Can I Get A Witness ?
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
Whining Christian – “Why is it my job to tell others about Christ? Didn’t the Lord say he would take care of this? Isn’t that what preachers and church services are for? I just think religion is a personal thing.” Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The LORD hath made known his salvation:
his righteousness hath he openly shewed
in the sight of the heathen.
Listen, you do not have to open your mouth or live like a Christian or attend church or do anything you don’t want to do, including telling your own children about heaven and hell.
You’re right, God will take care of it if you don’t. He will give the privilege to someone else. It’s just that he will give you opportunities to glorify him and you can earn rewards in eternity for doing his will. That will give great pleasure to you and him.
For Your Benefit
Witnessing is for your benefit. He doesn’t need you, He is all-powerful. But I guarantee you that part of his good, acceptable, and perfect will for your life is to tell others about Christ. This will be a major subject at the judgment seat of Christ.
One of the crowns you can earn, the crown of rejoicing (I Thessalonians 2:19), is for witnessing Christians. Just remember - no crowns, no ruling and reigning. It seems to me that all those who strive lawfully for all the crowns are going to be witnessing Christians in some way.
Here’s the thing – you are in the world surrounded by heathens (any unsaved person) who need to hear the truth from someone.
It is not just the preacher’s job. In fact, you have more opportunities to witness for Christ than preachers do. He is usually surrounded by Christians with problems or preparing to speak to mostly Christians in church services.
You are out there in the world embedded in enemy territory. Your opportunities are never-ending. I don’t even make plans to witness to anyone because there is always an opportunity.
Let The Spirit Work
Two things about witnessing, now that you have been convinced it is good for you (just don’t act like it is asparagus, which is extremely good for you, and avoid it altogether):
First, you are not responsible for someone’s reaction to your message. You are only responsible for speaking the truth when you speak. If you don’t know the truth, be quiet and learn it asap. How they react to the truth is between them and God, not between them and you.
If you tell a hundred people about Christ and none of them get saved, you get the same credit as someone who told a hundred people and all of them got saved.
We don’t save them, God does. We are just sharecroppers, planting and watering seeds.
I Corinthians 3:6-9
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
Notice that
this scripture is immediately preceding the explanation of the judgment seat of
Christ, therefore it is definitely related.
And there will be no blood of unbelievers on your hands as many like to preach (Psalm 97:6, Romans 1:20). This is taught by pious ones who like to brag about their memorized witnessing techniques. They already have their reward.
Second, you need to know what you are doing. You are trying to convince an unbeliever to exercise his measure of faith. You are battling principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.
The power of your message is in the words of God, so you better actually use the words of God, rightly divided. Otherwise, your message has no power in it and the seeds might as well be thrown into the street.
You need to learn the short, easy-to-understand message inside and out and then you need to practice it. Before you learn how to say it, just invite people to a church that preaches the message if that is all you can effectively do.
Now, there are many scriptures that you can use, including John 3:16 on its own. Here’s what I do – use it if you can.
You need an opening line for a stranger and it is also good to ask permission to talk to them first. I always open with “Can I ask you a question?” 99% of people will say yes and I have their attention because everyone likes to be helpful to a stranger they think is asking for directions.
Then I ask them, “Do you know who Jesus Christ is?” This works better than “Are you saved?” or “Are you a Christian?” People do not know what “saved” or “Christian” actually mean. They have all kinds of different definitions for these terms.
They can only answer “yes” or “no” about knowing who Jesus Christ is and you can take it from there. If they say “yes”, talk about how great free salvation is, not of works. Make sure they actually are scripturally saved.
If they say “no”, say “Can I take two minutes of your time and tell you about Him?” If they still say “no”, just hand them a salvation tract and ask them to read it when they have a chance. Almost everyone will take it. Then mosey on down the street to the next unsuspecting soul.
If they say “yes”, be able to show them the plan of salvation with a few scriptures. Use the tract if you want so they can follow along. But have a scriptural path in your mind for times when you have no tract or Bible. (When would that be? - most of the time for most of us!).
Here’s mine, which is often used by many:
Romans 3:23 (all have sinned) >
Ephesians 2:8-9 (stress “not of works”) >
Romans 5:8 (Christ died for sinners) >
Romans 6:23 (gift of eternal life) >
Romans 10:9-10 (how to ask for salvation).
Then just ask them if they want to be saved right now and let them do it as best they can. God is listening to their heart, not their words. Don’t worry about what they actually say as long as it is somewhat accurate. And don’t say it for them.
Be sure to tell them about eternal security and warn them that offenses are going to come. They need to know how to contact you or a church that can help them stick with the truth.
How often should you do this? - as often as you can. You will find that once you get the hang of it, you can just walk right up to people who are not particularly busy and strike up a conversation with them. Don’t bother busy people; you have no chance of grabbing the necessary attention level.
Remember this: the salvation of one person is more important that the grand total value of all left behind, earthly works. When you meet that person in heaven, it will be a real praise and worship service!
If your efforts do not move the person, try this:
Ask them if they really want to know what is truth?
If they say yes (and only a fool would say no), tell them to clear their mind of all spiritual prejudices and ask God to show them the truth. Tell them to read the Gospel of John alone in a quiet place and see if God shows himself through his words.
GOSPEL OF JOHN
Why John? Because the Gospel of John is about Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh. It is written to make men believe that Jesus Christ is God and Savior and he alone will save them from their sins.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him,
I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Anyone wanting the truth should be willing to spend a couple of hours to give God a chance to show them what they need.
And that's it - practice makes perfect.
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