Witness
arises from discipleship. It begins not with what we do, but with who we are.
It is not, necessarily, a conscious undertaking: we will witness, for good or
for bad, whether we are seeking to do so or not. Witness is the act of
demonstrating what is in our heart, revealing deep convictions through the
practices of our lives. Witness for good, in Jesus name, can only take place
when we embrace the nature of our duty and the identity that we are being
reshaped into, through intentional discipleship. In this sense, Christian
witness is the unselfconscious act of evidencing Christian discipleship in our
lives.
Witness
is the expression of our communion with One God who is Father, Son and Holy
Spirit (Matthew 28.19). Witness
occurs where we are caught up in the activity of the Holy Spirit, emanating from
our exalted Saviour, drawing us into a deeper participation in His life,
ministry and victory over the darkness that defiles the face of the Earth in
this present Age. Witness is an act of worship to God our Father, through life
in the Son, energised within us by the Holy Spirit.
Such
a witness arises when the Kingdom – the rule – of God, penetrates our hearts by
the Holy Spirit; where we have received the cleansing that comes to us, through
the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ. This brings us to the wellspring of
convictional drivers, that express our new identity in Jesus Christ, rooted in
the identity in God. Witness involves the character of God’s goodness being
expressed into and through our lives, not through our own ability, but through
the transforming presence of God acting within and upon our lives. Witness
occurs where the celebrated characteristics of God’s goodness, as declared to
Moses at Mount Sinai, are sourced to emerge from our lives: grace, compassion,
slowness to anger, merciful love, faithfulness and forgiveness (Exodus 34.6-7); all punctuated and made
possible by the self-giving of Jesus Christ, the atoning sacrifice for the sins
of the whole world (1 John 2.2).
This
call, to bear witness, extends beyond the personal and individual to ‘every
disciple’: what models the presence of Christ, and bears witness to Him, is not
only the life of a person but the lives of people together. The Holy Spirit is
given, in renewing and reviving power, to people as persons in relationship with
one another, not to individuals in isolation. The renewing presence of the Holy
Spirit comes to us as people, interrelated and committed together, expressing
witness to Jesus Christ. This arises from the Holy Spirit animating us, as the
Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12).
The Holy Spirit comes to invigorate and vivify the church: those people who
have come into a new relationship together, because of Jesus Christ. In a
Society where fragmentation of social units and isolation of people is a
growing concern, an opportunity for more effective witness is increased when we
give ourselves to pursuing a model of church life, that emphasises the quality
of God’s goodness, expressed and exhibited in and through the relationships
that we have with one another.
Being
a Baptist means more than discovering and owning personal salvation. Receiving
Jesus Christ as our God and Saviour, the sole and absolute authority in our
lives, is where it begins. Bearing witness, as part of our Baptist identity,
calls us to give attention to our relationships with our fellow disciples,
other members of the Body of Christ. This is true both of the local
congregation to which we belong and within the wider church. Establishing and
maintaining the ‘peace of Jerusalem’, the dwelling place of God, is an integral
part of our response to God. We are to bear witness as a people together, where
the pleasure and blessing of God becomes apparent; and can be recognised by
others (Psalm 133).
It
is in this manner, in embracing the duty of every disciple to bear witness,
living lives that are rooted in an identity formed and forged among us by the
Holy Spirit, rooted in and reflective of the humanity of Jesus Christ, that our
mission to the world begins. The church is called to be a window into the Kingdom
of God, so that the world can look through the window and be confronted and met
with the goodness of God (1 Peter 2.9).
The
church is to be the place where people can meet with both the glory and the
goodness of God. This can be further expressed through any number of
initiatives into local community and wider society, where local church finds
ways of both serving and meeting the needs of people. This is found today, in
many of our churches, through ministries such as Debt Counselling, Community Cafes,
Thrift shops, Exercise Groups, Lunch and Breakfast Clubs and other forms of
engagement with people.
The
church is to be the location where the glory of God is made manifest in people
and relationships. The church is also where the transforming quality of God’s
presence can be sensed; and the supernatural acts of God be made known. God
made His glory known to Israel, through His mighty acts. He made it known in
and through the ministry of Jesus Christ and of the disciples who followed on
His way. God will make it known through us, where our witness is to the Gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Questions for reflection:
·
How have you been conscious of the Holy
Spirit reshaping you, that you might bear witness to Jesus Christ?
·
In what ways has working together with other
Christians affected your witness?
·
How has a ‘mending of relationships’
positively effected your witness?
