If you grew up in church like me, you may have vivid memories of Wednesday night visitation times, going door to door telling the people in the community about Jesus, or even Sunday night discipleship classes learning how to share the Gospel. I remember watching the adults I was with seem so comfortable doing this and thinking I would never be able to share Jesus like they do. Or, maybe you didn’t grow up around that and feel ill prepared to share your faith. Or, maybe you are new to your own walk with God and don’t think you have anything worthwhile to share with others yet because you are just now learning it all yourself.
The idea of “witnessing” gets a bad wrap in my opinion nowadays. We watch movies where “expert witnesses” are called into court to share what they know. We watch movies where witnesses in a trial are cross examined and berated with tough questions and spend lots of time with the lawyer prepping for possible scenarios. It makes us scared to be a witness and share our faith. If you are feeling this, boy do I have good news for you.
The Word of God tells us time and again to have no fear. It promises that God is always with us. That the Holy Spirit is our advocate and wise counselor. He teaches, guides, and empowers us. Acts 1:8 tells us, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Did you catch that? He gives us power through the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses.
This year we have been studying the essentials of our faith at Council Road. This blog is focused on the key essential of being a witness. Our essentials state, "Witness: We believe that God has put us on this earth to bring Him glory and to fulfill His cause by loving all people to Christ and by helping them in their journey with God and each other. It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations."
This essential is rooted in the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20. “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” It’s pretty easy for us to read that and focus on the “go make disciples…baptizing them” part. We tend to skip over the teaching part. It’s also pretty easy to say this is what we are called to do and then not take action. We like to think it’s the responsibility of the leaders, not ourselves. We are all called to action, friends. Don’t be afraid!
One of the cop outs I’ve heard and probably used incorrectly myself in the past is that there are seasons to preach/witness. When we actually think about seasons we may think that the action only happens during the harvest season, but there is so much more to this idea. Activity happens all the time in various ways: planting, growing, weed removal, fertilizing, application of pesticides and herbicides, tilling, and harvesting. In a spiritual sense, when we are called to be a witness we aren’t just focused on the harvest season of watching someone come to faith. We aren’t just called to preach the Word but to also teach others sound Biblical teachings, correct errors when we see them with patience and grace, rebuke when necessary with truth, and encourage others with the Word and through sharing how God is at work in our own lives. But to do this well, we need to be rooted well. We need to be learning and growing ourselves, all while talking to others about God. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t have to be a set curriculum. If you are asked a question and you don’t know the answer, let them know you’ll get back to them and then seek out to find the answer.
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:2-4 NIV).
It’s a beautiful thing to be able to walk in community and share Jesus with others. There’s no better time to start than now. Start at the dinner table. Start with a friend. Start with a simple conversation about something He’s done for you and let the Holy Spirit guide that conversation. God is alive and active in our lives and we can share that with others. He wants us to do that. Just think, the original disciples were only with Jesus for roughly 3 years and in that time they learned, grew, shared, taught, and spread the Good News. It was new and totally controversial, but they knew Jesus as Messiah and wanted others to come to Him. “In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NCV)
Go share the light, friends. Use your words and your actions. Let them align to bring God all the glory as we grow and edify each other through the Word.
Be a witness.
Meet the authors!
Twylla Hester and her husband, Hank, love Jesus, CRBC, their connections class, motorcycle ministry, and House of Healing. They have two adult children, a son-in-law, one son in high school, and around 40 animals. She enjoys working with teens and adults through their ministry opportunities at this stage of life. While she has her Ed.D. in education, she now utilizes her experiences to connect others to Christ and served as the CEO at House of Healing.