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What
is a witness?
In a legal sense, a witness is someone who was
there and saw something, or was actually involved in
the happening. He has first-hand information because
of his involvement in it.
Everybody knows that.
Then why, when the Bible says we are to be
witnesses (Acts 1:8), church leaders instruct their
people to go to perfect strangers and invite them to
church?
What does the Bible say?
I Pet.3:15 says we are to be ready to
give an answer to those who ask us about the hope that
is in us.
In Mark 5:19, a man Jesus had just healed was
told to go home to his family and tell what the
Lord has done for him.
Matt.28:19-20, “Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all things
that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age.”
What
should people see?
Matt.5:16, Let your light shine before men that
they may see your good works and glorify your
Father who is in heaven.”
Phil.2:15, “That you may be blameless and
innocent, children of God in the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation, among whom you shine
as lights in the world…”
I Pet.2:12, “…having your conduct honorable
among the Gentiles (unsaved) that when they speak of
you as evildoers, they may by your good works which
they observe, glorify God …”
Eph.5:8, “For you were once darkness, but now
you are light in the Lord.
Walk (live) as children of light.”
Two
instructions
By reading these verses, you should see that
there are two different instructions given to us.
One is to tell what has happened to us,
and one is to shine, or let people see
that our lives are different from the rest of the
world.
I John 5:19 says in the Living Bible, “You
are of God little children, but all the rest of the
world around you is under the power and control the
evil one (the devil or Satan).”
Little children need to memorize this verse as
pre-schoolers. It helps them to see why you expect
them to be nice when other children are so selfish.
Some
reasons to not talk:
Here is a quote from Abdul Noor, written in
Charisma magazine, Oct. 1997:
“Don’t announce it (that you are a
Christian) until they discover it.
It’s not hiding your faith,” he insists,
“but it’s giving yourself two blessings:
Time to grow and deepen your faith in Christ,
and a chance to show the differences Jesus has made in
your life. Then
when the time comes, share it graciously, and give all
the credit to God.”
Your
testimony
If you have been saved for some time, you need
to write a brief testimony. It should be about one
minute long to tell it. Tell a little of what you were like before you were
saved, how you came to Jesus, and something about how
you are different now. Tell it to a mature Christian
for approval or changes.
Then memorize it so that if someone asks,
you have it ready. If you are wanting to please God in
everything you do, people will be attracted to you and
will want to know why you are different. You may want to write a three-minute one in case your friend
wants to hear more.
Pray regularly for people you work with or see
often. Pray for God to open their eyes to see their
need of Him, and the futility of life without Him. God
will be working in them as long as you pray. They are
becoming ripe for the harvesting. Then the picking is
so easy. Concentrate on learning to live your life like
Jesus wants you to, and spend time daily in the Word
and prayer. This
will make you able.
A
true story
This is from my husband, Tom. “I worked at a
motor shop for eleven years, and during that time, I
got to know many of the men. I was in the Word and
prayed for each of them every day for those eleven
years. Every time I would go on a service call to fix
a customer’s machine, one of my fellow employees
would come along as a helper.
One of these was a very tall and young black
man. He
liked going with me, and I liked him.
If he screwed up, I wouldn’t yell at him, and
that amazed him. I loaned him money when he needed it,
and often bought him coffee or lunch if we were on the
road. I
also helped him fix his car.
“One day he said, ‘Hey, you’re okay for a
whitey.’ Another
time he asked why I didn’t yell at him when he
screwed up. I told him that I’m a Christian and I
pray a lot. He began to apologize profusely. ‘Man, I didn’t know!
Man, I woulda watched my language!’ I assured him
that it was okay, and that it didn’t bother me.
Then he asked, ‘Hey!
How come you’re not like that other
Christian?’ (The one who let’s everyone know it,
and doesn’t want any swearing around him.) I
answered, ‘Why don’t you ask him why he’s not
like me?’
“My friend continued, ‘Man, I used to swear
around him just to get him riled up!’
Then he said, ‘You know, my mama was a
Christian, and I’m sure she’s still prayin’ for
me.’ Then
he asked, ‘Will I go to hell ‘cause I’m livin’
with a girl?’ I
said, ‘No. The only thing that will keep you out of
heaven is not accepting Jesus as your Savior, and
asking Him into your life to be your Lord.’
“Man, that’s it?’ ‘Yep. That’s
it.’ (I
had already led two people in the shop to the Lord,
but the Holy Spirit didn’t lead me like that this
time. I
think God wanted his mom to have the privilege of
leading her son to Him.
“His mom got sick and he had to leave for
Alabama. He
was worried about some money he’d borrowed from me.
I told him to find a church that believes in
Jesus and give them the money.
He said, ‘This is real scary!
If I’d known more Christians like you, I
woulda become one!’”
Important
points
Several important points can be
seen in this account.
1.
Tom prayed for the men and was in the Word for many months before the Holy Sprit led him in leading anyone to God.
2.
Tom was a good friend to the man without
telling him anything about God.
3.
He waited until the man asked.
Doesn’t
this procedure agree with those Scriptures?
And it’s effective! |
