...And ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto
the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1.8
It's been my experience that Christians have difficulty understanding the
concept of witnessing. We have somehow got it mixed up with salesmanship. I
even remember a book on witnessing showing a vacuum cleaner salesman as an
example of how to "close the sale." I think this concept has scared a lot of
Christians away from sharing their faith with others. We all know how hard it
is to sell things. We fear that we won't have the right words to say that will
close the sale.
But a look at the Greek word gives us a simpler, but more serious conception
of what it means to be a "witness" for Christ. The Greek word is martus (martus).
From this word we get our English word "martyr" since to witness for Christ in
the First century could mean your life. Those who gave their lives gave the
ultimate witness.
The word comes from an older word not found in the New Testament meaning "one
who is mindful, one who heeds the words of another." In a way that is a
wonderful description of a Christian. Our witness begins by being mindful, by
heeding the impression of the Holy Spirit. I don't believe the average
Christian has to force his or her witness upon anyone. You will have plenty of
opportunities to share your experience if you simply pay attention to the
doors which others open for you.
The other day, I was coming back from a teacher's conference and one of my
colleagues sitting next to me on the bus asked me some question that began
with, "As a Christian, how do you feel...." I even forget what the question
was, but I remember there following a wonderful time of sharing the exciting
things God has done in my life. No, I didn't plug a tape of "Just as I am"
into my Walkman and have an altar call. I simply shared what Jesus had done in
my life. I'm not sure how this man knew I was a Christian, but he did. My Dad
always said, "If you work around people and they don't know you are a
Christian, you probably aren't." If you are a Christian, people will seek you
out for your testimony.
The second definition is "one who can aver what he, himself has seen or heard
or knows by other means." We are not called to give a long theological
explanation of God's plan of salvation. We are not even called to recite the
four spiritual laws to everyone we see. (Although, learning them can help
anyone lead a soul to Christ) What we are called to do is tell our own story.
What has God done for you? How did he change your life? How do you know he is
real? I remember the blind man who Jesus healed. The theologians of the day
called him in to give an explanation of his healing. With wonderful simplicity
he answered, "All I know is once I was blind and now I see." There was no way
they could counter that type of argument.
In the final analysis, we are not called to be God's salesmen. We are called
to be his witnesses, the living, breathing evidence in this world that Jesus
Christ is Lord.