Principal’s Message
The Ministry of Encouragement
and a Second Wave of Church Growth?
“We live by encouragement, and we die without it – slowly, sadly, angrily” (Celeste Holm)
“Encouragement is oxygen to the soul” (George Adam)
Mark Twain, the American author known for his witty sayings, once said: “I can live for two months on a good compliment”. Never has an encouraging word or gesture ever gone unnoticed. From the cradle to the grave, we long for – even crave for – encouragement. Sadly, although encouragement is a gift we can so easily afford, it is something few people habitually share. Contrary to what many assume, encouragement is not an optional extra for our journey through life; it is an essential for survival. And, wherever it is found in high supply, one is sure to see strong and healthy growth both in individuals and in communities.
When the first generation of Christians was displaced from Judea, some travelled 100 miles north to Antioch. Being enthusiastic evangelists, they shared the gospel with everyone they encountered, and for the first time with a predominantly gentile audience. Luke records that “a great number” of gentiles turned to the Lord. I think of this as the first wave of church growth in the remarkable story of the missionary church in Antioch (Acts 11:19-21).
But there was a second wave – which required a second move on the part of the Church.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that large numbers of gentiles had turned to faith, they knew they had to make a crucial decision. These were the historical ‘outsiders’ to anyone from a Jewish background. How they handled this new reality would determine the course of church history. Could it be that already there were murmurings among the Jewish believers about the ‘inappropriateness’ of allowing uncircumcised gentiles into the community of the Messiah? Had these ‘traditional’ Christians in Judea already cast some hurtful remarks about those ‘younger’ churches in Antioch?
So, they sent their best apostolic representative of the hour. And it wasn’t Peter, or James, or even John the Beloved Disciple. It was the man they had long nicknamed “the son of encouragement” – Barnabas! Luke writes that when Barnabas came to Antioch and saw what God was doing, “he was glad and encouraged them to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts” (Acts 11:23). His ministry of encouragement had profound effects. We read how it released the second wave of church growth in Antioch: “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (Acts 11:24).
In the seventies and eighties the Lord raised a generation of evangelists who fanned out to proclaim the gospel in every district in Sri Lanka. Their indigenous, pioneering efforts brought outstanding results, so much so that after one hundred years of decline the Sri Lankan church grew at the rate of the population at large. However, unlike the story of the Antioch Church, this dramatic uptick in Sri Lanka drew little attention: there was no ‘Jerusalem’ to hear about it, and no ‘Barnabas’ to spearhead the second move. Thereafter, inadequate discipleship and teaching, the daily struggles of family and finances, hurts and conflicts within the body of Christ, periods of persecution, and the corrosive effects of unbiblical false teachings, all combined to lay waste to the Church. Without that “oxygen to the soul” the Church is facing imminent danger.
It is time to take seriously the command of Scripture, “Encourage one another as long as it is called ‘Today’” (Hebrew 3:13), and to intentionally release the ministry of encouragement in our denominations, local churches, and discipleship groups.
Who knows if our belated obedience will be the starting point for the Holy Spirit to generate the next wave of church growth?
Ivor Poobalan
December 2024
