An Effective Witness

Lesson #255

In the last lesson we were left with the sobering fact that as Christians we are hated by others without a cause. We, like Jesus, have done nothing wrong, but standing as a witness of the importance of living a righteous and holy life we make others feel uncomfortable and draw their hatred toward us.

With this lesson we will cover the next two verses and thus finish chapter 15. Those two verses are: “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26 – 27 ESV). Here, Jesus is again making a promise that when he leaves he will send from the Father a Helper (also referred to as the comforter, Spirit of truth and Holy Spirit), who will replace him as a witness of the things of God. We also know from other Scriptures that he will dwell within the hearts of those born again. There is encouragement in this and for the disciples and for us because both they and we have been assigned kingdom work to do. This Helper will empower us to do that work if we are willing to obey the command and do it.

This Helper will continue to bear witness about Jesus and as we learn more and more about him, we are to be witnesses of that to others. Like Jesus being a witness to the disciples, we are to be a witness to those around us. This concept of being a witness, I believe has been skewed in the west today to focus mainly on sharing the gospel with others. An effective witness involves much more than just telling someone about Jesus. On the mission field I lived with a family whose language I did not know and they did not know mine, but as they watched me live out my life they decided to go to church with me, where they heard the message in their language. My living with them prepared them to want what I had.

I believe the most powerful witness come out of persecution where Christians are being tortured and as they endure this over a period of time they have learned to trust God with justice and as a result they can stand before those inflicting harm with an expression of love and forgiveness. This is so unnatural that even some hardened persecutors have been broken by it. This unnatural witness is only possible through the power of the Helper that Jesus has sent from the Father to dwell within us. Being willing to pay whatever cost is required to stand firm in our faith is a powerful witness. Witness with power is an effective witness, but that power is only available to those who have been trained by a close walk with Jesus through times of suffering. James, Peter and Paul make that very clear in their writings.

Prayer

Father, here in the west a witness is mainly spoken words to persuade someone to accept Jesus into their life. The goal is to persuade a positive response. When serving in China, I watched believers from the west use this approach and produce more damage than good. Father, I see believers stand in the face of persecution with love and forgiveness and as a result others want what they have, knowing they will also suffer. We tend to witness with words while they witness with action and power. With this in mind, I am not surprised that church growth is in areas of persecution.