You As A Witness: Being the Light to Others

Oct - 02 2015 | By

I often hear some of my friends who go to various churches talk about how crucial it is to “witness” to unbelievers.  As they talk about it, and as I see them go about the work they feel they are told to do by the Bible, as they understand it, they talk about needing to open conversations with perfect strangers for the express purpose of finding out if they are a Believer, and then, regardless of the response (or reaction) begin to tell them what they believe, based on their understanding.   More often than not, they walk away wondering if the words they spoke had any impact, and hoping that they did, but having no way to know.

Now, please understand that I love these friends; and their desire to spread the Gospel and win souls for Jesus is a very good thing.  I just don’t like to hear the frustration, and often anger, that they evidence when they express how they feel when their targets don’t receive the Word in love.  What I tell them, in love, is that to lead people to the Light of the Lord we need to do a little less talking and a lot more relating.  In effect, not to witness (verb) but to BE a witness (noun) of the power of God to transform a life, by showing them what He has done in us.   In order to do that, we need to make a relationship with the person, and then the Holy Spirit that lives in us, will be His own Witness, using us as His lampstand so that His light can be seen.

John 5:32 “There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.

Isaiah 43:10   “You are My witnesses,” says the LORD, and My servants whom I have chosen, you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He.

To clarify, this does not necessarily mean that we have to develop a lifelong relationship with every person that God puts in our path to enlighten, although, certainly, we will have an eternity-long relationship with them in any case, if He has His way.

In a previous blog, I mentioned that my mother taught me to look for the good in a person, and you will find it.  Proverbs 11:27 addresses this:  “He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, But trouble will come to him who seeks evil.”  So… here is a trick for all you who wish to win souls that has worked for me (through the Holy Spirit) in the 20 years I have been God’s witness.  Treat everyone that you meet as if they are already a Believer, saved and sanctified, and a friend to boot.

I have found, in my professional endeavors as an Executive Recruiter, that people that I like usually like each other (a very good thing to know when they are hiring managers and candidates in a job search).  For this reason I have become known in the industry more as a HEARThunter than a HEADhunter, and it has been a source of my success.  NOW, if you will, take that to a spiritual level…  Since people I like tend to like other people I like, then people that love me tend to also like people I love.  Since I love Jesus, when I treat these strangers well, and they come to like me (this can take as little as three minutes because I am treating them already like a trusted friend), they then, by association, start to like Jesus (because it is Him that I serve).

In the homeless flock, there are many black sheep, and some active goats, and of course, all the wolves who come to feed off the flock… Here is a true story….  There was a guy that I saw at one of the Homeless lunches in Van Nuys who was covered in Nazi tattoos including the SS logo and a swastika in a braided circle right at his throat.   As a Jewish man (albeit one who follows Jesus), this might have caused me some consternation but the Holy Spirit moved me in compassion for him as I watched him responding to the Word that the Lord gave me to deliver to my friends that day, wherein I happened to profess my Jewish heritage as an illustration during the sermon.  When I stepped down from the pulpit, I went right over to this guy with my usual smile and outstretched hand and greeted him.  As he took my hand of fellowship, he looked me in the eyes, and then looked away.  He asked if he could have a few moments of my time outside.  Now, I have had certain demon-inspired people over the years actually pull weapons (which they quickly put away when the Lord intervened), and asking me to “step outside” might have seemed a bit threatening, but remember, the Holy Spirit was already telling me something about this guy, that he was special.  Long story short, when we went outside he broke down in tears, apologized for his tattoos, and told me that he had just gotten out of prison, had been Aryan brotherhood gang-related, had repented of his former lifestyle, and begun to believe in Jesus and wanted to know what to do with his new found feelings.  I led him to the Lord right there in that parking lot.  His name was James, and we became friends and I was privileged to disciple him for almost six years until he died of a heart attack unexpectedly.  I know where James is and I look forward to seeing him again.

The reason I am telling this story is because YOU CAN DO THIS TOO.  If you are a Believer and submitted to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then He lives in you in the person of His Holy Spirit.  You are able now to be a light to shine into the darkest places without fear.

If you are not naturally an outgoing person, then make that your daily prayer, to become one, remembering that He is a SUPERnatural God.   Those are the prayers He will always answer with a resounding YES.

Mat 5:14  “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

 

With Joy untold and His great Love,

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

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