Just Say Something
… for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. Acts 22:15
The longer I am in the church, the more I see the fear of the average Christian to say anything about Jesus Christ outside the church.
In Mark 5, Jesus healed a man who had been demon possessed. The people of the region wanted Him to leave. The healed man wanted to join Jesus. In Mark 5:19 Jesus answered the man. The verse says, “And he (Jesus) did not permit him but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’”
Those words apply to us today. If we are believers, we must have something that we can tell others about what Christ has done in our own lives, the mercy He has shown us.
But, bring up witnessing and people shy away. They divert their eyes and change the subject. Fear strikes (the fear of rejection, the fear of criticism, etc.). God tells us not to fear.
Before I came to faith in Christ, we were out to dinner with two other couples and the women were chatting. One friend said to another, “You should do a Bible Study. It’ll change your life. It totally changed mine.” That was it for the night. She elaborated in another conversation.
That was a witness.
A woman we met in childbirth classes was a Christian and became a friend. She could barely get a sentence out that she wasn’t “praising the Lord” for something. He was an everyday presence in her life. She thanked Him – out loud – when she understood instructions or before a meal at her house. I thought she was a fanatic – a really nice fanatic, but a fanatic nonetheless. She trusted God in every situation and brought Him up in every conversation.
She was a witness.
Another friend, when my husband and I were having a hard time making a decision about something, simply asked, “Have you prayed about it? God will tell you if it’s the right thing to do.” The suggestion was a revelation to me. I hadn’t been taught to pray like that – about decisions.
Her question was a witness.
When we speak of the Lord and what He has done or a truth about Him that we know because we have seen it, experienced it, or been the recipient of it, we have witnessed for Jesus Christ. Every Christian has this kind of witness. We can tell someone – anyone – something about the Lord who saved us.
Lots of people are spending a lot of time in Bible Studies and on committees at their own church but they fail to tell people outside about Christ. How He loves and what He hates is clearly laid out in scripture. Can we tell the Truths we know so someone else gets the benefit?
Can we – or will we – “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”? (Mark 5:19)