Witnesses
"And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world." (1 John 4:14)
August 21, 2025
Dear friends,
Sometimes we make the Christian life too complicated, and in the process, we lose sight of what's most important.
When I first became a Christian, I instinctively (freely, intuitively) confessed what the church has been testifying for two millennia, that "Jesus is Lord!" From the earliest martyrs down to the Jesus people of the 1970s, I have added my voice, my testimony, to theirs. Like the blind man, healed by Jesus, I say, "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:25)
It seems many things have been added to this simple role of being a witness for Christ. Now we are supposed to "engage the culture", and "build the kingdom", whatever that means. We are challenged to "impact our society", be "salt and light", and "to change the world". We've been called to be politically active and to speak out on a variety of social causes. And here's what's interesting: we can do all those things, apparently, without once ever mentioning the name of Jesus, or calling people to be reconciled to God through him. The gospel itself gets drowned out by all the gospel-related activities.
BEING A WITNESS. To be a witness, or to give testimony, is to state the truth about something, based upon our own experience. That's it. Christians sometimes take "witnessing" in the narrow sense of an evangelistic activity by which we share our spiritual autobiography with others. (We should remember that this should be a testimony about Christ -- how we know he is Lord -- not about how bad we were or good we are now.) Sometimes "witness" is used in a much broader sense, to mean anything that we are doing in our world for the cause of Christ, whether spoken or unspoken. This can become very general, such as being "a witness to the community" through, say, a homeless shelter or blood drive. These things may be good, but by themselves not a testimony about the gospel itself.
IN THE BIBLE, giving testimony, or being a truthful witness, is a prominent subject. Jesus told the disciples, "You will be my witnesses..." [Gr., martures μάρτυρες](Acts 1:8). The martus / martureo word group, from which we get the word "martyr", means to "be a witness; to bear witness, or to give testimony", most often, about the Lord — who he is and what he's done. And very specifically, the apostles were to give their eye-witness testimony about the resurrection of Christ (Acts 1:22; 1 Cor 15:8). This important word group is used over 160 times in the New Testament alone. Here are some examples...
THE TESTIMONY OF GOD. God bore witness concerning his Son: "This is my beloved Son..." (Matt 3:17). And, "If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son." (1 John 5:9)
THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS. He is called the faithful witness: "...from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth." (Revelation 1:5; cf 3:14) And "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil." (John 7:7) The Apostle Paul speaks "...of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession..." (1 Tim 6:13)
THE APOSTOLIC WITNESS. Jesus told his disciples, "You are witnesses of these things." (Luke 24:48; cf Acts 1:8) Then, "...with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:33) The apostles said, "...he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:42-43; cf Acts 20:24)
THE TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me..." (John 15:26) Which leads us to...
THE WITNESS OF THE CHURCH. "And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matt 24:14) And about faithful witnesses, it is said, "...they have conquered him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." (Rev 12:11)
WITNESSING is not just something we do; it comes from something we are. And what we are centers around our open and clear profession of Christ. We are his witnesses -- we do not bring in or establish the kingdom, though we seek to advance his cause in the world. Primarily, we testify to the truthfulness of the gospel. We are not given earthly power, but rather, supernatural power to be witnesses to his greatness and power. We are given authority to proclaim Christ and make disciples (Matt 28:18-20).
OTHER ROLES? Some believers feel they are called to a more prophetic role, but you should ask, are you also proclaiming forgiveness and hope in Christ? Sometimes we feel we are being prophetic toward the church or our society, when we're merely playing the role of cultural critic or prosecuting attorney. Do you realize that "...the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy"? (Rev 19:10)
Some feel called primarily to ministries of mercy, of meeting the needs of marginalized people, of doing good. Are you, however, making it clear that it is through Jesus' name that strength, protection, goodness, and eternal welfare are found? If you are seeking to do good, will people think it is because you yourself are good, or because God is good? Are you sharing the testimony about Christ with them?
Some believe that they are bringing in Christ's kingdom, or expanding it in some way. Do you recognize, however, that the full and glorious kingdom of God is to arrive at Christ's return, and not through your efforts, political party, or even your church? Jesus said, "I will build my church", not "You will build my kingdom." Are you proclaiming the excellencies of Christ to all who will hear?
Some feel called to political activism. Will you then also know that unless you are free to identify as a Christian and proclaim Christ, your labor will ultimately be fruitless? Do you remember that Jesus said (about the Roman coin), “...render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matt 22:20-21) We are not witnesses until we render unto God the things that are his, and he bears witness about his Son, as should we.
A GOOD WITNESS gives clear testimony to the truth, and the Christian, specifically, bears witness to the truth about Jesus Christ -- who he is and what he's done. Everything else you are doing may be good, but this is your primary calling -- to be a witness. As the Apostle Paul wrote, "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time..." (1 Cor 15:3-6)
When's the last time you told someone, "I have found this to be true, this gospel about Jesus Christ, that he is Lord, that he came and died for my sins, and rose again. And it's changed me and changed my destiny forever." That's being a witness. You could possibly add, "You want to hear more?"
MISCELLANEOUS.
-- What I'm currently reading: Isaiah, Romans, and Galatians (in the Bible); and other books: Studies in Words (C. S. Lewis), Grace and Glory (Geerhardus Vos), and The Courage to Be Protestant (David Wells).
-- An excerpt from Grace and Glory: "The Christian is a man who lives with his heavenly destiny ever in full view. His outlook is not bounded by the present life and the present world. He sees that which is and that which is to come in their true proportions and in their proper perspective. The center of gravity of his consciousness lies not in the present but in the future. Hope, not possession, is that which gives tone and color to his life." (Geerhardus Vos, on the Christian's living hope.)
FINAL QUOTE.
"Jesus came proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. The significance of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ preaching and ministry has become commonplace and welcomed. The notion of the kingdom sounds like it involves guidelines and ideals such as love, justice, peace, and righteousness that can inform a Christian social ethic. But this approach is doomed from the start because it fails to do justice to the centrality of who Jesus is and what he did. The kingdom cannot be made into an ethical ideal, because scripture refuses to separate the kingdom from the one who is the proclaimer of the kingdom. In the words of Karl Barth, 'Jesus is himself the established kingdom of God.' Or in Origen’s classical phrase, Jesus is the autobasileia – the kingdom in person." (Stanley Hauerwas, Jesus Changes Everything)
That’s it for this week!
Sandy
Afterwords is an occasional newsletter on topics of interest to me (Sandy Young) since my retirement from full-time pastoral ministry. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.