Catalysts of Courage

It’s 1:55 on a beautifully sunshiny November afternoon and I’m thinking deeply about what it means to be a catalyst of courage versus a facilitator of fear with the words we choose to speak. In my recent observations and experiences of relationships, I have concluded that words, no matter how carefully curated and articulated, emerge from the mindsets we have developed about people.  

 According to Merriam Webster, courage means “to possess the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” The church of Jesus today needs increasing courage to face the trials and challenges of present-day Christianity. C.S. Lewis says, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” I have needed courage most in challenging relationships that invite me to bravely pursue transformation, repentance, and healing. I have realized I cannot live life fully without courage because something fear-inducing will always buffet me into retreat and silence. It is easier to become stunned by fear–living on a meager ration of resentment fostered by discouraging words spoken and believed– than it is to fearlessly face the truth and fight for it. 

 To en-courage is to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope. Larry Crab defines it this way, “The essence of encouragement is exposure without rejection.” It is not a close kin to flattery or sweet talk, but takes the time and effort needed to understand an individual enough to speak into the genuine difficulties they are facing. The gift of encouragement is to infuse others with courage to face their fears and insecurities head-on and overcome them. The presence of a Barnabas (son of encouragement) can be felt in a  room in a powerful way. Encouragement is closely tied to grace because those who practice it understand that imperfections are human and that God is gentle in our process of sanctification. Rather than a forceful halt of critical words, this is a process of aligning our hearts with Jesus until we are beating with His and understanding people the way He does. As Tylor Stanton says, “We gaze at others exactly the way we see Him gazing at us.”

To discourage someone is to deprive them of courage or confidence. It is the negativity that results from a cynical mind needing renewal. Insecurity and fear is fostered in that presence, and conversation often becomes a quest to be understood and validated. 

Words can either fan or extinguish a flame of courage. Every individual has some small hope within them, and most people are endeavoring to bring a little love and hope into the world. It takes courage to live abundantly and fully for the purposes of God. Words, through the power of the Spirit, have the capacity to boost courage into the fearful hearts of those around us and encourage them to lead a life of radical obedience. Words, through the agenda of Satan, also have the ability to drain and reduce courage until those around are so discouraged they fall into fear and disobedience. 

The simple practice of never slandering someone’s name might be one of the hardest teachings of Jesus. Our friend and pastor Kyle Gregory said yesterday in a beautiful sermon, “Some of the most basic truths from God take the most grace to live out.” 

If you want to grow in the grace of encouragement, one of the first habits to form with the Spirit’s power is a resolute disdain for slander. Slander is simply speaking unnecessary negative words about someone when they are not present to hear it. It can be easy to feed negative narratives within the church and shrink back from the discomfort of Spirit-led encouragement including prophecy, words of wisdom, and discernment. Prophecy according to 1 Corinthians 14:13 results in upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation.

Painful ruptures of relationships have less to do with theology and intellect than they do with words that cause pain and division. It’s often easier to sideline a process of communication with slander than to learn the language of love. It can feel safer  to criticize from a distance than to facilitate repentance and reconciliation up close. 

If you want to satisfy your deepest desire for closeness with the Father and with the church, learn to lean into love when conflicts arise. Smile and walk away when a tongue diverges to accusation. Acknowledge the feelings without encouraging ongoing gossip with phrases such as, “Have you had an open conversation with her/him about this?” or a simple reinforcement of something positive about the individual being discussed. Resolutely refuse to add to the devil’s agenda to destroy intimacy and unity in the church. Small negative comments can be darts from demons to destroy courage and commitment and community, and we engage simply by speaking them and listening to them. Small positive comments can be balms of the Spirit sent to (en)courage, fuel commitment and loyalty, and foster a deeply transformative community. We choose whose agenda we support by  our words. 

The Spirit hovered over the water in Genesis 1 and the power of His words, “Let there be light!” blazed over a dark and unformed earth creating light and order and beauty. That same Spirit lives within us today, and when we open our mouths to speak the words He gives us, our words create light and order and beauty. Our words have power: the power of death and life (Proverbs 18:21). The power of death spoken over us dispels with the power of life spoken and believed. Learning to hear the voice of God and speak it is genuinely the most powerful life-giving gift you can develop for the church of Jesus today.

Genuine encouragement invites face-to-face fellowship and dispels back-to-back bickering. Genuine encouragement pulls everyone close enough to repent and transform and fosters a deeply transformative community. Genuine encouragement does not shrink back from addressing negative behaviors but does so with the grace that invites transformation. It is indispensible if we want to be true friends and sisters and brothers in the big and broken family of God. 

What if you slowed down the hectic holiday stress to sit in solitude with Him as He teaches your lips the law of kindness? What if the most important gift under your tree was the commitment to lean into love in a challenging part of your marriage? What if the most powerful and soul-satisfying menu you could serve your holiday table was Spirit-led prophecy and words of wisdom and knowledge and discernment and encouragement, and all who sat with you this season left closer in His embrace of love? What if your words through the Spirit’s power brought life and beauty and color to every individual around your table this season?

“Lord, let courage rise as we learn your love. Let our communities be known as places where dark things become light as we hear and speak your words, and today—this beautiful new day of love–we commit anew to en-courage others with every word we speak to overcome the words of dis-courage and fear around us. Make us catalysts of courage shining like the morning sun over the dark shadow of our negative experiences, dispelling fear like the morning dew as we raise our faces together towards your words of life over us.”

Amen.

Photo by Fabian Kleiser on Unsplash