700 Words on Learning to Live as a Witness
I was given the opportunity to write in 700 words some things I am learning about how to be a living witness for 7th-12th graders Challengers Central curriculum. For the sake of word count, I had to leave Scripture references off, but here's the rough draft:
How can we talk about Jesus so people will listen? How do we live in such a way that those around us want to know the reason for the hope that we have? How do we show love to others when sharing with them the message of Christ which can be offensive? I do not have a single trustworthy method, but I have found that we have a trustworthy source, the Bible, and a trustworthy God who can enable and empower us to be living witnesses for Christ.
Recently my family and I moved to Japan so that we could tell the Japanese about Christ, His life, death, resurrection, and how He can reconcile us to the Creator God. This has forced us to lean not on our own understanding but to be totally emptied of self and to ask the Spirit to accomplish witnessing through us. Here are some of the basic lessons we are learning:
First, prayer is foundational. If my family has some tough days trying to learn the language and the culture, our focus can get off the main task of evangelism and we go into “survival” mode. Survival mode is just weathering the day, not caring what takes place, just to get to tomorrow because the day to day life is so difficult at times. However, if my family is praying for the lost by name, and we come in contact with that person, we are much more likely to try to engage them, to share with them either love, encouragement, and even the Gospel as much as we can in the language right now, aware that this opportunity is a direct answer to prayer.
Second, we try to be helpless and available. By being helpless as foreigners, we come to our neighbors and ask questions about customs we do not understand. We show that we do not think we have all of life figured out. This can help the lost in their outlook of you, seeing that Christians are not superior beings, but simply are helpless people who put their faith in The Superior Being. We also try to be available meaning when it is possible, we walk, if we cannot walk, we ride bikes, and if we cannot ride bikes, only then do we drive because we have yet to meet anyone or have a meaningful conversation with unbelievers when we are alone inside the doors of our home or inside the doors of our car. Teenagers have ample opportunity through all the activities available to them to both learn from others, thus making friends more willing to learn truth from you, as well as to engage others in daily life for the sake of Christ.
Finally, because of all the promises of God to save His children, the promise of the Holy Spirit to always be with believers, and our assurance before God because of our standing in Christ, we do not have to be ashamed of the Gospel, but instead can be confident. We can be confident to say “I don’t know” to difficult questions, confident that if we share that God then takes over to bring results, and confident that no matter how foolish we may feel or believe others think us to be, we know that the power of God can bring any heart of stone to life. And so we share in boldness and confidence and do not fear not being accepted by man since we know we are adopted children of the King!
So to recap, if we are praying for the lost by name, we are expectant and looking for opportunities to share with those around us. Because we are praying, we serve others through building bridges through their interest be willing to learn from them and being willing to take the time to be available to them so that they see in us the humility and service of Christ and our message is authenticated through our actions. And because we are praying and living in the example of Christ, we can be confident to share and confidently expect God to use us as living witnesses!
How can we talk about Jesus so people will listen? How do we live in such a way that those around us want to know the reason for the hope that we have? How do we show love to others when sharing with them the message of Christ which can be offensive? I do not have a single trustworthy method, but I have found that we have a trustworthy source, the Bible, and a trustworthy God who can enable and empower us to be living witnesses for Christ.
Recently my family and I moved to Japan so that we could tell the Japanese about Christ, His life, death, resurrection, and how He can reconcile us to the Creator God. This has forced us to lean not on our own understanding but to be totally emptied of self and to ask the Spirit to accomplish witnessing through us. Here are some of the basic lessons we are learning:
First, prayer is foundational. If my family has some tough days trying to learn the language and the culture, our focus can get off the main task of evangelism and we go into “survival” mode. Survival mode is just weathering the day, not caring what takes place, just to get to tomorrow because the day to day life is so difficult at times. However, if my family is praying for the lost by name, and we come in contact with that person, we are much more likely to try to engage them, to share with them either love, encouragement, and even the Gospel as much as we can in the language right now, aware that this opportunity is a direct answer to prayer.
Second, we try to be helpless and available. By being helpless as foreigners, we come to our neighbors and ask questions about customs we do not understand. We show that we do not think we have all of life figured out. This can help the lost in their outlook of you, seeing that Christians are not superior beings, but simply are helpless people who put their faith in The Superior Being. We also try to be available meaning when it is possible, we walk, if we cannot walk, we ride bikes, and if we cannot ride bikes, only then do we drive because we have yet to meet anyone or have a meaningful conversation with unbelievers when we are alone inside the doors of our home or inside the doors of our car. Teenagers have ample opportunity through all the activities available to them to both learn from others, thus making friends more willing to learn truth from you, as well as to engage others in daily life for the sake of Christ.
Finally, because of all the promises of God to save His children, the promise of the Holy Spirit to always be with believers, and our assurance before God because of our standing in Christ, we do not have to be ashamed of the Gospel, but instead can be confident. We can be confident to say “I don’t know” to difficult questions, confident that if we share that God then takes over to bring results, and confident that no matter how foolish we may feel or believe others think us to be, we know that the power of God can bring any heart of stone to life. And so we share in boldness and confidence and do not fear not being accepted by man since we know we are adopted children of the King!
So to recap, if we are praying for the lost by name, we are expectant and looking for opportunities to share with those around us. Because we are praying, we serve others through building bridges through their interest be willing to learn from them and being willing to take the time to be available to them so that they see in us the humility and service of Christ and our message is authenticated through our actions. And because we are praying and living in the example of Christ, we can be confident to share and confidently expect God to use us as living witnesses!
