Thoughts on Being a Witness
Have you ever seen a witness appear in court? Why is a witness called to show up and speak out? Witnesses have something important to say. They have a responsibility to truthfully share what they have experienced. I am sure it can be an intimidating experience in a courtroom, with some opposed to one’s testimony, but when we are summoned by an authority we must testify.
Summoned. Christ has given His followers a summons to bear witness to His glory. He explains that even in extreme difficulty and suffering we will have the “opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:13 ESV). Jesus encourages us with the truth that if we publicly share Him He will claim us in front of His Father. Simultaneously Jesus warns us that if we deny Him, He will deny us in front of His Father (Matthew 10:32-33). May we not deny Jesus by our silence.
Compelled. Christ’s love should control us in a such a way that we cannot help but speak of His great name (2 Corinthians 5:14). No grandparent has to be forced to talk about their beloved grandkids. No sports fanatic has to be reminded to talk about their team. Paul, while imprisoned and facing his own imminent death, requests prayer for courage and love to “boldly proclaim the mystery of the Gospel” (Ephesians 6:19-20). May we similarly overflow with Christ’s love in our verbal sharing of the good news about Jesus!
Opposed. The reality of Christian witnessing is that to many the aroma of the knowledge of God is the smell of their own spiritual death (2 Corinthians 2:16). Jesus warns His apostles as He sends them out that they will be rejected, hated, maligned, and attacked as “sheep among wolves” (Matthew 10:14-25). Yet Jesus encourages His disciples to “have no fear of them” (Matthew 10:26). Christians get to bear witness, even when significant and harmful opposition exists.
Welcomed. Many have never heard, but when they hear, they receive the Word and “hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). Christians must not forget the joy in their task as well as their relational reward in that “everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). May we long to hear the words, “well done good and faithful servant … enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23). The one who summons us rewards us as we respond to His call.
Needed. Over 7 billion people live in the world today but since Christ’s command to bear witness, over 2/3 of humanity have never heard of Jesus’ name. In the past 40 years, over 1 billion people have died without hearing of Jesus and 30 million people will die this year alone without having heard the Gospel message of salvation (Mark Baxter in The Coming Revolution). These numbers don’t merely represent physical death, they represent 70,000+ people who die daily and enter into eternal, conscious suffering in Hell. The Gospel message is desperately needed, may we lovingly “persuade others” to “be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:11-21).
Empowered. The beauty of the Christian call is that we never go alone. Simultaneous with His command to “Go and make disciples” Jesus assures us of His presence with us “to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). As He sends us to the “ends of the earth” He encourages us with the real presence and power of His Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). We serve and bear witness to our experience of the one true God! May we be increasingly faithful to speak of His goodness and glory!