Being a Christian witness is telling others about Jesus Christ and how intimacy with Him provides salvation and eternal life for you and them. It is much like your response as a witness in court when you’re asked questions about the person or circumstance in question and you’re expected to give honest answers about what you know. However, a Christian witness does not always wait until someone asks him/her questions about Jesus Christ and the gospel. He seeks opportunities to share.
We do not wait until a situation has become so bad (criminal or civil violation of the law) that we feel like we must come forward as a witness. Instead, we understand the LORD put each one in various situations among family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and acquaintances so we can positively enhance many different lives and lead them to Christ by sharing the gospel and our personal testimony. In fact, He uses many people to touch the lives of many other people they do not know and who may be on the other side of the globe through websites, internet articles, etc. You too become a greater witness to the world when you provide such ministries with financial help, direct other people to their websites, and forward ministry articles.
Some Christians say we need to witness without beating people over their heads with the bible. I sometimes wonder if we pick up this mentality from what unbelievers have said, or from feelings of embarrassment, or from our carnal nature that wants everyone to like us. No matter how gently you approach some people, they will immediately take the position that you are a bible thumper who beats people with the word. There is not much you can do about such opinions except to know that the Word you speak is godly seed and that the other person has the ability to one day let it take root in his/her life. Not being ignorant of satan’s tactics should lead us to know that he wants to say and do everything he can to convince us to quit speaking the Word to other people.
The gospels contain many examples of Jesus speaking words that some people did not want to hear. If you were a religious leader or an unbeliever even after you heard the Word and saw the miracles He performed certainly you too would have mistaken Him calling priests snakes, vipers, and whitewashed tombs as not supporting the good news He spoke of. Think of how much more you probably would have said Jesus should be a better example after you saw Him whip the moneychangers out of the temple and when he appeared to be taking advantage of women by having them give into His treasury while he abandoned the natural money earning work (carpentry) He had been trained to do (carpentry). Not to mention, you might have thought it despicable for Him to call many of the twelve disciples away from providing for their families and put them in a position of being jailed and beaten because they believed the Word He spoke.
You are sadly mistaken if you think most people are going to start asking you about Jesus and how to be saved because your life is such a shining example of goodness. This is not to say that you and I cannot be more and more Christ-like as we continue to love, trust, and obey Him throughout our days on this earth. However, witnesses overwhelmingly speak the Word to other people because this focuses people off the witness and onto the perfection of Jesus and what He did for them. Focusing first and foremost upon living a good life in front of people instills a sense of self-righteousness that causes you to believe people come to Christ due to your righteousness. Inevitably, people will see flaws in you and as quickly as you thought they came to Jesus they would be turned off to Him if salvation is based on your lifestyle and deeds.
It must forever remain etched in your heart that it profits a man nothing to gain the whole world but lose his soul and that to live is Christ and to die is gain. So much so that you will always choose to go through the embarrassment, taunts, and ridicule that men will throw at you for speaking the Word to them and by supporting it by some actions unbelievers and present-day Pharisees will call crazy and ungodly. When it comes to witnessing remember, the Word of God (not your deeds) is more powerful than a two-edged sword. As it is continually spoken, it will help the Holy Spirit continually lead you to deeds that are more pleasing to God, but not necessarily to all men, and will help you exhibit the power of God that is necessary to lead others to Christ and disciple them.
Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!
Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-18, Acts 1:8, 22:13-15, Ephesians 6:19-20
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