Spurring One Another

Hebrews 10:24 says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."

The author of Hebrews is exhorting Christians to use our minds and imaginations to consider a variety of ways to encourage one another to love and good works. Besides vocally encouraging someone toward love and good works, are there more creative (and possibly more effective) forms of exhortation?

I would suggest that allowing someone to see your good works is one form of godly exhortation. Although we should be wary of the dangers of man-pleasing driven obedience, we should also recognize that there is a place for allowing others to see our good deeds. My own experience is that seeing the faithfulness of fellow believers is one of the strongest motivations for my own obedience. When I see the connection between their heart-orientation toward God and the spiritual blessings that they experience, there's nothing that I want more than to be like them. I think that's one of the reasons why we have the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. We're supposed to witness inspiring stories of Christian faithfulness in order to be . . . well . . . inspired. For this reason, I think it's appropriate at times to allow others to witness your own faithfulness, given the right heart attitude. Didn't Paul himself boldly declare how much he labored and prayed for other people? Whenever someone tells me they've been praying for me, not only am I encouraged but I'm also exhorted to imitate them in a more prayerful lifestyle.

So this is my suggestion. Rather than going around telling other Christians to live a more holy life in order to fulfill Hebrews 10:24, perhaps you should simply seek to be a godly witness. As others see your faithfulness and the blessings you receive, they will undoubtedly be encouraged to follow in your footsteps. This concept has implications for how we worship on Sunday morning, but I'll save that for another blog. ;)

Element of Trust

In my mind, trust may very well be the most important characteristic of a healthy, loving relationship. Trust has many elements, and I'd like to bring up a couple.

First of all, trust is grounded in the past. It's not that you can't choose to trust someone you just met, or recently met, but the more someone proves themselves to be the kind of man or woman who remains true to their word, the more you can trust them. Even when someone abuses your trust, this can be quickly mended if they have a strong track record.

It's interesting that we often seem to trust people for the big things more than the little things. For example, you may trust my word more if I promise to bring your seizure medications than if I promise to bring your mittens. I think the reason is simply because one promise is more important than the other promise. Which is a bigger issue, your life being at stake or your hands being warm?

The irony is that it seems like the little promises (like remembering to teach someone a Spanish song) should be easier to keep than the big promises (like a marriage vow). The truth of the matter is that little promises are easier to fudge on. The first goal is to find a person who cares so much about the reliability of their word that you can trust them to keep even the smallest of promises. The second goal is to be that person for everyone else.

Hard Words Shouldn't Come Easy

There seems to be a tension when it comes to 'saying hard things' in the Christian life. We all know that there are times where our friends need to hear the difficult words, but I think we often misinterpret what verses like this actually mean. 

Like many other issues, there seems to be two extremes one can take hard words. The first is the person who won't say anything that might be difficult for the person to hear. A lot of the time we are tempted to soften the blow of reality for someone. However, telling someone it's not too bad or that it won't get worse is not going to soften the blow. If anything, it's going to keep them from preparing for the realities of life, making things more difficult. This is why the Bible tells us we need to carry a cross, or that we'll be persecuted for our faith. No one wants to hear that, but everyone needs to.

The other extreme is the person who joyfully and all too willingly takes up their task of saying hard things. I've found myself in this camp all too often. The fundamental problem with this approach is that saying difficult things to someone we love should be difficult. Even the attitude that it's easy to do communicates that we don't truly care for their well-being. The way in which we speak difficult truths really matters. It's the difference between speaking hard words and harsh words; the difference between love and carelessness. 

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend; 

Profuse are the kisses of an enemy" --Proverbs 27:6