When Is A Believer Ready to Witness?

Many church members think they are not equipped to witness and want to leave it to "professional" ministers to do so.  Many believe that "some day" after they have learned enough, then they will be ready.  However, the Biblical model is that as soon as one came into a faith relationship as a follower of Jesus, the very next thing that happened was that they shared their faith with their oikos (Greek for household) which included their immediate family, extended family, neighbors, work colleagues, classmates, etc.

Consider the man whose demons are cast out and who becomes a follower of Jesus. Mark 5:18-20 ESV [18] As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. [19] And he 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.” [20] And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.  As soon as he comes to faith, Jesus instructs him to give witness to what has been done for him.

In Mark 10:44-45 we learn about the leper who Jesus healed. [44] and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” [45] But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.  His immediate response is to talk freely and spread the news even when Jesus urges him to be quiet

The jailer at Philippi is in despair and in the next moment hears these words from Paul and Silas Acts 16:31-33 ESV [31] And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household (oikos).” [32] And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. [33] And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.  Coming to faith is not just about the individual.  It is intended for families, villages, towns, cities and nations!

None of these Jesus followers were well schooled disciples in the academic sense.  That came later.  They were, however the front-edge of God's Kingdom advance in which thousands came to faith in Jesus in a very short time.  In fact, the advance of the Gospel in Acts happens as Paul and the other apostles raised up and trained disciples.  How fast did it happen? Paul spends two years in Ephesus in one lecture hall. Acts 19:10 ESV tells us This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.  New believers who heard Paul or who heard from those who heard Paul spread the Gospel in a scant 2 year period.

So - the answer to the question When Is A Believer Ready to Witness? is as soon as they have been brought into a relationship with Jesus.  Learning the faith through the Bible is a life-time process, but witnessing helps new Christians put faith into practice from day one.  The pattern given to the disciples was 1) Follow Me and 2) fish for men and that pattern is no different today.

So - don't wait!  God has given you a story to tell.  Be ready to listen carefully to others and then share the story of how Jesus love for you makes all the difference in your life.  Don't think that you must persuade someone to believe.  John 16:8 ESV tells us that is the job of the Holy Spirit [8] And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.  The words to us from Jesus are the same ones He gave to the healed demon possessed man.

“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  

Incarnational Witness Might Get you Killed

Mission Movements leader, Steve Addison blogged the following   http://www.movements.net/blog

 "I was reading the story of Jesus’ visit to his hometown.Strange that the people who knew him best were so antagonistic.

Luke 4:28-30
{28} All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. {29} They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. {30} But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Nazareth was a town of around 200 people. Every one of them would have known Jesus personally, seen him grow up. You can’t get more “incarnational” than that. So why do they want to throw him off the nearest cliff?

Jesus had thirty years of displaying the perfection of One who was truly God and truly man. I’m assuming his life spoke volumes. I’m assuming he had “earned the right to speak.”
It’s a mystery. Maybe a perfect life is no guarantee that people will welcome the gospel.
Funny how so many of the people who did welcome Jesus were strangers he’d never met before and never saw again."

I am an advocate and hopefully a practitioner of  "incarnational" witness...living my faith and witness among the people God has placed in my life.  It is what Jesus did, what Paul did and what the early church did.  But - it certainly isn't safe!  It's easier to wait inside the doors of our churches and wait for seekers to come to us.  When we take our faith out among those who are ambivalent or even hostile to the Good News of Jesus, we are challenging Satan's strongholds.  Jesus warned us about this when He said in John 17

{14} I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. {15} My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. {16} They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. {17} Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. {18} As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

But, Jesus gave us assurance that we are protected from the evil one and the promise that our witness would be effective as he also prayed
 

{20} “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, {21} that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

We can expect persecution, rejection and sometimes even death, but we can also hold fast that there will be "those who will believe in my through their message."  Our faithful witness is not in vain.  People will come to know and love the Savior as we do if we faithfully witness.  I like this equation for witness:

God's Ability 

+ 

My Availability 

= 

The Possibility of  Miracle  in the life

of someone who does not know Jesus

Dramatic Population Surge Makes Compelling Case for a Multiplying Mission Movement in Texas

From 2010 through 2035 (a 25 year period) Texas is projected to grow by 12.3 million people - 2/3 of whom will be unchurched.  That growth is larger than the current population of 44 of the 50 states.

That points to an undeniable need for a Multiplying Mission Movement in Texas.  Why?  The New Testament is clear about why so many people are coming here.

Acts 17:26-27 tells us  "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. {27} God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

Paul tells us in this sermon delivered in Athens that the very reason people move somewhere is so that they can get connected to Jesus.

When you put the demographics together with the reason people live where they live, it is absolutely undeniable that God has brought incredible opportunity together with Great Commission focused believers and churches so that we might play a role in expanding God's Kingdom.  How does that happen?  It occurs through a Multiplying Mission Movement.   What is such a movement?  It is characterized by a…

•        Rapid Multiplication of Disciples

•        Rapid Multiplication of Leaders

•        Rapid Multiplication of Churches

•        Rapid Multiplication of Networks

                                                            …and happening in that order which is descriptive of how the Spirit grew the Kingdom through the Early Church.

Rapid Multiplication of Disciples? Acts 6:7 points it out "So the word of God increased, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem multiplied"

Rapid Multiplication of Leaders?  2 Timothy 2:2  “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. In one verse Paul spells out a 4 generation multiplication of leaders: Paul, Timothy, Reliable Men, Others.

Rapid Multiplication of Churches? Acts 9:31 is one place we hear about it “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.”

Rapid Multiplication of Networks? 1 Corinthians 16:19 “The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings.”  Galatians 1:2-3  “and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia: {3} Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” Networks of churches grew and birthed new networks.

It is our fervent prayer that pastors, churches, commissioned ministers and lay leaders lay hold of the opportunities this time in Texas history offers us to multiply disciples, multiply leaders, multiply churches and multiply mission networks.

As a Mission and Ministry Facilitator, I covet the chance to sit down with leaders and ponder, pray and plan for the opportunity to be a part of a multiplying missional movement in Texas.

The “…So That(s)” Make All the Difference

What are your personal “so thats” as you live your life as a disciple of Jesus?

What are your church’s “so thats” as it carries out it it’s many activities each day, each week, each month?

Why does “so that” matter?

My friend, Dr. Will Sohns, The Grove, TX taught me about this at retreat of the Texas District Staff a week ago.

In the New Testament, the phrase “so that” or “in order that” or just plain “that” appears 570 times. Each time it occurs it is called a ἵνα (English transliteration is a hína), a subordinating conjunction, which means “for the purpose that” or “in order that”, looking to the aim (intended result) of the verbal idea which was being expressed. How does that play out in the Mission of God as it expressed in the New Testament? Just looking at a few of these verses tells us quite a bit about God’s mission.

John 1:7-8 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. {8} He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

John 9:3, 39 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life… {39} Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Luke 1:3-4 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, {4} so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

John 17:13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

Romans 16:26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him—

Acts 26:17-18 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them {18} to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Each time a “so that” appears in the life and words of Jesus, it tells us that every action and word He spoke was purposeful and intentional. Everything was tied to God’s ultimate rescue mission for humankind, a rescue from sin, death and the devil. The “so thats” most often link to the mission of Jesus, His disciples and His church.

Through the mere passing of time, many believers and churches start programs, activities and groups. Many serve the mission of Jesus well. Some may not. If we put a “so that” after each program, activity or meeting that takes place in your congregation what would it tell us? I will be bold here. If the “so that” can clearly be linked to the mission of Jesus in the world, it’s probably a good one to continue. But if we find ourselves scratching our head and wondering what the real “so that” is, perhaps it’s time to discontinue the program, event, activity, meeting or group.

The time is short and the mission to share Jesus’ love with a dying world is urgent and important. We don’t have time to carry out programs for which a strong missional “so that” can’t’ be found. For me, this means taking a close look at how I spend my time, energy and resources. I need to make sure my “so thats” are clearly connected to the Great Commission. In areas where that is not true, I am asking God to continuously be about transforming me. What about your church? Have you looked at your “so thats” lately?