Being a witness.

I see so many, in these days, who claim to be disciples of Jesus; who are actively involved in the life of their local Christian fellowship/congregation; and who appear to be seeking to serve the Lord Jesus according to the gifts and abilities with which they have been endowed.

However, it appears to me that, when they are with their non-Christian friends, they are virtually indistinguishable from them!  Now, it's good that they have friends who are not disciples of Jesus - this is how the Gospel message is shared.  Unfortunately, if they are no different from their friends; if something of the beauty of Jesus is not seen in their lives, and words, and actions; if they are "just the same" as everyone else; then there is no example to follow!

I am reminded of the old poem:

Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work today;
He has no feet but our feet to lead men in His way;
He has no tongues but our tongues to tell men how He died;

He has no help but our help to bring them to His side.

We are the only Bible the careless world will read;

We are the sinner’s gospel; we are the scoffer’s creed;

We are the Lord’s last message, given in word and deed;

What if the type is crooked? What if the print is blurred?

What if our hands are busy with other work than His?

What if our feet are walking where sin’s allurement is?

What if our tongue is speaking of things His lips would spurn?

How can we hope to help Him, or welcome His return?

It took me many years to realise that, while there are only certain individuals who are gifted to be evangelists, every person who has accepted the salvation of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus, and who has submitted to His Lordship, is a witness.  The only question is: "Am I a good witness; or a bad one?"

Perhaps the reason why our non-Christian friends fail to be impressed by our Christian profession is that we only profess when we are with our Christian friends!  Perhaps we need to lose the fear of losing our popularity; the fear of being obviously different.  

When Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish leadership), they were so different that it was recognised "... that they had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13).  May those whom we meet, and with whom we enjoy friendship, recognise that we, too, have been with Him.  May they recognise that we are, indeed, different.  May they see so much of Jesus shining from our lives, that they are attracted to Him themselves.  May we have the joy of pointing many of our friends, neighbours, relatives, workmates, and anyone else whom we meet, to the One Who is the Saviour of the world.

May the Bible they read, in us, be accurate and true.