The word “witnessing” quickly divides many Christians.
Some (often more on the left) are wary, perhaps even disdainful of the whole idea.
“Witnessing” conjures images of obnoxious salesmen for God. With only these negative images of personal evangelism, this group feels it’s far better to adopt the medical model of “first do no harm,” i.e. say and do nothing that will offend people. A favorite quote is the line attributed to St. Francis: “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” In practice, however, this usually descends into just try to live a good life. The time when words are necessary somehow never arrives.
Others (often more on the right) embrace witnessing as the highest calling of every Christian, often with impassioned calls from Scripture to “save souls.”
As the early 20th century preacher DL Moody used in a sermon evoking the recent sinking of the Titanic, “God has given me a lifeboat and told me to save as many as I can.” If this high-stakes scenario is how we visualize witnessing–I have the only lifeboat surrounded by desperate drowning people–anything other than talking about Jesus with every person I meet is rank disobedience. (When I became a serious follower of Jesus in college and joined an evangelical group, I was told I should hang out at the sink in a men’s restroom on campus and every time a guy came to wash his hands I should turn to him and say, “Jesus washed me clean from sin and he can do the same for you!” Fortunately, I had the good sense to never try it. )
Today I offer a third way between what I consider these two opposite, and equally false, views sketched above.
The good news is the power to be a witness comes from God, not our own willpower.
Jesus says there is crucial link between the Holy Spirit and being his witness: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8)
In my first year of seminary over 40 years ago, I clearly remember having my New Testament professor blow my mind when he said: “When the Father sent Jesus into the world, he didn’t ‘pull rank’ on us. Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to empower him just as we do.”
It was a mind-bending thought then, and still is today! Jesus of Nazareth was a human being who did what he did because he was filled with the Spirit of God. Jesus’ power to be a witness to his heavenly Father came from the Holy Spirit. Listen to how Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, puts it:
“The last words of Jesus to his followers are, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”
Jesus’ friends are going to get their start the same way he got his, by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s way of being present and active among us in the same way that he was in Jesus.”
Through his cross and resurrection, Jesus is the ultimate and only bridge between broken human beings and the loving God who deeply desires our healing and wholeness. Our witness is not the bridge to God. JESUS IS THE BRIDGE.
But even as we offer out modest and fragile witness to this mighty bridge of Jesus’ cross and resurrection, the Holy Spirit is the prime mover working in and through us.
Some years ago the congregation I served spent five consecutive months focusing on what it means to be a witness for Jesus in modern life. We sub-divided this time into three spheres of relationship–our families, our friends, our neighbors–and spoke extensively about what being a witness for Christ means building relationships in each of these critical arenas of life. It is rare to be a genuine witness to someone with whom we have no relationship.
As our people discussed biblical texts week after week in small groups in homes around our city, one idea stood out to many of us. We found it first from Pastor Bill Hybels of Willowcreek Community Church, Chicago.
Imagine a journey from outright hostility to Jesus (-10) to a fully devoted follower of Jesus (+10). 0 is crossing the threshold from unbelief to belief.
Totally Reject Jesus Fully Follow Jesus
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +4 +6 +8 +9 +10
Every person is somewhere on this spectrum–sometimes moving toward Jesus, sometimes moving away from him, sometimes caught on one rock in midstream.
When my current small group studied Paul’s conversion story in Acts, I made a rather impassioned plea that presenting Paul’s dramatic conversion as the model has caused untold spiritual harm and confusion. Saul, passionate persecutor of Christ, went from -10 to +1 in an instant on the Damascus Road. It then took him three years communing with God by himself in the desert (Gal. 1:17-18) and indeed, the rest of his life, to move toward +10, and become Paul the apostle of Christ.
A woman told me once about a friend who was a witness to her spouse for 50 years before her husband became a believer. 50 years! This person walked with her husband all the way from -10 to somewhere in the + territory. Such stories are indeed inspiring examples of how God can dramatically use just one person in another’s faith journey.
However, I observe that most Christians, most of the time, are witnesses in a far less dramatic but no less important way.
The Lord uses most Christians (like you and me) to help someone step from one stone to another, one after another after another, as they slowly take step after step after step closer to Jesus.
Rarely is it our job to personally take someone all the way from -10 to +10!!
- Picture a friend at -10—they live totally antagonistic to anything to do with God.
- Or picture another friend, this time at -1.
- Or picture another friend at 0.
- Or finally, picture another friend at +1.
Where might we need to repent?
We can repent of both trying too hard (“it all depends on me!”), which leads to pride if we’re successful and discouragement if we’re not. We can also repent of not trying hard enough (“there’s nothing I can do!”), thus forsaking the role God has us to play in many lives, often without us even realizing it.
And if we’re preachers or church leaders, we might also need to repent how we’ve used guilt or other ploys to emotionally manipulate people into thinking witnessing is all about them and they just need to try harder.
How do we find hope?
The very same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus on this earth also empowers us!!. The more I understand I can actually play a role in helping LOTS of lives move a little closer to vibrant faith in Christ, the more exciting the whole idea becomes!
We no longer need to feel the weight of others’ salvation on our back! We can see people in our spheres of influence (family, friends, neighbors and colleagues) and the great variety of stones they are currently standing on…then encourage them toward the next step.
Rich, wow – this article really moved me! I am now teaching a class on Psalms at our church via Zoom This last Sunday we were focusing on Psalm 67 and how we are blessed by God to be a blessing to others – even to to the ends of the earth.
I’ve just emailed your article to the 22 people in the class. You have given me, and hopefully each of them, a totally new and wonderful way of understanding how we are to witness to Christ.
Thank you!