Witnessing

You live among a plethora of worldviews – beliefs about the supernatural, the origin of life, the afterlife, the purpose of life and what or who determines what is good and evil.  And that is a truth about every person – maybe not laid out in a concise list or succinctly articulated – but they all have such.  

Before being confronted with and embracing the Biblical Worldview, you had a Worldview which was either sort of similar to that of the Bible because of Grandma and/or a church upbringing or a radically different view of life than that of the Bible because of Uncle Harry and/or no church influence.  Then someone or ones introduced you to the Worldview propagated by the Bible and you came to embrace it and accept Jesus as your Savior (accepting Jesus is necessary if you truly grasp the Bible’s teaching that you are a sinner falling short of God’s standard and facing Hell – only saved by Jesus!).  

Now saved by a life-changing faith in Jesus, you have been charged to present to others the Worldview of the Bible (commanded by Jesus, Matthew 28:20) as you are NOW here as His ambassador (II Cor. 5:20).  As His ambassador you are to accurately declare the beliefs and positions of the King that you represent.  This is called witnessing!  It is bearing witness to the truths of the Bible to a world hostile to God and the Bible.  Witnessing is being a light in a dark place, it is declaring that all others ideas are wrong and only Jesus is right (John 14:6).  

For teaching such a Worldview, you will be hated, mocked, ridiculed, belittled, persecuted and even killed – like Jesus!  So, being a witness for Jesus, you will need to be strong, secure and serious.  You will need know that God is with you, holding/protecting you and thus be bold and forthright in the work as it has eternal ramifications. 

Being a witness is NOT about having great oratory skills, debating skills, knowledge of Scripture and/or power of recall.  It is not the Christian’s duty to “save them” for it is God Who gives the increase from sowing and watering (I Cor. 3:6-7), opens hearts (Acts 16:14), and gives life (II Cor. 3:6).

Being a witness is first about simply telling your story of the transforming work of Jesus since embracing the Bible’s Worldview which brought on change.  To witness is to report that in embracing God’s truths you experienced a new life (‘Tis critical here: if you are propagating a new life because of Jesus, it must show!  If your life after “accepting Jesus” is mostly similar to before, you’d best pause and re-evaluate your salvation – are you truly saved?)

If you have new life because of Jesus there should be a joy, peace, hope, love (even of enemies), new direction and purpose in life, changing priorities, thankfulness, an appreciation of things truly beautiful and of course – much talk about God and His glory.  All men are looking for peace, love, joy, hope and purpose – you found it in Jesus!  Tell the world what He has done for you!  

Being a witness is declaring God’s Word.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, Romans 10:17.  So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it, Isaiah 55:11.

Being a witness is not about having a definitive argument for all the issues that men have with God and the Bible.  You don’t have to explain God’s command to kill all living in Jericho or why He sends “good” people to Hell or that a 6-day creation is anti-science.  Far too often we think we need to be fully equipped to defend our faith against all their arguments and hang-ups. 

Learn from this one who was touched by Jesus and when telling others, was challenged with the idea that God was wrong or evil: So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner.” He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see,” John 9:24-25.

He didn’t have a deep, detailed response; just a restating of the impact of Jesus in His life. 

In time you will know more and be able to defend better, but for now it is that Jesus saves and He saved me!  Being a witness is promoting the touch of Jesus in your life and presenting the truths about Jesus!