As Christians, we are a witness of the kingdom to other Christians and to the unbelievers in the world. How we live is the witness we are. What we say and what we do is what we witness to the world of all that Christ can do in a person.
As a Christian, there is no place you can go where you’re not representing Christ. “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17 NLT).
We can be a good witness, or we can be a bad witness, but either way, we are a witness. We may think people are not watching us, but they are. We may say that unbelievers should look to Christ and not us, but it is we who are the only thing they are looking at.
We are all setting an example, but is it a good one? “When you are with people who do not believe in Christ, be careful how you live. Use every chance to do good things. When you speak to people, always speak kind words. Say things that will help them. Then, when someone asks you a question, you will know how to reply” (Colossians 4:5-6 EASY).
There are some Christians in the world that we would be better off if they did not call themselves Christians. They may be saved, but they are a hindrance to others being saved for the kingdom. Rarely does anyone see themselves as a hindrance, but their life proves it.
The way some Christians act, I wouldn’t want to become one. “We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you—be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20 TLB).
There are some Christians who are such good witnesses that we need them to teach others how to reach a dark and dying world. These are rarely the popular Christians, but they are the Christians that others are drawn to. A good witness fosters more good witnesses.
The life you live is the lesson you teach, and people are always watching. “And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching” (Titus 2:7 NLT).
A good witness does not avoid the darkness but only shines in the midst of it. Proof of being a light is the darkness can only yield. A good witness does not have to overcome darkness but only be the light that shines in it.
You cannot show people in darkness the truth by your arguments but by your light. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 NKJV).
A good witness does not talk down to others but rather talks highly about where they can get to. The good witness uses words to uplift and not to put down. The good witness does not have to argue a truth but only live a truth that others would be drawn to it.
To draw people higher, you must first be higher. “Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity” (1 Timothy 4:12 NLT).
A good witness draws people to Jesus. They walk in mercy and not judgment. They speak grace and not condemnation. They attract people to the light, and the darkness doesn’t come near. They are safe places where there is peace, and people long to have what they have.
Do unto others as the Lord has done unto you. “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36 NKJV).
A good witness is a good example, showing others all that Christ can accomplish. They don’t act better than anybody else, but they reflect what God can do in them. They live in such a way that others can see what the power of God can really do.
Where would people end up if they were following you? “Brothers and sisters, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I weep, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:17-18 NASB).
You can’t be a good witness in public if you are not one in private. What we do privately reflects publicly because what is in us pours out from us. A good witness does not wear goodness on the outside but reveals what is inside. The real deal is the real witness.
Whatever you pour out is whatever you’re filled with. “You can tell what a tree is like by the fruit it produces. You cannot pick figs or grapes from thornbushes. Good people do good things because of the good in their hearts. Bad people do bad things because of the evil in their hearts. Your words show what is in your heart” (Luke 6:44-45 CEV).
You don’t have to struggle to be a good witness; you only need to let God help you. To the degree you rely on yourself, you are failing. The good witness is the one who has the goodness of Christ living in them. A good witness merely yields to a good God.
Don’t rely on yourself for what only God can do. “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6 NKJV).
If you have been a bad witness, then learn from it and move on. Determine in your will to be a good witness, and then let God help you. No matter what you have done, God can turn it around and make you an example of all He can do in someone who will let Him.
Be all that God can help you to be. God promised, “And I will give you a new heart—I will give you new and right desires—and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love. And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command” (Ezekiel 36:26-27 TLB).
Blessings to you,
Paul Balius
Beloved brother Paul, you write:
“You can’t be a good witness in public if you are not one in private. What we do privately reflects publicly because what is in us pours out from us. A good witness does not wear goodness on the outside but reveals what is inside. The real deal is the real witness.”
“You don’t have to struggle to be a good witness; you only need to let God help you. To the degree you rely on yourself, you are failing. The good witness is the one who has the goodness of Christ living in them. A good witness merely yields to a good God.”
The above truths you especially state so well.
Yes! To shine the effulgent excellence of the One Triune God’s grace and glory into the dark depths of lost lives, we must live extravagantly from the resurrection life that is Christ instead of pitifully struggling to live for Christ as though adequate resource is actually of ourselves. Surrendered to His superscendently splendorous Spirit of sanctifying sufficiency, expressing, manifesting, demonstrating His infinitely wondrous worth in us, to us, through us is the call and cause from on high that cuts it, such that we are effectual witnesses.
Galatians 2:19-21 MSG
What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
Thank you!