Comments on: What’s a Witness?

By: De

De — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:14:03 +0000

Isn’t this Christianity 101? Why does everyone think that being a Christian is something else? Salvation is a way of life, every breathe for and with the Lord. If you have truly given over your life to God, you don’t need to embellish anything, and you cant help but testify.
God is good, and He is constant.

By: Heather Grey

Heather Grey — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:37:07 +0000

This is so powerful ,out of the box and truly liberating

By: Judy

Judy — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:18:00 +0000

Actions are the best witness any one can give. Live a clean honest life and your belief will show like a beacon.

By: Debbie S

Debbie S — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:05:09 +0000

Tina – Amen girl! I feel the same way! You’re so NOT alone!

By: Tina A

Tina A — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:50:20 +0000

WOW! There aren’t words to tell you what an encouragement it is to discover this website and Wayne Jacobsen’s site. Over the last three years the Lord has been bringing me to a place that is SO very different from everything I was raised being taught…a place of freedom that is beyond all I could ever ask for or imagine. As my husband and I have stepped out of the box, there are many in our life who don’t understand and at times it has felt kind of lonely. What a blessing it is to see these “crazy” thoughts I’ve had expressed in someone else’s writing. Thank you!

By: ed cintron

ed cintron — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:02:16 +0000

KENNY, I “THIRD” THAT ONE.

By: Debbie W

Debbie W — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:32:59 +0000

Yes Kenny – well said indeed.

Again – thank you Darin.

By: Darin Hufford

Darin Hufford — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:50:04 +0000

Thanks Kenny. You have a great way of putting it.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:11:38 +0000

Way to kick over another sacred cow, Darin. I discovered your website yesterday and your articles are like a breath of fresh air (pneuma) in a stuffy room (box). Nobody has yet replied to this article, so I thought I’d get the ball rolling.

I personally made peace with this topic only a few years ago after feeling guilty about it for many years in my walk with the Lord due to well-intentioned teachings. If I mention that I was a Keith Green fan, and his message of active evangelism, then I give away how long that has truly been and where I’m coming from.

The way I came to think about witnessing is as you describe, simply telling others about what he has done in my life, nothing more unless asked. It helps me to remember not only what a witness is, as you have done here, but also what a witness is not. A witness is not necessarily an evangelist, though they too are needed in the Body. And a witness is not necessarily an apologist, who also perform a vital Body function. I think this is where some believers get intimidated, that witnessing is about shouting people down with megaphones on a street corner or pummeling objectors door to door with bottomless Bible knowledge. At least, that’s the way “witnessing” is often promoted in churches. Somebody decides that a group of us should go somewhere armed with our tracts and “get us some” for God. For me, that’s like asking a fish to fly. I’m not a very verbal guy, but I can communicate fairly well with written words. So publicly evangelizing strangers on demand is not only difficult for me, but completely ineffective.

What has worked much better for me is to simply be a witness, which invites much less malice toward our Lord:

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 3:15-16

I’ve personally never met anybody who asked Jesus into their lives as the result of a losing either a theological debate or a shouting match. On the contrary, simply describing what He has done in my life invites longer discussions, more questions, more relationship. As it turns out, I’m uniquely qualified to testify about that! And isn’t that what we really want? The Holy Spirit can take it very well from there, better than I can.