Church Witness

Military Club Church

St Mary's Church Hardwick The church is not a lot unlike a Military Club. It's members share a common experience as witnesses - or do they? The tale of Sir Horace may sound fanciful, but in the church it is not too far from the truth. Every Christian must be a witness, it is just not good enough to belong to the church. You can have all the best intentions in the world, but unless you actually speak to someone about faith in God, you are failing in your calling. You can discuss it with your Christian friends until you are blue in the face, but unless you witness you are not being true to yourself. Jesus said, "Come with me, and I will teach you to catch people." ¹ Few Christians seem to take these words seriously. If the individual soldier never trained and grew fat from overindulgence, then the army would be no real threat to anyone. It would become impotent because its members were ineffective.

National Church Evangelism

Bosnian Army Marching Similarly, the national church depends upon the effectiveness of the local church, and this rests upon the success of the individual Christian. A great army may boast three hundred thousand soldiers on paper, but if its individuals are flabby, weak, undisciplined and untrained, can it still be considered a formidable opponent? All of us are obliged to witness, and it is in sharing our faith that we possess our faith. Paul pointed out this truth when he wrote, "If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God." ² Notice here the emphasis on publicly pronouncing that Jesus is Lord as a prerequisite of salvation.

Witnessing

The Persecution of the Early Church Jesus commanded His followers to witness and adds a promise to those who do, "I assure you that whoever declares publicly that he belongs to me, the Son of Man, will do the same before the angels of God." ³ Similarly, in the period of intense persecution for the Early Church when to confess Christ was truly a dangerous act, John wrote, "If anyone declares that Jesus is the Son of God, he lives in union with God and God lives in union with him. And we ourselves know and believe the love which God has for us." ⁴ John Stott wrote, "If Jesus' first command was 'come!' his second was 'go!'" Once we have realized our responsibility to witness of our Savior, how do we go about our task?

"If Jesus' first command was 'come!' his second was 'go!'"

Notes

¹ Matthew 4:19 ² Romans 10:9,10 ³ Luke 12:8 ⁴ 1 John 4:15

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