Encourage Me!
II Corinthians 7:2-16
Everybody needs encouragement.
When a little baby first begins to walk, normal parents encourage every step.
The little baby delights in hearing,
“Way to go!” “Oh, what a big girl!” “That’s really good.”
That need and desire for encouragement continues as the child grows older.
When our children get good grades in school, we praise them.
When they make the football team or the band or what ever,
we tell them how proud we are of them.
We put trophies on the shelf so that we can brag.
Because we know that encouragement motivates them to keep on stretching.
The role of encouragement in athletics can be seen clearly in the home court advantage.
Why is a team more likely to win at home than on the road?
Familiarity with surroundings and breaks in officiating are factors.
But the main reason the home team wins is the encouragement of the fans.
There is just something about people rooting for you that brings out your best.
Think about it for a minute, why do we have cheerleaders at ball games?
It’s to help get the fans excited and cheering for the team.
And the more they become excited,
the more they cheer,
the more excited and energized the team becomes.
People respond to encouragement from others.
And that need is not limited to athletes.
It’s true of all of life.
If you go to someone's hospital room,
you see get-well cards and flowers lined up around the room.
Those flowers and cards are a great encouragement for the person in the hospital.
It motivates them to get well soon.
Many people have a drawer full of encouraging notes written to them over the years.
When they get discouraged,
they open up that drawer and read over those notes to boost themselves up again.
From the time we are born, to the day we die, we will respond to encouragement.
That’s why the Bible instructs us as Christian’s, to be sources of encouragement to one another.
“Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13).
“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
The closer we get to the day of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the worse the world conditions are going to be.
And the more we’re going to need to spur one another on to be faithful to Him.
Warren Wiersbe has suggested that 2 Corinthians 7, is kind of a cycle of encouragement chapter.
Titus encouraged Paul,
Paul encouraged the church,
and the church encouraged Titus.
All of us can learn to be encouragers.
Maybe we can’t learn to be musicians or to teach if that is not our gift.
But I believe that we can all learn to be encouragers.
That’s one gift we can all give to each other.
I. Encourage the Church!
The church needed this encouragement because Paul had previously rebuked them for their sins.
He had been concerned that his rebuke may have been to harsh (II Cor. 7:8).
But by the time he wrote this letter, he knew the rebuke had been heeded.
And the erring Corinthians had repented.
In Proverbs 27:5-6 we read: “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses”
Encouragement is meaningless if it’s just shallow flattery.
It must be an honest appraisal of both your strengths and weaknesses.
A real encourager doesn’t go around telling everyone that everything is great all the time.
A true encourager is one who is not afraid to rebuke when necessary.
In II Timothy 4:2 Paul says, that a minister is to “rebuke”
as well as to “encourage with great patience and careful instruction.”
Titus 2:15 tells the minister to “encourage and rebuke with all authority.”
An encourager must be honest.
That is, willing to say “great job”and willing to lovingly rebuke.
Rick Houp was a student at Cincinnati Bible College.
He sang for the Come Alive Singer, a music group that traveled the country representing the school.
Charlie Stiles was their director, and Rick found him to be a tough taskmaster.
All summer long, he was on Rick’s case,
warning him about his ego and his selfishness.
Then, one Sunday night, it was Rick’s turn to preach.
When he finished, he looked down at Charlie sitting in the front row.
Charlie gave him a thumbs-up signal and a little smile.
Rick Houp says, he remembered that little gesture of encouragement for years.
It meant more than a thousand words of flattery,
because he knew it came from somebody who was telling the truth.
Paul’s encouragement of the church was not flattery.
He would rebuke them when they needed it.
But when he expressed approval, he did it in three ways:
1. First, he expressed it by a life of integrity!
“We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one” (II Cor. 7:2).
Those are great words for a preacher.
Because it’s really tempting, when you’re a preacher,
to take advantage of people and exploit people.
You don’t mean to do it, but sometimes it just happens.
One preacher told of how one Sunday
he told his congregation that he had looked that morning
in his sock drawer for a pair of black socks and there were none.
The following week he received 15 pairs of socks from the people in the church.
Now, he didn’t mean to exploit them, or take advantage of them.
But he did say that he was tempted the next Sunday
to mention the hole in his shirt and that his car wasn't running to well.
What Paul is saying here, is that he is an honest man.
He is one person, who will tell it like it is.
And it’s encouraging to know, that there are people who in a loving, kind and gentle way,
will tell you the truth, even if it’s a little painful.
2. Second, Paul also encouraged by his sacrificial spirit!
“You have such a place in our hearts that I would live or die with you” (II Cor. 7:3).
Paul was an inspiration because he was willing to endure anything for these people.
He said that his body had no rest (II Cor. 7:5).
He was constantly harassed.
But he endured those difficulties because he cared for people.
It’s been said that some people call in sick, and others crawl in sick.
The people who crawl in sick are the ones who inspire and encourage us.
Lou Gehrig frequently played baseball with at least one broken finger.
His courage and self-sacrifice inspired his teammates to give their best.
Paul faced conflicts and adversity and illness, but he kept going.
And in doing so, he was an encouragement to people.
He said, "I'd live or die for you."
And they knew he meant it.
3. Third, Paul encouraged the Corinthians by affirmation.
He expressed his confidence in them. “I have great confidence in you,” he said. “I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged” (II Cor. 7:4).
Those words were not hollow flattery by someone trying to manipulate them.
They were from a man who had rebuked them earlier.
The fact that Paul could affirm them, in spite of their problems, boosted them up.
People in educational circles talk a lot about “positive reenforcement.”
Rather than grinding their students down all the time,
by telling them what they are doing wrong.
Teachers are being encouraged, to find out what they are doing right and praise them.
In most cases, this will inspire better behavior by the students.
One teacher has a slogan that says, “Catch’em being good.”
It’s a good slogan for teachers, parents, managers, church leaders,
and anyone else who works with people.
That’s what Paul did.
He caught the Corinthians doing something right and said,
“You’re doing great. I’m proud of you.”
Oh, how we need to take a lesson from Paul.
How we need to stop looking for what people are doing wrong all the time.
We need to start looking for what they are doing right.
I have seen people who have noticed something that needed done.
But instead of jumping in and taking care of it, they backed off, saying,
“I better leave it alone.
If I don’t do it exactly right, someone is going to jump all over me.”
Paul knew that you can’t encourage people by jumping on their case all the time.
By gripping at them, for not doing something just the way you would have done it.
By constantly saying, “Well, if I had done it, I would have done it this way.”
As if you are the expert in the matter.
If we are to encourage people to be active and involved in the church of Jesus Christ,
then we have to learn to let them do it their way once in a while.
Even if their way is totally different than your way of doing it.
And even if its not necessarily the best way!
We have to learn to praise people, just for being willing to help, for being involved.
We have to learn, that we encourage,
not by telling people what they have done wrong all the time,
but by praising them for what they have done right!
What better gift could we give to someone than the gift of encouragement.
Encouragement to be actively involved in the kingdom of God.
Conclusion:
There was once a quiet little man, a vendor of fruits and vegetables.
Each day he passed the door of a Christian man.
One day the peddler dropped a small notebook.
The man picked it up and was about to hand it back to the peddler,
when his eye was caught by the words on the first page.
It read, “For His body’s sake, which is the church.”
Then came these notations:
“The following were absent from Bible School last Sunday - be sure to visit them.”
“Ask about the sick baby.”
“Leave fruit for the blind lady.”
“Speak a word of cheer to the old crippled man.”
The peddler took the book modestly as the man handed it back to him.
“You see,” he said, “this is my book of reminders.”
Pointing to the first page he continued,
“This is why I do these things, ‘For His body’s sake, which is the church.’”
“It keeps my soul out of the dust; because I encourage His children, I know I am ministering to Him.”
Oh how we need to get up out of the dust of criticism.
Out of the dirt of complaining.
Out of the filth of insisting on everything being done our way.
And become an encourager of people like Paul!
If others are going to become involved and active in the church,
then we must encourage them,
in their service to Christ and His church!