 11:20-26. Following the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution which followed, much of the Jerusalem church had been scattered. Some of these scattered believers had come to Antioch in Syria, and the hand of the Lord was with them. Through their proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ 'a great number who believed turned to the Lord' (verse 21).

News of this remarkable work of the Lord reached the church at Jerusalem, and they decided to get a credible report of what was taking place. Whom should they send? Someone wisely proposed Barnabas, and the church agreed. I should like to think that he was chosen because of his characteristic of being an encourager. Barnabas came to Antioch, and for what did he look? What would have been our choice?

Some of us might well have focused on all that was wrong in the way these Antioch Christians behaved in church. Maybe it was not precisely as those in Jerusalem did things. But not Barnabas:

When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose (verse 23).

What an example this man is to us! The easiest thing to do as we observe a ministry or a work which we have not seen before is to pinpoint all that might be wrong with it and then speak in disparagement of it. But, if there is the evidence of the grace of God there, if it is to be observed that God has begun a work in that place, we ought, with Barnabas, to see it and to rejoice, even if they do not do all things exactly as we would have done.

This is not to suggest that we ignore what may be lacking or wrong. Barnabas did not. Even as he saw more people being added to the Lord, he saw the necessity of teaching these new converts; so, he went to Tarsus to find Saul and to bring him to Antioch. Luke then tells us that for a whole year he and Saul met with the church in Antioch, 'and taught a great many people' (verse 26).

Willingness to Help a Failure←⤒🔗

We read of this at the end of Acts 15. Paul, who had been previously called Saul, together with Barnabas, had been called by the Lord and had been commissioned as the Antioch church's first missionaries. As they went on their first missionary journey John Mark, a cousin of Barnabas, went with them as a missionary assistant. This first round of mission work was blessed by the hand of God to the conversion of many. However, early in their mission, John Mark left the missionaries and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). He seemed unable to persevere amidst the hardships of ministry.

After the completion of their first missionary journey the missionaries returned to Antioch and reported all that God had done through them and how he had 'opened a door of faith to the Gentiles' (Acts 13:27). Then, following the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), Paul and Barnabas decided to return to those places where they had preached the gospel earlier so that they could visit those who had been brought to faith in Christ through their ministry.

As their plans were being drawn up Barnabas proposed that they take John Mark with them, this young man who had previously failed them. But Paul disagreed, as he considered it unwise to take a young man who had withdrawn from them and had not gone with them to the work (verse 37). Such was the disagreement between these two brethren that they went separate ways. Paul took Silas, a member of the Jerusalem Council and one gifted as a prophet, and went in one direction, commended to the grace of God by the church. Barnabas, on the other hand, took Mark and went in a different direction.

Was Barnabas right to take Mark so quickly with him? Perhaps not! At the same time it was surely Barnabas' characteristic of being an encourager which moved him to contend so strongly for Mark. We don't read of John Mark (or of Barnabas) again in the book of Acts. However, we find Mark with the apostle Paul as he penned his letter to the church at Colossae. Later, not long before his own martyrdom, Paul, writing to Timothy, said, 'Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry' (2 Tim 4:11). It is also this same John Mark who, the scholars tell us, authored the second Gospel. Was it the patient work of Barnabas the encourager who had contributed to making this one time failure into a useful minister of the gospel? I am strongly inclined to think so.

Barnabas was a Christian who possessed the mind of Christ. Here was a man who looked not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others, and who willingly came alongside them to encourage and to build them up. Our Saviour Jesus Christ is, of course, the supreme example of One who did not please himself but was willing to suffer in the place of those who were antagonistic to God and whom he came to save (Rom. 15:2.).

Followers of Our Saviour←⤒🔗

How each of us needs to cultivate the mind of Christ, so that we are willing, even sacrificially, to give of ourselves to be an encouragement to others! Of course our sinful natures may react against this. Nevertheless, in remembrance of our Saviour's mercies to us and with the help of his Spirit, we can overcome our natural inclinations and be encouragers to the people of God.

Each week as the church gathers for worship there are invariably those amongst us who come bringing with them various burdens. Some are discouraged; some are sad; some are fearful, and others are in some turmoil. Such friends need for us to come alongside them to express to them our love and support. We are to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Although we who are pastors, and the elders who lead with us, must be sensitive to such needs in our congregations, quite often it is the members of the congregation who are made aware of someone's need before the pastor learns of it. What a blessing it would be to any church, and her pastors, if all the members of the congregation were committed to cultivating a ministry of encouragement! Let me urge you, each one, to be a son or daughter of encouragement to the glory of God and the edification of the church. Such a ministry is a paramount need within the church.