The Barnabas factor (by Derek Wood)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s over twenty years since I read ‘The Barnabas factor’ by Derek Wood. It’s not a long book - not much more than 150 pages in my paperback edition - and I recalled finding it interesting and somewhat inspiring. The subtitle is ‘the power of encouragement’. 

I hadn’t remembered anything about the style or focus of the book, and was pleased to find that it’s quite a light-weight read, although the relaxed style doesn’t mean that the content itself is trivial. Far from it. The main principle is that people need to be encouraged. The focus is on the church, with specific mention of clergy and other leaders, but the suggestions would apply to anyone.

Each chapter is fairly short, looking at different aspects of encouragement. The word itself basically means to give someone courage - not necessarily to do something dangerous or scary, but to motivate them, or help them feel more positive about themselves. And, as the author suggests in several places, many people are more inclined to offer criticism or discouragement than to be positive about others. This may be out of a mistaken understanding of pride and humility, or just general embarrassment or awkwardness.

I thought the style was cleverly done. There’s some commentary from the author. Then there are a lot of specific references to Barnabas who is mentioned in several places in the Bible as an encourager. And there are also some fictional sections, which I have to admit I enjoyed reading the most. These feature a fairly typical group of people who form a church, meeting on Sundays and interacting during the week. The minister feels discouraged when he gets criticism about his sermons; an elderly lady feels sad that nobody talks to her; another woman feels threatened by someone being overly cheerful and positive. Caricatured, possibly, but quite relatable.

I don’t think there’s anything new in this book - other than the conversations and anecdotes from the fictional congregation, but I thought it a useful read. It’s a good reminder that it’s important to say when we appreciate someone, or like what they’ve done. Not in an exaggerated way, and not pretending the person is perfect or wonderful - but in specific, believable and positive ways. It’s easy to do with children; but somehow much harder with adults. 

It can also be easy to assume that everyone else is saying encouraging things and that we don’t need to speak up. Maybe that’s sometimes the case - but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t add our own point of view, when relevant. The author of the book encourages us to listen for the prompting of the Holy Spirit, to read about the example of Barnabus, and to see people in the best light. 

One of the anecdotes in the fictional church is about an assumption made that leads to gossip. Even when proven false, seeds of doubt are sown and the innocent parties are quite deeply hurt. Another anecdote features someone so keen to ‘encourage’ that she totally ignores the signals from someone who is overworked and needs an evening to herself.

There are also examples of positive interactions: encouraging a teenager to do some voluntary work for an elderly person, leading to an unexpected friendship. And some honest discussion about misunderstandings; it helped me see afresh how important it is to listen to people, to see when roles or jobs are meaningful to them, rather than trying to ‘help’ by taking them over, or asking someone else to do so. 

There’s much more - it’s surprising just how much wisdom there is in this unassuming little book, and it’s one I would recommend. It’s long out of print - it was first published in 1988 - but is sometimes available used. 

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