I have struggled to know when – and who – I should witness to. This has led to some really dark times in my spiritual life, where I lose heart to even be around unbelievers, where I have almost feared leaving the house, with some of these thoughts racing through my heart and mind: Do I say something now to this person? If I really believed what I say I believed, surely I would stand up and speak now… Do I give a tract to this person? Do I give a tract to this other person? Where do I draw the line? Why this person, but not that person over there? Do I take opportunities, or do I make opportunities? And to what degree? Should I be knocking on my neighbors’ doors today? Should I be canceling that special time with my family and using the time and money for evangelism…? This struggle has led me to some extreme ‘outreach’, which was not Spirit-led: One day on a bus, only recently married (with my dear, young wife at my side, and the bus full of our peer, college students), I found myself thinking some of above thoughts, and feeling that dark cloud descend. I stood up and said, ‘OK, everyone, since it’s Sunday and we’re not in church, I’ll share some scripture with you all here…’ And I proceeded to read a few verses from my bible, and share a couple thoughts. I thanked them and sat down. By God’s grace this led to a couple brief, follow-up conversations about the Lord, and I am confident that ‘false motive or true’ the Lord’s Word does not come back void. (Phil 1:18; Is 55:11) However… the truth is, my compulsion to share was not from, through and to the Spirit of the Lord. (Jn 5:19; Rm 11:33-36) It did not come in a wind of ‘Spirit and life’, which were the essence of Jesus’ words. (Jn 6:63) It came from a force of ‘theory’, and compulsion of pride, confusion, and fear. The Lord has a better way for us! Many years have passed since that time and era, and many battles fought in my heart and mind in this area. Let me cut straight to the ‘freedom zone’ here, and deposit a few insights to the way of witnessing in God’s freedom, courage, timing and guidance:
For more on freedom in sharing Jesus, please visit these pages on my website: Essays: ‘Feeling Pressure to be Rad’ for Jesus?’ http://sharingyourfaith.weebly.com/essays.html Videos: These video reflections are particularly aimed at ‘witnessing’: http://sharingyourfaith.weebly.com/videos.html This website is for believers only – family biz, so to speak!:) Please do use the tools, and feel free to share this website with other believers. Bless you! www.sharingyourfaith.weebly.com/
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‘God with us’ – i.e. Christ in you – is the prize God gives you! (Is 7:14; Mt 1:23; Col 1:27) We often get very busy with doing things for God – from good deeds, to even our efforts in ‘faith’ and ‘belief’. God does and will reward these efforts and deeds! (Mt 25:31-46; Mt 18:4,6,18) But what’s the ‘prize’? What is it that God actually came for, in the person of Jesus Christ? What is it that Christ actually died and suffered for? The prize of God – the very purpose of the gospel (and of heaven!) – is to be with you! To be in you! ‘The mystery of God is revealed… Christ in you!’ Colossians 1:27 This relationship with you, this ‘togetherness’ and intimacy, is the point of it all! You can do so much for God – both in secret and in public – and all of it be good, but then go home and feel lonely, not actually feel and enjoy the Lord’s presence. This saddens the Lord! You are doing great work for him, honoring him with your faith, but not actually allowing him to draw near to your soul, your spirit, your home, your heart. A powerful, historical example of this is the church of Ephesus. Jesus himself, through the prophet and disciple, John, speaks to the church and tells them that despite all their good deeds, their solid doctrine and testing of false apostles; despite their suffering for the Lord… they have ‘lost their first love.’ (Rev 2:1-5) Jesus calls them back to their childlike faith, their ‘first love’, and it is so significant to Jesus that if they fail in this ‘heart connection’, he says he is going to remove their lampstand – their church! The prize God has fought for, is to be with you. His very name – Emmanuel – means, ‘God with us’. (Mt 1:23) Know that you are loved. Know that your sacrifice and suffering is seen and noted by God. But put down your efforts for a while, and sit with God. He carved your name on the palm of his hand (Is 49:16); he really suffered so that he could be in your presence, and you in his presence. Be with him! For short, encouraging video reflections, subscribe to my YouTube channel @ PWALKER YOUTUBE Be loving to people. This honors God. God is love. (I Jn 4:8) Second to loving God, we are called to love people. (Mt 22:36-40; Lev 19:18) Goodness, kindness… these are fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), and bringing forth this ‘fruit of the kingdom’ sows the Spirit of Jesus. (Mt 21:43) However… fruits of the Spirit, and outpouring of God’s love and power, is not the same as the ‘gospel of Jesus Christ’. (Mt 5:45; Acts 17:25) We need to love people, but we need to bring them the good news of Jesus Christ – being one with God, and offering us forgiveness of sin and eternal life! (Mt 1:23; Jn 5:24) We need to feed, forgive and mourn with people (Rm 12:15), but we need to bring them the good news of Jesus Christ. Our number one priority is bringing people the good news of Jesus Christ, and second to this is being ‘kind’ to people. The latter sows a seed. The former is the full plant in full bloom, now and forevermore! Here is what I defer to you this day, and it is counter-culture – even counter church-culture: Be concerted and prayerful about bringing Jesus to people, and ‘use’ acts of kindness to open doors. It says in Proverbs, ‘A gift opens the way for the giver, and ushers him into the presence of the great!’ (Pr 18:16) So we use gifts (literal gifts, tipping, helping, smiling, agreeing, encouraging…), to open the way for the gospel. How? Well, for example, if the Spirit leads, you might tip a little extra-generously, but give a tract as you leave. Or, for example, today I dispatched a sympathy card to a Muslim neighbor, but I included in the small package an Arabic Jesus Film DVD, with a note about how Jesus came to heal hearts and give us eternal life. The Lord may not always call you to use every act of kindness to open the door in that same moment to a tract or a testimony. But we are called to believe, pray and work towards bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to people. Often we ‘substitute’ – mainly in our hearts - acts of kindness for purposes of testimony. It is a heart issue! Do we believe that the love of Jesus is better than life? (Ps 63:3) Let’s not, therefore, lead others to believe that ‘random acts of kindness’ is as good as it gets! ‘Preach the gospel. And if necessary use non-random acts of kindness!’ To find God, is only to lift our eyes. We don’t have to search, but rather allow ourselves to be found. Jesus – God himself in the flesh – came to ‘seek and save’ us. (Luke 19:10) Jesus is ‘God with us’. (Mt 1:23) Yes, God does want us to ‘seek’ him also, just as any lover longs for the other to also be in pursuit, reaching for the relationship. God, in fact, made us with the purpose of ‘seeking’ and ‘reaching out to find him’. (Acts 17:26) But the very next verse of this same scripture tells us – once our hearts are now turning towards him – that God is, in fact, ‘not far from anyone of us.’ (vs.27) He is not only close, but part of us. We are told that in God we ‘live and move and have our being,’ and we are his ‘offspring.’ (vs.28; Gen 1:27; Jn 10:34/Ps 82:6) God comes to us as Jesus Christ, and reaches for us today through the very Spirit of Jesus Christ. The ‘good news’ of the bible is not so much that God can be found, but that he came and found us. We need only lift our eyes! Jesus, with you now, calls you to lift your eyes to him, and to let go of your sin. He calls you to lift your eyes, and let him come into your heart. Search no more – just be found! ‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.’ Revelation 3:20 My daughter, Anna (6), was telling me a story she had heard about a little girl and some boys. ‘Do you know what those boys did, dad? This will make you cry, dad!’ Her brown eyes welled up, and she said, ‘They threw rocks at her. One rock hit her in the head!’ Seeing through her eyes, my heart did break. How far I have fallen! What I saw in Anna’s eyes was the true heart of God. When Jesus saw the people – you and me – he was ‘filled with compassion’, he saw us as ‘harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.’ (Mt 9:36) When Jesus looked out over his people – you and me – he wept because he longed for us to have peace. (Lk 19:42) 'Jesus said, ‘unless you become like a child, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.’ (Mt 18:3) Do you see Jesus with the eyes of a child? Does your own sin grieve you because it grieves him? Does his death and resurrection break you and call you to him? If we truly see ourselves as Jesus sees us, we repent of our sin and follow him. If we see others as Jesus sees them, it would make us cry, and we would ‘pray’ for Jesus to reach to them… (Mt 9:38) 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 My friends, there is darkness on all sides! I don’t mean to depress you here, but think about it – bills, health, sorrow, sadness, regret for things said, regret for things not said… We are assaulted with darkness all day every day, even more than we know. And then there’s the breaking of hearts and of hope with abuse – the stronger leveraging their dark heart and the dark sky to steal from the weaker. So how do we fight this? Where is there an actual ‘river of life’ that can cut into this arid land, into broken hearts and homes, and heal? Has there been such a victory? Is there released such a Spirit? Is there a message of hope? Is there a ‘door’ that people can hear about, see and go through, and find healing and eternal life? Praise be to Jesus! ‘Jesus said, ‘I am the door, and anyone who comes through me will be saved!’ John 10:9 ‘I will give you a new heart and a new spirit.’ Ezekiel 36:26 My friends, the question now is, ‘How will I bring this message, this spirit, this power, to this broken world?!’ I defer 2 considerations to you:
We wage war in and by the Spirit of God, to open the flood gates of Jesus throughout the land. Walk with Christ. Speak his name and his blood over this dark world, and watch his light flood in. ‘The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.’ Habakkuk 2:14 The message of Jesus Christ sets people free. Jesus – and sharing Jesus – is God’s plan to heal hearts, renew spirits, and drive sin out from the land. (Ez 36:26; 2 Chron 7:14; Acts 4:12) This truth does not ‘clock in’, and certainly never ‘clocks out’. (This is why your Christian employees are honest on the job, as well as off the job!:)) I have never been an employer, but I have been an employee, and I have lost 3 jobs because of my witness. All 3 employers were Christians - and this is in the ‘Bible Belt’ of the USA!:) Nevertheless, as a disciple of Jesus, I am called to heed his Spirit, hold Jesus high, and be prepared to be bold, to be challenged, to pay a price… (Gal 5:25; I Tim 6:12; Acts 4:29, Mark 8:34-38; I Peter 3:15) We are all called to witness. Sometimes, I believe, we may find our ‘primary’ role and ‘call’ as a ‘back-up’ to others who are sharing their faith. This is how ‘missionaries’ get ‘sent’ – they have backers. This was true for Paul, this is true today. ‘How will they preach unless they are sent?’ (Rm 10:15) As an employer, I would defer these considerations to you:
Employers – like employees – need wisdom and God’s spirit, so that we work ‘in step’ with the Holy Spirit. (John 5:19; Gal 5:25) However, none of us can – or, rather, ‘should’ - hide our ‘cowardice’ or ‘fear of man’ or ‘love of money’, behind words like ‘prudence’, ‘wisdom’, ‘proper’... No one understands the role and challenges of anyone else – so we dare not judge - but we are all called to follow, serve and sacrifice for the gospel of Jesus Christ. (Luke 12:4-5,8-9) With much given, much is expected. (Luke 12:48) If you have the authority to open or close doors to the gospel, to support or block (or even punish) the testimony of others, you will certainly give an account for this. An employer – like anyone else - must own responsibility for the gospel going forth, or being hidden under a ‘basket’ – or under a ‘profit’. (Matthew 5:14) Jesus said to Pilate that he would not have the authority he did (to give life or death), unless it had been given to him by God. (Jn 19:11) We are all going to give an account for the ‘talents’ we were given to protect and invest – and as an employer your ‘talent’ to invest may include not only your own ‘witness’, but the witness of other Christians you oversee. (Luke 19) We do have the power to ‘hinder’… (Matthew 18:6-7) Here are some ideas I would defer to you:
‘And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.’ Matthew 10:42 Yesterday I had asked the Lord to give me courage to give some people tracts throughout my day... (for more on the tracts I use, see ‘Tools’). I need courage for this, so I ask God for it. (Eph 6:20; Phil 1:20) By God’s grace I had some great opportunities, and the day was now winding down… I was leaving night school at 9pm (I am working towards a teaching license), and saw a colleague walking alongside me… I knew we would be chatting in a matter of seconds, so I readied myself with a tract in hand… This guy is one of the most distinguished-looking men in the class, with the kindest face. So what happened surprised me in two ways:
I was ‘saved’ from a dark, immoral conversation, by having a tract to give, a story of my own to share!:) Yesterday I had a brief chat with a colleague, while crossing paths at the photocopier in work… I shared that I was going on a brief mission trip the following day (today!), and this led to exchanging religious affiliations. The rest of the brief chat is transcribed below. It was a very open, generous-spirited chat. It may seem pretty straight-to-the-point, and this is because it was pretty straight-to-the-point!:) But the ‘spirit’ of the chat, by God’s grace, did not have a ‘sharp’ point on it!:) I share this exchange for two reasons, primarily:
**************************** ME: So you are a Jew? As a Christian I am very committed to sharing with people about one particular Jew – Jesus Christ!:) Are you a ‘practicing’ Jew? JOSH: Yes! Actually, I am in an administrative role in the Synagoge, so I’m actually quite involved. I took the kids and wife to Israel last summer, too, and it was wonderful! So what do you do on these mission visits to South America? ME: Wow, Josh, I’d say that trip to Israel was amazing! Yes, well, actually I support local churches in really just sharing about the message of Jesus. When Jesus was asked what the most important command was, he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5-6 (Love the Lord your God…). God always wanted a love relationship with mankind, and Jesus came to fulfill this… So, Josh, I would love to hear your views some time on the Jew, Jesus Christ. I read somewhere that we are all obliged, really, to make a decision on this man – that he was either lying about himself, completely deluded about himself, or he was actually the Messiah. JOSH: Hey, I actually quote that verse every morning (well, not every morning, but I’m supposed to!:)). Well, Peter, the truth is, I believe that God reveals himself differently to people at different times, and the important thing is how we live. ME: (Smiliing/Gentle): Josh – that’s not actually the Jewish belief!:) JOSH: I know, I know!:) But I think that our minds are just too small to really understand God! ME: Josh, our minds are too small to understand God, as it says in the Prophets, ‘As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways…’ (Isaiah 55:9) For this reason, Josh, we don’t – and cannot – rely on our minds to figure out what is true about God. We rely on his ‘revelation’. For this reason he did not allow Moses to give the people a name that they would ‘understand’ or fit into their systems, he said simply, ‘I AM That I AM’ (Ex 3:14). JOSH: Yes, this is true, God’s revelation… (Here the school bell started ringing, people bustling past us and through us…) PLEASE PRAY FOR JOSH, THAT THE LORD WOULD OPEN HIS EYES TO THIS ISSUE OF ‘REVELATION’. WHO IS IT THAT GOD HAS SAID HE IS? |
AuthorPeter Walker. Archives
March 2022
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