Obedience as encouragement. Maybe that is something you’ve thought of before. Maybe you are like me and until recently the thought never crossed your mind. Whichever side of that idea you land on as you are reading this, welcome, glad you are here. I can’t promise you will understand where I’m going by the end of this, but I hope it makes some sense to you by the time I’m finished.
Tonight I did something I’ve done around a hundred times or so give or take a few. I taught. Now, I’ve never taught at this particular Bible study I attend and it’s been about a year and a half since I’ve taught at all in the usual definition of the word, but in the past fifteen years of Student Ministry I’ve accumulated a good amount of time in front of students working through a passage of the Bible or speaking on missions or orphan care or the persecuted church. It isn’t a new experience. But it is without fail one that makes me nervous and causes adrenaline to course through my veins to the point that I visibly shake and usually makes me note the location of the nearest trash can. Fun fact the adrenaline dump makes me want to vomit. Mercifully, I’ve never actually done so.
I don’t like attention. If you’re reading this and wondering why in the world are you writing things and posting them on the internet if you don’t like attention. There is a big difference in posting something online and having people physically watching me as I talk. I can write all day long. In fact, my words sound better coming from my fingers rather than my mouth. I have time to process and think through what I want to say, and I don’t stumble over my words when they come to life with a keystroke. Teaching is an opportunity for me to rely on the Holy Spirit working through me and stretches my faith more than just about anything else. That’s one of the reasons when the opportunity is offered that I take it. I love the study part of teaching. Breaking down scripture and looking at applications and nerding out over the Greek and the use of a word that means one thing in one context and a whole different thing a few verses later. That part is my favorite. I also enjoy sharing what I learn. But getting from point A to point B takes me to a place that isn’t natural. A place that forces me to get uncomfortable and to be obedient in a way that I would normally avoid at all costs.
Again, obedience as a way of encouragement. So why that? Well, it is a relatively recent connection to me. A few weeks old at most to be exact. I’ve never considered obedience a way of encouraging other people. I’ve been studying Romans recently. Romans 1:12 in the ESV says “That is that we may be encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Paul is addressing believers in Rome and telling them about how their faith has encouraged him but he wants to be together with them so they can be encouraged by the faith of the other at the same time. That is a concept that makes sense to me. Someone with a strong faith as they walk through a hard time is an encouraging thing. But it is the obedience that I want to home in on here. When you obey when God calls you to do something you are an encouragement to others.
I’ve read that verse countless times before, but that concept had never crossed my mind until recently. I am by nature an encourager. That isn’t hard for me to do. A few weeks ago, in the act of doing just that before I got to see someone lead Bible Study for the first time the two points connected for me. Watching someone step out in faith and be obedient and knowing exactly what it takes to get well outside your comfort zone the idea of obedience as an act of encouragement for others solidified. Obedience, be it in something small or something big encourages other people. I know because I’ve gotten to witness it. It truly is one of the best things in the world. The funny thing is it isn’t a new thing. Watching believers get baptized will never get old, and that is exactly what that is, obedience in making a declaration of faith, and it encourages the body as it happens. It just never occurred to me in that way until recently. When God calls you and you say yes to whatever it is know that obeying builds up those around you.
It doesn’t have to be a monumental goal. Sometimes I think we get big results confused with the strength of our faith. If it doesn’t change the world what does it matter? It matters because our faith while personal has an impact on the Church as a whole. Faith in action matters. A step of faith is a step of faith no matter the form it takes. There are certainly plenty of instances throughout time when God has moved and big things have happened. But those things started with a single step of being obedient and having faith. Obedience encourages other people and it isn’t based on how large an impact that act makes. Believe it or not that one step in obeying what God has called you to do no matter how significant or insignificant it seems to you has a much broader reach than you can imagine.
I’ve seen a lot of students come through the Student Ministry at Bayside. There is something special about watching them understand they’ve got influence in the world around them, especially when it comes to their friends. You won’t find me telling students they are going to change the world. It isn’t that such a thing isn't’ necessarily true, but that is a large burden to place on teenagers. What I will tell them is they can have an impact on the people around them and that impact can result in God moving in ways they couldn’t imagine. A simple act of obedience ripples out like a rock dropping into water. It is better to create a ripple not a wave. Waves crash and disappear. A ripple spreads and spreads from a single act. When you deliberately choose to make an impact with one person what you are actually doing is impacting people you might never meet. Our faith is like that. We don’t know what God is going to do when we say ‘Yes’.
You want an easy way to make a difference in the life of one person? Pray for them. Tell them you're praying for them. If you can’t pray with them in person send them a voice recording. Technology gets a bad rap, but it has its uses for sure. I’ve got a conversation going with one of my best friends that consists of a lot of voice messages. There is something comforting about hearing the voice of another person praying for you, or just talking, when you don’t have the time to sit on the phone or meet in person. We were made to build relationships, not to be alone. Spurgeon said that the greatest kindness any man can do for me here on this Earth is to pray for me and that is incredibly true. Talking with God about someone you love is one of the highest honors that exists. Not only do we get to talk to a living God who hears us, we get to talk to Him about people He has given us relationships with. That is an incredibly beautiful thing to think about and realize.
Why prayer? Because we overlook it. It gets tossed around often as a last resort to a problem or as cliché when something goes wrong. But prayer matters because of who we are praying to. Come sit with me during small group on a Wednesday or Sunday and you will quickly discover my boys no longer have to be asked to pray. They found out quite quickly I don’t pray during small group unless I am explicitly asked to do so. Now, it might sound weird that I just said pray for people and then followed that with telling you I don’t pray. But, I can tell you in the last year with my current group not much has given me a greater joy than getting to witness these boys praying for each other out loud and how what was once like pulling teeth from an alligator when it came to getting more than one of them to pray has morphed into them essentially fighting over who gets to pray to start small group and who gets to pray to end it. I want their prayer lives to grow so I give them opportunities to grow it. Now, they’ve heard me pray. This Summer during Squad Wars the leaders were asked to pray over the students every Wednesday. A point they caught on to quite quickly because they are so used to praying that when I told them it had to be a leader they looked at me kind of confused. It also made those Wednesday nights more special because I got to pray over them without taking time from them to pray for each other. Want to do something simple then pray for each other. We are called to bear each other’s burdens.
Obedience as encouragement. It doesn’t have to be a world changing event. It doesn’t have to encompass helping hundreds of people. Start with one. Faithfulness in the little things matters. And again, I think we get far too caught up in the measure of things that we miss the point in the first place. Whatever God is calling you to say yes to it. Especially if it makes you nervous. Especially if you think there is no way I can do this thing. Lean into that feeling. Acknowledge that you can’t do it on your own. But I promise you that He can. He won’t call you to do anything and leave you. He will be with you every step of the way. All it takes is the faith to obey.
I realize that might seem like an oversimplification or you might be thinking you have no idea what He’s asking me to do. You’re right, I have no idea how God is moving in your life right now. All I can tell you is that from personal experience and a great deal of it over the years nothing grows your faith like getting uncomfortable and putting yourself in a place that you have to rely on God. Step outside yourself and let Him work. You’ll be amazed at what He can do when you do so. I’m not saying it will be easy. Teaching for me is never easy. Every time is like the first time. But every time I get to lean into Him a little more and my faith gets that much stronger. He’s not failed me yet. He won’t fail you.
So what is your yes? Where do you need to be obedient so others can be encouraged? Take that step. Lean in. Trust Him. Grow. Watch what He does in the lives of people around you when you do.
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