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10/20/04
"And let us consider one another to provoke
unto love and to good works." Hebrews 10:24 (KJV)
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Are you being provoked? Are you provoking someone else?
We usually think of "provoke" in the context of annoyance or anger or irritation
-- something negative. Although a though-provoking question, article, or TV
program can be a positive.
So what does the Bible mean by "to provoke unto to love and good works?" The NIV
renders Hebrews 10:24-25: "And let us consider how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds. Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some
people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his
coming back again is drawing near."
Provoke becomes spur, which can still harbor some negative connotations, but
gets to the point of the matter. The word encourage in verse 25 helps clear
things up in a more warm and fuzzy way. But I still kind of like provoke. It's
got more punch.
It's from the Greek word "paroxusmoìs" which has shades of meaning such as
incitement, to call forth, to excite or stir up (spur).
Another verse that sheds more light is Ecclesiastes 12:12: "The wise man’s words
are like goads that spur to action. They nail down important truths... (TLB)."
Now we have goad added into the mix. Did you know that as Christians we are to
goad each other on? Spur one another to godly action? Provoke each other into
doing good words?
Too often Christian "encouragement" comes across more as stroking, coddling, and
accommodating. It’s virtually anything except provoking, and so is essentially
ineffective and useless. The word “encourage” means to instill courage, to
inspire with hope, to build confidence. It's not about a nice pat on the head
and a warm cup of weak tea. It's more like getting in each other's faces a
little bit and sharing some strong coffee, bad breath in the face and all. Real
Christian encouragement needs to be gutsy and provoking.
Hebrews 3:13 declares "encourage [provoke, spur, goad, excite, stir up, incite]
one another day after day [in good works and godliness], as long as it is still
called 'Today,' so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of
sin" (NASV) [added].
Sweet milk toast sentiments are nice, but a real stick-to-the-ribs encouragement
that incites us to Holy living is what the Bible calls for. Go provoke someone
today!
-- Stephen R. Clark
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Stephen (Stephen@StephenRClark.com) resides in Fishers, Indiana and operates
FishersWorship.com and FishersFind.com. He is a professional writer and
communications consultant.
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