"Wherefore encourage one another, and build up each one the other, even as also ye do." (1Th 5:11)
Man is a miserably cutthroat creature. In the job, people tend to boast about their own work, and criticize others. One worker complains that another doesn’t do enough work, and the other complains that the first worker produces poor quality output. Even on the road, we scream at other drivers as if we’ve never broken a law on the road. Let him who has never cut somebody off cast the first stone! The church is no different than the world in this respect. We who serve the Lord that tend to think lofty thoughts of ourselves and our service, and we tend to put down and criticize the service of others. We tend to covet the higher positions in the church, and envy the spiritual gifts that we do not have. We tend to criticize the sliver in the eye of others and miss the two-by-four that’s sticking out of our own eye.
There are two types of servants of God – those who work to please the Lord, and those who work to gain a reputation for themselves. Those who serve the Lord to please Him wish others well and do not care a hill of beans whether or not they themselves are as gifted. The more glory that God gets, the better! It doesn’t matter how He got it. If there are souls saved and God is glorified, that’s all that matters. Those who only wish to gain a reputation for themselves wish to step on the heads of others in their climb to the top, and don’t care what happens to the kingdom of God or those in it, as long as they’re on top of the pyramid in their own church. These wish to make their gifts well known and so you rarely find them doing anything in secret. “What a pity it would be for the kingdom of God if it was to lose me!” Like the Pharisees, when they do their good works, they do it to be seen of men (Mat 6:1). God can get more glory out of a rock than He can with these people.
“The Lord can do great things through those who don't care who gets the credit.”
One thing we must realize is that if we criticize the way that our brothers and sisters serve the Lord in their ministry, God will not bless our own ministry. If we’re proud and haughty regarding our own ministry, God will not bless it. But if we remain encourage and support the ministry of others while remaining humble ourselves, God will bless our ministry. The same way in which we treat our brothers and sisters, God will treat us that way. Do you serve the Lord and criticize others that serve Him? Do you sing for the Lord and scoff at the voices of other singers? Are you jealous of the elders and pastor in your church and condemn them in your heart thinking you could do a much better job? Do you criticize those who preach God’s word analyzing every piece of doctrine and when they get even one non-essential piece wrong, you treat their words as garbage?
"Therefore all things, whatever you desire that men should do to you, do even so to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets." (Mat 7:12)
How can we better encourage others and keep a good heart for their ministries, rather than envying and criticizing? Here are a few things that you can do:
- Remember that you have a common goal. Our Lord said that a kingdom cannot be divided among itself (Mat 12:25). Your goal is better met not by wishing evil, gossiping and looking down upon the efforts of others but by building theirs up, whether or not they are more gifted than you.
- Beware of a desire for popularity. Large numbers are no indication of great gifts or God’s favor. Some of the largest churches in the world are filled with cult members and false doctrine. God doesn’t favor a person more because he or she reaches thousands… only that each has been faithful with the talent He gave this person. A faithful church janitor will have more of a reward than the lead singer of a famous Christian band that’s only in it for the feeling of being on stage! It’s about the motive, faithfulness, heart, love, and effort behind that work.
- Pray for the ministry of others. Do you think the Lord will not answer a prayer which will aid someone in serving Him? In many ways this is extremely honorable. “To stand before men on behalf of God is one thing. To stand before God on behalf of men is something entirely different.” – Leonard Ravenhill
- Encourage them. Give them a compliment and show your appreciation. One compliment goes a long way. A kind word today may be cherished by someone forever!
There was once a teacher who had a student that constantly failed tests. Out of pity, she one day simply gave this person and “A” on his test, even though he did not deserve it. She proceeded to tell him what a great job he did. From that day forward, this student proceeded to get very good grades on his test… without her help! Sometimes it only takes one instance of encouragement to press a person on to work harder. Encouragement builds zeal! We in the kingdom of God should give these encouraging words to each other which will stir up zeal and further our Lord’s cause.
- Build their efforts up in the eyes of others. Talk to others about how much you appreciate their work and how you have been blessed by it. This helps to build appreciation in others for their work and perhaps the word will get back to them, and encourage them through others as well.
When you support the ministry of others like this, the Lord will bless your ministry as well. For the cup that you use to fill and give to others He will also fill and give to you. If you use a large cup to fill its contents with what you have to give, then He will fill a large cup with what He has and give it to you. We who love the Lord are all working toward the same goal. We need each others’ support, prayers and encouragement. We all want to do the best we can for our Lord who saved us by the death and resurrection of our Lord and the best way to do this is not only to labor diligently ourselves, but to support others in their labors as well.