by Gordon Cheng

Recently, I've been working on a course to teach Christians how to use God's Word to encourage other people. One of my main aims has been to help Christians who have no formal role in their local church realise that God wants them to use their abilities to serve and lead others. Every single Christian, potentially, has the ability to build others up in their Christian lives"”perhaps even to lead someone to Christ through the gospel. The basic assumption is this: anyone who trusts and loves Jesus, and can speak to another person, ought to think of themselves as a potential speaker and minister of God's Word.

Now the list of possibilities for how a follower of Jesus can become a speaker and minister of God's Word is virtually endless, and encompasses almost every situation in life. God's Word can be spoken one to one. It can be spoken friend to friend. It can be spoken, in a friendly way, to a stranger. It can be spoken during a small home group, whether informally, or as part of the discussion, or in giving a two-minute talk on a Bible verse to the rest of the group.

On the other hand, some Christians are painfully shy, and can't imagine how they could encourage others. But even shyness doesn't need to be an obstacle. Such a person may, for example, love to pray. What's more, they may discover that they can write the most encouraging letters, notes or "Get Well' cards. That person could put their abilities to use in a totally different way to a noisy, extrovert speaker. The ability to be a minister is not a function of personality, and not dependent on being quick-thinking or articulate. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that nearly every single Christian in the world is able to be a speaker of the Word of God"”even if that speaking is limited to writing on a card.

The point is this: ultimately the way we decide to speak is almost irrelevant; it is the fact of speaking that matters. And that means we ought to try to speak God's Word by as many and whatever means available, the only limits being our energy, our imagination and the opportunities that God decides to put in our path.

This understanding of the boundless possibilities is backed up by the apostle Paul. Here's how he describes his own activity:

Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them: "You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:17-21)

That's Paul's approach. He speaks publicly; he speaks privately. And not only that: Paul, as we know, was a great writer of letters"”most of the New Testament epistles were authored by him. And as well as writing letters, when he couldn't visit his charges he sent his closest friends and helpers to see how people were getting along. It's an extraordinary example: Paul is not going to let anything hold him back from getting the Word of God out. Paul did this in any way he knew how, to the point where some could and did question his sanity (Acts 26:24). He went through shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonments, persecution, rejection, and even organized for his good friend Timothy to get circumcised as an adult"”all so that he could somehow get an audience for the Word of God, the word of the cross of his saviour, Jesus Christ. He could hardly care less about how it was done, so long as it happened"”and the same should be true of us.

Just about the only thing you would say about the apostle Paul's preferred method was that he was never dishonest. He never "spun' his message in a deceitful way, so that people would hear only the bits that would appeal to them, and miss out on what might sound off-putting, or not so attractive. Paul played it straight; he didn't flatter people or use underhanded methods, and neither should we.

There's every reason why we, reading of Paul's example, should consider his life as a model for us. Paul even says so explicitly as he speaks to the Corinthians about how they should live and speak to others (1 Cor 11:1). There is no need whatsoever for us to stand on the sidelines, or sit in the pew for that matter, waiting for an official minister to write us a permission note"”before we ourselves can feel free to have a turn at encouraging someone. We ought simply to open our mouths and start speaking God's Word"”not necessarily quoting slabs of Bible, but letting God's Word fill our thinking and our attitude so that when we speak, what emerges is not our own prejudice, but God's powerful and life-changing message.

This needn't be a major project. We can start with the person who sits next to us at church"”even if that happens to be the one we're married to. If we can work up the courage, there's no doubt that the stranger sitting on the other side would love to experience some of our kindness and conversation as well. At the other end of the spectrum, if we or someone we know has a bit of public speaking ability, why shouldn't such a person find somewhere where it's possible, for a few minutes, to talk about how to become a Christian; maybe on a family mission, or in a public speaking class, or in a children's talk. Even the very shy person could do something. The one who is so quiet that they haven't even introduced themselves to the other members of their Bible study could write a card to the minister telling him the worthwhile things learned from his last sermon. They don't even have to speak directly to the minister"”unless the minister phones up in astonishment to thank the person for the encouragement!

Every Christian who can speak has something to say. God's Word gives us the message"”the message that we can be forgiven and changed through our Lord Jesus and the work of his Spirit. That is worth saying whenever and wherever we get a chance, to whoever will listen, and even to those who won't.