Developing a Culture of Encouragement

As a leader—whether in ministry, work, sports or any worthwhile endeavor—your goal should be to actively develop a culture of encouragement. Another way of stating this is that we want to build a “Barnabas Culture.” Barnabas is first mentioned in Acts 4, and its where he is given this nickname. His real name is Joseph.

But those around Joseph start to call him Barnabas because they said, “This man is so encouraging! If encouragement were personified and had an offspring, he would look like Joseph.” (His name means ‘son of encouragement’.)

I think there are at least five things that must be built into the culture of a family, a church, or an organization in order for there to be this life-giving atmosphere of encouragement. As a leader, you need to be:

Affirming

Barnabas sought out unlikely people and projected the potential that he saw in them. No one believed in the Apostle Paul in his younger days as a believer. But Barnabas sought him out and invited him to be an Associate Pastor on his staff when he was leading the church in Antioch. No one believed in John Mark after his failure on the mission field. But Barnabas stuck with him.

Coaching

Barnabas did not just say, “Watch me do it.” He said, “Do it with me and I will help you improve.” Eventually, Paul surpasses Barnabas as the lead missionary, which shows incredible security and humility on the part of this man who was willing to invest in the success of another.

Blessing

This may be the most important ingredient. The choice to speak in faith and in grace. The choice NOT to respond to criticism with criticism, or insult with insult, but rather with blessing. A culture of encouragement involves selective speech. It is teaching people to speak honestly, yet to coat their words with kindness.

Experimenting

There was freedom under Barnabas’ leadership to fail. He took risks with the people he chose. He was pastoring a church in Antioch that was very unorthodox. There needed to be a leader full of grace in place for the church to grow and become the missionary-sending center of the New Testament era.

Releasing

Acts 13 gives us an account of the church that Barnabas was leading (Antioch) being willing to sow its very best leaders into Kingdom work. He leads his church into incredible generosity in what they chose to give.

Some organizational environments are TOXIC. Others are LIFE-GIVING. Most organizations are somewhere in between on the scale between TOXICITY and LIFE. But wherever your organization is right now, you can move it forward towards LIFE by making the five Barnabas-like choices above.

by Jeff Leake
Senior Pastor | Allison Park Church
Jeff has been married for 21 years to Melodie and is still hopelessly in love. They have five amazing kids (four boys and a girl) ages 9 to 18.
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