Cheerleader or Heckler?

Yesterday we looked at Barnabas to glean some understanding of what encouragement is all about as we continue to explore true koinonia. To encourage or exhort is to “urge one to pursue some course of conduct.” In the church we are to encourage one another to continue in the Christian walk.

Encouragement doesn’t happen from a distance. It breeds in close community, where believers make themselves available to one another. It is not something we can muster up on our own, but requires that we draw near to God with a sincere heart. Encouragement takes place when we let the joyful appreciation of what Christ has done for us overflow into the lives of others.

In our pursuit of koinonia we need to understand the role of encouragement.  We each have the capacity to be a cheerleader, one who looks for the positive and the potential, or a heckler, one who only wants to point out flaws and forecast failure.  Will you make a commitment to be a cheerleader this week?  Will you draw near to Christ so that His love will overflow into the lives of those you come in contact with this week?

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And 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 10:22-25