If you are reading this – in other words, if you’re asking the question – the victory is already yours! Let me explain what I mean by this, and then let me point you in a very simple direction… To witness is to share Jesus with people, so that they can come to know him. Jesus said some were ‘close to the kingdom’ (Mk 12:34), that others ‘enjoyed the light’ (Jn 5:35); and then there were those that were ‘in’ – that had ‘crossed the bridge’ (Jn 5:24), come through the ‘door’ of Jesus Christ, and were ‘saved’! (Jn 10:9) It is not for you or I to ever determine ‘who’ is saved; but it is for you and I to share the good news of Jesus with people, so they can determine this for themselves. Now, I am writing here to you, the ‘introvert’. Yes, and I want to launch straight into what I mean above in saying that in reading this – or ‘asking the question’ of how you can witness – is to already own the victory. The real challenge for us as Believers, is to believe people need to hear the gospel, and respond to Christ. The real challenge is not the actual sharing of the gospel, but in believing it needs to be shared. If you are reading this, and struggling with ‘how’ to witness, what is clear, what is true, is that you are a Believer that believes witness needs to go forth! You’re on board! You’re on the team! Now this ‘team’ word I have used deliberately… Paul said that people absolutely needed to hear the gospel ‘preached’. (Romans 10:14) He goes on in the next verse to say that this gospel cannot be preached [by somebody], if this preacher is not ‘sent’ [by somebody else! – vs. 15]. We are a ‘team’! We are a ‘body’ of Christ! (1 Cor 12) We are not all a ‘mouth’, and we are not all a ‘hand’… If you did not ‘believe’ that witness needed to take place, you would not ‘send’ a preacher to others. We need senders! We need people who back people! Sometimes your personal witness will be ‘primarily’ in backing another mouthpiece. God will partner with you to speak about Jesus to people at special times, but ‘primarily’ your witnessing contribution may be in your ‘salt-and-light’ life for the Lord, and your ‘sending’ of mouthpieces across your community, your nation, your world. We need believers to ‘believe’ that witness needs to happen, and we need ‘senders’! Now, you may say, ‘Well, that is all good, but shouldn’t we also ‘speak’ about Jesus?’ Yes! But only as the Spirit leads you! And this principle is true for the introvert, the extrovert, the gifted evangelist, and for Christ himself! Jesus said that he would only speak and act according to the lead of the Father. (Jn 5:19) For this reason Jesus healed one man at the pool, not all of them (John 5), etc. etc. And for this reason, though surrounded by - and burdened for - many lost people, Jesus could sign off and sleep at night. How? Because the Father – and not the statistics and the ‘ought-to’s’ – were leading Christ in his ministry, in his witness. And the Lord grants sleep to his own! (Ps 127:2) The Lord keeps his own in ‘perfect peace’! (Is 26:3) Here is what I want to defer to you, the precious ‘introvert’ that God has made, and gifted to the body of Christ. Pray: When it comes to ‘witnessing’, start with praying for people around you that you know need to hear the gospel. Pray that God would send workers to them, and ready their hearts. (Mt 9:36-38) When Jesus saw the multitudes and felt the ‘need’, he admonished his disciples to pray to the Lord to send forth workers – he did not admonish them in that moment to be the workers, or to feel the pressure and go after these people. Send: Secondly, ask the Lord is there a ‘worker’ in the body of Christ, a person gifted and called in evangelism, that needs your prayer and support? You could be a ‘sender’! You could concertedly get behind a person who actively witnesses, and pray for them, and practically support them in this. By doing this you may not be directly ‘reaching’ the people you are praying for, but you might be directly ‘reaching’ (in ‘team’, in ‘body’), people that other people are praying for! We are not called to be the ‘answer’ to our own prayers for people. We are called to pray for people. But by working in our role and call, we might be the answer to someone else’s prayer, someone else’s loved one. And by God’s grace, another faithful warrior in the kingdom, just might connect with those we love and are praying for... In summary: Don’t let the enemy ‘guilt’ you about your lack of verbal witness. Just pray for the needs around you, and get behind another ‘team’ player in your church family that is a vocal witness. If you are active in ‘prayer’ and ‘support’ of the body’s call to witness, you may find yourself in more divine appointments as the mouthpiece!:) But just leave that to God… 'And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’' Matthew 25:40
4 Comments
Alyssa
5/15/2017 12:19:18 pm
Thanks for sharing this - definitely an encouragement to my introverted self! :)
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Peter Walker
5/15/2017 02:56:46 pm
Praise God, Alyssa! Yes, the Lord came to set us free, set us soaring!:) Jn 8:36/2 Cor 3:18
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11/16/2017 05:42:24 am
I am backing you Peter with my prayers. I believe God has my ministry to back those that go out and preach the gospel. I believe you will reach masses. You are awesome and a great evangelist.
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11/16/2017 08:32:03 am
Thank you, Shannon! Your prayers are everything! No door is opened in the heavenly realms without 'faith' (Heb 11:6), so together we move the gospel forward, 'co-workers'! (1 Cor 3:9) Bless you, and thank you for your encouragement!
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