God's Will, Godly Living

Center point of exhortation

in his book: Once Upon a Town, Bob Greene tells the story.

Ten days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, residents of North Platte, Nebraska heard a rumor that soldiers from their town, part of the Nebraska National Guard Company D, would be coming through on a troop train on their way to the West Coast. About five hundred people showed up at the train depot with food, gifts, letters, and love to give the boys.

When the train showed up, it was not the Nebraska National Guard Company D boys on board; it was the soldiers from the Kansas National Guard Company D. The North Platte residents decided to give out their gifts to these soldiers they did not know. It was a spontaneous act of genuine devotion that touched both the soldiers and the people who came to the depot that day.

A few days later, a 26-year-old woman named Rae Wilson wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper recounting the profound experience they’d shared that night. She then suggested the town organize a canteen, so they could do something similar for every troop train that came through. She offered to lead the effort as a volunteer.

For the next four and a half years, the people of North Platte and the surrounding communities met every troop train that came through their town. Every day, they prepared sandwiches, cookies, cold drinks, and hot coffee. They had baskets of magazines and books to give away to the soldiers, and snacks for the train. There were even birthday cakes for anyone having a special day. And they did this, some days, for as many as eight thousand soldiers and sailors.

The statistics are staggering. By the time the last train arrived on April 1, 1946, six million soldiers had been blessed by the North Platte Canteen. Forty-five thousand volunteers had served faithfully until the war was over and most of the troops had been transported home.

If the residents of North Platte were that dedicated to doing whatever they could to help win World War II and serve the soldiers, Christians should be even more committed to serve the Lord any way they can.

The exhorter is one who urges another to pursue a course of conduct. The Greek word is “paraklesis” which is the same word used for the Holy Spirit in the NT, “parakletos.” “Para” means to the side of and “klesis” means to call. So, the meaning is a calling to one’s side that is, to aide; one called alongside another, to encourage or admonish one to choose a particular pattern of life or to perform a particular act. It denotes both exhortation and encouragement. If the teacher aims for your head, the exhorter aims for your heart. And it’s not so much the content that the exhorter wants to impart, as to how that content can be made effective in people’s lives. All of the exhorter’s efforts are geared toward edifying and encouraging other people. Now the person who personifies the profile of the Exhorter in the NT is Paul. If you’ll just look at the first 3 or 4 verses of every letter he wrote you’ll be encouraged. He says, “Oh, I love you, I miss you, I want to be with you, I’m praying for God’s grace and mercy for you.

The Nature of Exhortation

When I consider the great encouragers in our life.

Care more about your growth than there agenda. The motivation of an exhorter is to see spiritual growth take place in every day living. In general they like to see things grow. They have a motivation to urge people to their full achieved.

Visualizes Spiritual Achievement An exhorter heart has the ability to visualize spiritual achievement for another Christian and then help them work out practical steps of action to achieve it. Their desire is to give precise steps of action in urging people toward spiritual maturity. That’s why outlines and notes are given on the screen and in handouts. That’s why copies of these characteristics are made available. A Christian who really means business with God ought not to come to church without a Bible, a pen and a piece of paper. If you really want to grow in the Lord you need to write some things down. When you get on your knees to pray you ought to have a Bible and a legal pad beside you. We should be open for God to teach us whenever He wants to teach us. A person with the gift of Exhortation is very intense on the fact you get down in your heart the steps that will lead you to what you are looking for or your counsel is of no value. Paul’s writings are filled with practical counsel and precise steps of action on how to grow spiritually.

3. Is able to see root problems An exhorter can discern the spiritual maturity of another person. And based on this, the exhorter is motivated to search out hindrances in the lives of those who are not growing spiritually and give further encouragement to those who are. The exhorter heart looks beyond the symptoms and sees the root problem in other’s lives. They’re able to discern where a person is in their spiritual growth and to speak to them at that point. For example, in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul saw the believers as spiritual infants and said, “And I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.”

4. Views trials as opportunity for growth Exhorters see opportunities, not obstacles – challenges, not trials – possibilities, not problems. They turn problems into benefits. They unquestioningly believe Romans 8:28 that “God works all things together for good...“ Mature exhorters have learned by experience that God gives special grace during trials. And based on this, Paul gloried in tribulation. His credentials were the persecutions which he experiencedand the counseling God gave him during those afflictions. And they’re good about sharing personal life experiences of their own growth. They’re very vulnerable and have a desire to be transparent, to live an open life in order to gain a wider hearing for the Gospel. They have an ability to see how tribulation can increase maturity. The person with the Gift of Exhortation has insight into seeing how difficulty can increase their maturity which would say that this person may be one who can bear tribulation, persecution and heartache maybe more patiently, more willingly and more fruitfully than a person with another gift. An exhorter heart is looking for ways to apply spiritual truth to somebody’s life, therefore they know the more they suffer, the more they’ll understand the Scripture and out of that experiential background will have a far more effective impact on other people’s lives. So, the Exhorter has an ability to welcome personal tribulation as a chief motivator of spiritual growth.

5. Desire to share face to face The person with the gift of Exhortation has a desire for face-to-face discussion in order to determine and insure a positive response. An exhorter needs to see the facial expressions and gestures of their listeners. There’s a dependence on visible acceptance when speaking. They want to see something happening. They want to look you in the eyeballs. And when they say Amen, they want a response, AMEN! Now, they don’t send a lot of notes or do a lot of talking on the phone – they want to see you face to face. They come to where you are, visit one-on-one. They’re personal and people oriented. They want eye-to-eye contact. It’s an honor when somebody looks at you when they talk to you. It’s disrespectful when they don’t look at you and exhorters know that, they know how to build relationships. Paul’s longing to see his fellow believers was constantly mentioned in his letters.

6. Prefers to apply truth to researching it Research is not the exhorter’s cup of tea. They’d rather present the truth than research it. “Why reinvent the wheel?” they’ll ask. If someone else has put together materials on a subject, use what’s available. It’s putting truth to work that the exhorter’s interested in. In fact, they tend to avoid systems of information that lack practical application. They’re interested in what works in your life. An exhorter heart is not nearly so concerned about a particular doctrine as they may be about applying the truth of it to your heart that will make a difference on Monday morning.

7. Desires unity among believers A person with the Gift of Exhortation has a motivation to bring harmony between diverse groups of Christians. They have awareness that unity is basic to spiritual maturity. Our greatest potential is our greatest liability. Exhorters hate conflict. They want unity – it’s important, it’s paramount to them. In fact, they’ll sometimes avoid conflict because they want unity. Paul worked constantly to resolve conflicts and divisions among individuals, churches and other groups of people. Some of the personal characteristics that a person with the Gift of Exhortation will display when walking in the

8. Raise hope for solutions

An exhorter tends to use examples from the lives of others to help Christians see the potential of daily victory.  Paul used the testimony of one church to motivate another church. He used his own life to illustrate God’s grace since he was the chief of all sinners.

George Truett was a tremendously effective pastor for decades in Texas. His heart was broken when he accidentally killed his best friend while they were on a hunting trip. His daughter said that she never heard him laugh after that day. Truett had a radio program, and each day when it came to a close he would say, “Be good to everybody, because everybody is having a tough time.” Because he knew personally what a heavy burden people could be carrying, he encouraged compassion toward them.