Seeing Jesus in Others
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do…”
John 14:12A simple, “good job!” is such a powerful tool especially with toddlers. When they do something praiseworthy, or helpful and you say, “good job!” the child lights up and tries to do it again and again. Why? Because they got something they want which is attention and affirmation.
On some level, the lie that we tell ourselves is that we are no longer like that toddler, craving encouragement that can motivate us toward godliness. But adults are not as complex as we may think. A simple ‘good job’ can get a lot of people to persevere in their work. The sad part is that it seems like the older we get, the less affirmation we receive.
The Quality—not Just Quantity—of Affirmation
But, it’s not just the frequency of encouragements that have gone down, but also the quality has stayed the same. Sure, a simple ‘good job’ is better than nothing, but we hear it our whole lives. It’s almost what we expect. As I come down from preaching a sermon, I get the ‘good jobs’ a lot. Do I like it. Absolutely! But, I want more. Maybe you have told me good job before. If so, you might’ve heard a response along these lines, “What made it good?” Now, I ask this not because I didn’t appreciate the compliment. I ask because I’m looking for something more precise. Simple affirmations don’t go deep enough. They don’t leave me encouraged for long. They don’t give me an idea of how I improved or how I might preach more effectively in the future.
That is the point of the 7th chapter in this book. We have seen why we should give affirmations and looked at questions about affirmations. Now, we are talking about what kinds of affirmations Christians should give. Crabtree makes the argument that we should be “affirm[ing] the work of God in persons as evidenced by sightings of the character of his well-pleasing Son manifest in them.”
Reflecting Jesus
If our goal is to become more like Jesus—and help others to become more like Jesus—then what we should be affirming is how people grow to be more like Jesus. And I am not talking about looking at a painting of Jesus and complimenting people’s likeness to that image. That would be weird. I am talking about the character of Jesus. How someone imitates what Christ has done. The greatest affirmation we can give is how someone better reflects the qualities and character of Jesus Christ.
Likewise, the greatest compliment that I can receive is how what I did was like Jesus. It’s not just a throwaway comment. It’s not just a cliché. It’s a genuine compliment. Which means it takes thought. It takes a bit more discernment to give. You must know Jesus well to give a compliment that affirms his character in someone. If our goal is for other people to be like Jesus, then what we affirm and encourage others with is what we want them to be. So, now that you have been affirming others, how have you affirmed them? Are you recognizing the work of Jesus in their lives? Are you encouraging them by pointing out how you see Jesus in them?
As Christians, we don’t have to be like the rest of the world, flippantly giving throw away encouragements. Now, we can give meaningful, thoughtful, good encouragements that will help others be more like Christ. Encouragements come and go, but when we affirm the qualities of Jesus in others, they will stick, they will change. So, practice giving people greater affirmations. Like the toddler we need affirmation to keep going in life. However, unlike the toddler, we need deeper encouragement than just a good job. Something like this, “Great Job on reading a blog about this book. It shows that you are taking seriously your faith and want to grow in your knowledge and understanding of Jesus by affirming others as He did. Keep it up!”
