Thursday, July 15, 2004

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
(1 Thessalonians 5.11 NRSV)

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It is a common practice at military academies for the upper classmen to keep the first year students in their place. This is part of the initiation rites. Dwight David Eisenhower, as a second year student at West Point, participated in these activities. One day a plebe, as freshmen were called, bumped into Eisenhower. Such an act was unpardonable, so Eisenhower responded as expected--yelling and screaming at the young cadet. Searching for the most demeaning thing he could utter, Eisenhower said the plebe looked like a barber. With that remark the plebe drew himself up to his full height, squared his shoulders, thrust forth his jaw, and responded that he was a barber. It was as a barber that he had supported his family prior to coming to the Academy.

Devastated, Eisenhower returned to his room. He retold the incident to his roommate, confessing, "I've just done something that was stupid and unforgivable. I just managed to make a man ashamed of the work he did to earn a living." In his autobiography Eisenhower wrote that for him this was a lesson about "the lack of consideration for others." In his room that day, Eisenhower vowed never to demean another individual again. It was a promise he kept through his life, even as Supreme Allied Commander during the Second World War and as the thirty-fourth President of the United States. He became an encourager and it showed in the effectiveness of his leadership.

That is the very heart of the Christian faith. John 3:17 tells us that Christ came into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. When we condemn another, for whatever reason, we are not of the mind of Christ. We are to encourage as Christ encourages us. If we hold that principle always before us, we will not err.

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Dear God, may I be an encourager as you have encouraged me in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ron Newhouse

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