A BETTER ENCOURAGEMENT:
Trading Self-Help for True Hope
By Lindsey Carlson
Crossway. 174 pages. £10
ISBN 978 1 433 577 710
Encouragement: that thing we long for more of; that thing we know to be good for us; that thing we long to give to others; and yet the thing that is all-too-often fleeting or elusive. Why?
Lindsey Carlson – native Texan, pastor’s wife, and mother – addresses women specifically, although her Biblical examination of encouragement is certainly relevant for men too. Carlson tackles the reason why a better encouragement is needed in a Christian culture that has been invaded by self-help strategies, empty platitudes and false promises: ‘You can do it!’; ‘You’re amazing!’; ‘You can be whatever you want to be’. Lies masquerading as truth which fail to provide real or lasting encouragement.
Before defining encouragement, Carlson addresses discouragement – the normal status of life outside of Eden – and the need to seek encouragement from the only one who can supply this, the God whose promises are graciously fulfilled in Christ.
Through careful Bible exposition, Carlson points to God as the source of encouragement, and His promises as the powerful backbone of encouragement. These promises, made sure in the gospel of Jesus Christ, provide strength, comfort, hope and unity. The substance and power of God-sourced encouragement is shown to be a more satisfying and fulfilling wellspring than the sun-scorched substitutes of the world.
In each chapter, Carlson addresses different aspects of encouragement. These are soaked with Biblical examples, clear explanations and everyday applications which are hearty and tangible. At each point it is clear that the fuel for encouragement comes from God’s mighty gospel of grace and the application flows from obedient but utterly dependent faith.
Carlson is careful to show that encouragement has a wider communal outworking in the body united in Christ. This makes it much more than a book about ‘me being encouraged’ and turns it into a tool to enable the whole body to encourage one another better. The notes on building a culture of encouragement, and on depression and mental illness, were both helpful inclusions.
Thoroughly encouraging, with encourage-ment to encourage.
