Briquettes are a type of fuel that can be used for campfires and outdoor grills. They are small blocks made of densely packed combustible material, such as sawdust or coal, and they are popular because they light easily and burn for a long time.

When I first started grilling with briquettes, I wasn’t used to them and it bothered me when the flame would go out. I would think, Oh no! I need to start the fire again. Out came the lighter fluid and a lighter to reignite them. But I quickly learned that briquettes do not have a visible flame; you just ignite them and let them work. Once a briquette has internalized the heat, it will pass that heat on to the others that are in contact with it, and those pass the heat to the next ones, until the entire pile is burning.

One time, I did an experiment with this. I took a briquette that had burned until it was white and ashen, and put it in a pile of some that were cool. Before long, they were all affected by the single hot briquette. However, I observed that if some of the briquettes were even just a few inches away from the rest, they were unaffected. You could close the lid of the grill and wait until the hot ones smoldered down to ash, but the isolated ones would not have burned. They might not even be hot!

Several years ago, it occurred to me that the Gospel is a lot like briquettes, and now I think of it every time I use them to grill. Briquettes are designed to hold and pass heat. They are powerless in and of themselves, accomplishing nothing when left alone. But after one is ignited, the heat it produces is going to spread. Likewise, we cannot do anything of eternal value on our own, but our lives can be transformed by the power and love of God. When that happens, there will be an impact on those around us—they will be touched by God’s power and love passing through us.

Let’s consider a few ways this can happen and the benefits that result.

Build up the household of faith

The Book of Philemon is a great example of how God’s love is received and then passed on. It is believed that Philemon was saved through Paul’s preaching when he visited the city of Colosse, so in a sense, Paul passed the Gospel on to Philemon. We read in verse 4 of Paul’s letter to his friend, “I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints.” Philemon had faith and love for both the Lord and fellow believers—this is an indication of the transformation that took place when he was saved. If he were a briquette, we would say that he was “ignited.”

Verse 7 continues, “For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.” From what Paul wrote about him, we can see that Philemon was a good man. We get the sense that he was solid in his faith and a faithful follower of Christ. He also had a noticeable effect on those who were in contact with him—they were refreshed! The word bowels in that verse was a reference to the inner man, meaning their hearts or spirits. The word translated refreshed is the same word that is translated as rest in Matthew 11:28 when Jesus said, “I will give you rest.” So Philemon had found that rest in Christ, and he was passing it on to those around him.

What a picture of the Gospel. Philemon had something from Heaven in his heart that he was spreading, and it encouraged everybody. Thank God, that is something all of us as believers can do. We too can refresh each other’s spirits by sharing what God has put in our hearts. We are all called to love one another with a pure heart fervently (see 1 Peter 1:22), and to build each other up in the faith.

When I think of how many times God has encouraged me through a fellow believer, there are simply too many to count. I have been touched by songs and testimonies offered during church services, strengthened through prayers from loved ones who knew I was going through a difficult trial, built up by ministers and teachers who took the time to explain what they had learned about Scripture, and encouraged in so many other ways. All of these were passing on what God put in their hearts, and then I could do the same. In this way, we are reinforcing the entire household of faith. The impact of whatever we’ve received from God—whether abilities, wisdom, victories, or something else—can be multiplied when we find ways to share it with others.

One thing to keep in mind is that for this to work, we must be in contact with each other. Unlike briquettes that are placed in a pile with no choice in the matter, we do have a say in whether or not we will have contact with fellow believers. Even if we cannot be in physical proximity, we can make an effort to stay in touch through online services, email, text, and other ways. When we choose to make the family of God a priority in our lives, we find innumerable blessings.

Point sinners to Christ

The encouragement we gain from other believers is wonderful for us personally, but it is not only believers who are affected when we allow the power and love of God to flow through our lives. John 13:35 records, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Jesus didn’t say that unbelievers would note Christians for being polite or nice. They are not going to say, “Wow, those are nice people; they must have the truth!” No, lost souls will recognize that we are followers of Christ when we have His divine love flowing from our lives. The love of God is unique in this world. It is unmistakable. The natural reaction to it is for people to know, “They must be followers of Jesus.”

This idea also reminds me of Jesus’ words in John 7:38, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” The Gospel is not designed to be kept as a personal secret, but to flow out to others. We have an opportunity to impact other people for the Lord! So many people in this world are looking for His love, though they may not realize that is what they are looking for. Some reject it, but many like us rejoice and embrace it when they find it. The love of God is meant to be shared, flowing from heart to heart, thereby testifying of God’s goodness to a lost and dying world.

Overcome conflicts

Paul himself was a master at encouraging. He wrote his letter to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, who was Philemon’s runaway slave. Onesimus had been saved under Paul’s ministry, and after that he had been helping Paul. The purpose of the letter was to encourage Philemon to forgive Onesimus and receive him as a brother in Christ, but Paul didn’t demand, threaten, or force this on his friend. Instead, Paul encouraged him in a gentle and loving way. Paul reminded Philemon of the love he had found in the Savior—the same love that Onesimus had found. Paul built up Philemon, and after reading this letter, I cannot imagine he was anything but joyful to be able to extend mercy and receive Onesimus as a brother in Christ.

Paul could have taken a different approach, but by relying on the love of God to prevail in the matter, what a boost that must have been to Onesimus’ faith, to Philemon, and even to Paul himself. That is how the Gospel is meant to work: we receive mercy and love, we extend mercy and love, and others are encouraged to do the same. God works through us in this way, with the result that everyone is built up, including ourselves.

It starts with the source

In John 13:34 Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” If we try to love others with love that we manufacture on our own, it will fall short. But Jesus was talking to His disciples about the supernatural love of God. His love is the kind that never fails, but always endures. His love is great enough that it can fill our lives and then flow out to everybody we come in contact with.

It is so encouraging to be around someone who loves us the way God does, and who truly has our best interests in mind. I’m grateful to have had people like that in my life, people who just wanted me to succeed in the Gospel, to find the deeper things of God, and to experience the depths of His love. Philemon was such an encourager—he was a man worth being around, and every one of us can be that way too. When we allow God’s love to flow through our lives, it is unstoppable as it passes from one heart to another. This is how the Gospel is meant to work, and it is wonderful.

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