So often, we conflate the idea of witness with evangelizing. And while there’s some conceptual overlap, there’s also a key difference that’s important because some are uniquely gifted at sharing the Gospel through words, and praise the Lord for that, while others struggle to articulate. And there’s no shame in that.
This is where “witness” comes into play and why it’s important to say a) it’s separate from our limited conceptualization of evangelism but, interestingly, b) is also its own form of it.
Tyler Staton puts this together in his chapter on witness from his book, The Familiar Stranger:
“Witness literally means ‘someone who sees or experiences something important for others to know about. Somewhere along the way in recent church history, ‘witness’ became a synonym for evangelism.
…. Witness is: to live in this world like Jesus is King.
….. There is just one simply requirement for being a witness: your eyes have to be open. If you were present at a crime scene but you were asleep when it went down, you’re not a witness. Here is where you start in supernatural ministry: Every day, ask God to open your eyes to his invisible but invading Kingdom.
‘Open my eyes today at the office, at school, at book club tonight, at daycare pickup this afternoon, at the dog park with my neighbors this morning.’ Show up to your ordinary life supernaturally, by which I mean living by the laws that govern the Kingdom of heaven.”
Amen.
In this conceptualization, we aren’t simply mouthpieces of a message – we are living representatives of Christ, and that’s not just a word thing.
After all, Jesus didn’t only minister in words, did he?
And we don’t just live in words.
This distinction between witness and evangelizing isn’t just theologically accurate, but it’s also probably liberating if you struggle with words and don’t have a certain type of personality. I know some people who live to preach. Just comes easily, they’re called to do it, and praise the Lord for that.
And I know others who preach equally as powerfully through what they do.
But I think (again, I use the word “I think” because God doesn’t explicitly tell us) the most powerful synthesis of witness and evangelizing might come from the following passage of Staton’s, which I see as a sort of fusion.
“To speak about the love of Jesus is not, first and foremost, to try to convince your coworkers of exclusive truth claims at the Friday evening happy hours.
It’s just being completely honest about your relationship to God in an environment where you’re probably used to compartmentalizing your spirituality….. to live not manipulatively but honestly before all people, regardless of the setting. That’s it.”
Amen again.
If we’re following Jesus and sharing our lives, it will just come out, and the best thing we can do is treat our Christianity as just part of our lives. It’s not some separate topic to dance around.
So many times, Christians feel pressure: Oh, when do I bring it up? How do I bring it up? How should I phrase it?
Well, if we’re just ourselves, in every arena, including spiritually, that’s witness.
If you’re having a long talk with someone about something, and just being honest about your life, your faith is probably going to pop up.
Who knows how others will react? Are we worried about telling people what cake we like or dish? Maybe they’ll like it too, maybe they’ll hate it. They won’t hold your taste for chocolate against you (pretty rare, so maybe a a bad example), but they also wouldn’t hold your distaste for it against you.
Of course, spirituality is a trickier thing, but I’ve found that most people just don’t care, and in fact, they appreciate that you’re being honest and vulnerable, because friendship is born and grows from honesty and vulnerability.
So being a witness is actually much more simple than evangelizing and more natural. It’s just about being naturally who are are.
If we can be honest about our lives, we can be honest about that.
Now, being honest about our lives… well, that’s a different and tricky subject, and very difficult for humans to do for all kinds of reasons (including pride), but again, a different topic, and VERY difficult for people afflicted with the disease of social anxiety disorder which can be a devastating and debilitating condition and deserves treatment and care, as with other medical conditions.
If you struggle with social anxiety disorder, depression, anxiety, or any other such medical conditions — for readers in the United States…
Find a psychiatrist here.
Find a therapist here.
For readers, internationally, seek help from a local resource.
For salvation, Christ and Christ alone.
