Faithful Witnesses
Keeping Christ as our target in evangelism
I am very thankful that through a variety of means, the Lord has compelled me to take part in public evangelism. It would be dishonest of me to say that as I head over to Juanita Beach Park on a Sunday afternoon, I am filled with nothing but joy and anticipation. In reality, I am often tired, and touches of fear hit me. But I pray and ask the Lord for help, encouragement, and success. I can say for certain, though, that when I pack up and head home, I am always so blessed and thankful to have seen the Lord at work and to be His witness. As I pack up my things, I also unpack my thoughts about the day and review our work. Can we do the work of evangelism more effectively? Am I compelling people to come to Christ as I should? Are my motives right? As always, I have questions. It has been this time of questioning with Scripture in hand that has formed my method of evangelism, which I have come to realize is less about a method than about the target.
The Target
As a kid spending my summers on a farm in the NE corner of Colorado, one of my favorite things to do was to shoot guns. There was an arsenal of guns and ammo in the closet right at the front door at my disposal. Eager to hone my marksmanship, I saw a bullseye on everything, including my grandma's garden ornaments. To state it mildly, Grandma Mable did not appreciate my shooting skills that day. After a barrage of well-deserved German scolding, which I did not understand much of, my Grandpa decided to put my marksman skills to good use. He taught me which birds and animals were invasive pests and which ones were beneficial. He gave me some direction, and now I had a target in mind.
In the same way, as we head out armed with the Scriptures to tell people about Jesus, we should have a clear goal in mind so that we do not wander off onto side quests. When these alternate targets take over, evangelism morphs into something else. Sometimes the shift becomes making conversions the target, which then leads to pragmatism instead of faithfulness. At other times, the target becomes killing idols and culture warfare, which leads to fruitless battles and even evangelists being arrested in vain.
Let me state clearly that I deeply desire and pray for conversions; seeing people convicted of their sin and turning to Christ is an immense blessing. I am also very well aware that as we engage in public evangelism, tensions will rise, and we ought not fearfully shy away from evangelism out of fear. And I know that as people hear Jesus declared as Lord of all, idolatry will be dislodged and culture may change for the better. Those are all outcomes of faithful evangelism, but they are not the primary task at hand; being faithful witnesses is our target, and that must be what we hold in our sights.
As a kid spending my summers on a farm in the NE corner of Colorado, one of my favorite things to do was to shoot guns. There was an arsenal of guns and ammo in the closet right at the front door at my disposal. Eager to hone my marksmanship, I saw a bullseye on everything, including my grandma's garden ornaments. To state it mildly, Grandma Mable did not appreciate my shooting skills that day. After a barrage of well-deserved German scolding, which I did not understand much of, my Grandpa decided to put my marksman skills to good use. He taught me which birds and animals were invasive pests and which ones were beneficial. He gave me some direction, and now I had a target in mind.
In the same way, as we head out armed with the Scriptures to tell people about Jesus, we should have a clear goal in mind so that we do not wander off onto side quests. When these alternate targets take over, evangelism morphs into something else. Sometimes the shift becomes making conversions the target, which then leads to pragmatism instead of faithfulness. At other times, the target becomes killing idols and culture warfare, which leads to fruitless battles and even evangelists being arrested in vain.
Let me state clearly that I deeply desire and pray for conversions; seeing people convicted of their sin and turning to Christ is an immense blessing. I am also very well aware that as we engage in public evangelism, tensions will rise, and we ought not fearfully shy away from evangelism out of fear. And I know that as people hear Jesus declared as Lord of all, idolatry will be dislodged and culture may change for the better. Those are all outcomes of faithful evangelism, but they are not the primary task at hand; being faithful witnesses is our target, and that must be what we hold in our sights.
You are My Witnesses
This is what we are called by God and also called to be as God's people; Christ's witnesses. This has always been true for God's people; it was proclaimed to Israel:
“'You are my witnesses,' declares the LORD, 'and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me'" (Isaiah 43:10).
And Jesus repeated these words to his disciples before his ascension:
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
By the grace of God, we are His witnesses. He has softened our hearts and opened our ears to hear the Good News that Jesus came to save sinners and that we of all people are most in need of that salvation. Whatever we do and wherever we are, we are witnesses of Christ. This is a statement about who we are and how we live our entire lives, so it is not just about public evangelism, but it needs to be our goal in evangelism. Having this in mind as I head out to the park keeps my motives in check; it guides my methods and my words. It wards off the temptation of my sights slipping off target to fulfill any selfish desires of my own. I am here to tell people about Christ who is Lord over all, and I want to do it in a manner that is clear and with my heart molded to the heart of my Father who is holy, patient, loving, and full of mercy. In the nineteenth chapter of Acts, we have a wonderful picture of what patient and steady Christ-exalting evangelism looks like. There is chaotic confrontation and culture shift, but at the center of the work, we see the name of Jesus extolled through years of enduring faithfulness.
This is what we are called by God and also called to be as God's people; Christ's witnesses. This has always been true for God's people; it was proclaimed to Israel:
“'You are my witnesses,' declares the LORD, 'and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me'" (Isaiah 43:10).
And Jesus repeated these words to his disciples before his ascension:
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
By the grace of God, we are His witnesses. He has softened our hearts and opened our ears to hear the Good News that Jesus came to save sinners and that we of all people are most in need of that salvation. Whatever we do and wherever we are, we are witnesses of Christ. This is a statement about who we are and how we live our entire lives, so it is not just about public evangelism, but it needs to be our goal in evangelism. Having this in mind as I head out to the park keeps my motives in check; it guides my methods and my words. It wards off the temptation of my sights slipping off target to fulfill any selfish desires of my own. I am here to tell people about Christ who is Lord over all, and I want to do it in a manner that is clear and with my heart molded to the heart of my Father who is holy, patient, loving, and full of mercy. In the nineteenth chapter of Acts, we have a wonderful picture of what patient and steady Christ-exalting evangelism looks like. There is chaotic confrontation and culture shift, but at the center of the work, we see the name of Jesus extolled through years of enduring faithfulness.
Acts 19: A Faithful Witness and Mass Chaos
Acts chapter 19 is a wild ride and a great example of what faithfully proclaiming Christ looks like, chaos and all. In verses 8 to 10, we see that Paul sought a location where he could engage with the people of the city, which he did EVERY DAY for TWO YEARS. It was still the apostolic age where God worked signs and miracles as a display of His glory, and some attempted to copy this work of the Holy Spirit, including the sons of Sceva who were left naked and beaten after a failed exorcism. This flash-in-the-pan explosive failure brought great attention to the name of Jesus, but we need to realize that it did so because Paul had been laying a foundation built on well over 600 days of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From this work, many of the new believers repented of their idolatry and burned their books of the magic arts, and "So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily” (V. 20).
A silversmith named Demetrius (V. 23) took notice and realized that this change in local culture would leave him and others out of business, so he began to sound the alarm. Many people became rattled, and a riot breaks out as they defended their idol, the “goddess” called Artemis. A few of the Christians were dragged into the assembly, and the situation grew dangerous and tense, but then a town clerk steps up and says something amazing that reveals what the target was for the Christians, and what it was not. He confirms that Artemis is still their goddess, but then he speaks about the behavior of the Christians in a way that led the assembly to disperse calmly.
"For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess" (Acts 19:37).
There is no doubt that Paul and the Christians with him were declaring to the world that there is but one King, Jesus (Acts 17:7, Philippians 2:9–11). But they did so without needing to directly tear down false gods like their precious Artemis. And they avoided crossing a boundary that would intentionally provoke the Roman government to step in to establish order violently. Their target was not to kill the Ephesians' idol or to change their culture. They extolled the name of Jesus as God alone without unnecessarily inflaming the situation by attacking their idol by name. Proclaiming that there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, did it all.
Acts chapter 19 is a wild ride and a great example of what faithfully proclaiming Christ looks like, chaos and all. In verses 8 to 10, we see that Paul sought a location where he could engage with the people of the city, which he did EVERY DAY for TWO YEARS. It was still the apostolic age where God worked signs and miracles as a display of His glory, and some attempted to copy this work of the Holy Spirit, including the sons of Sceva who were left naked and beaten after a failed exorcism. This flash-in-the-pan explosive failure brought great attention to the name of Jesus, but we need to realize that it did so because Paul had been laying a foundation built on well over 600 days of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From this work, many of the new believers repented of their idolatry and burned their books of the magic arts, and "So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily” (V. 20).
A silversmith named Demetrius (V. 23) took notice and realized that this change in local culture would leave him and others out of business, so he began to sound the alarm. Many people became rattled, and a riot breaks out as they defended their idol, the “goddess” called Artemis. A few of the Christians were dragged into the assembly, and the situation grew dangerous and tense, but then a town clerk steps up and says something amazing that reveals what the target was for the Christians, and what it was not. He confirms that Artemis is still their goddess, but then he speaks about the behavior of the Christians in a way that led the assembly to disperse calmly.
"For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess" (Acts 19:37).
There is no doubt that Paul and the Christians with him were declaring to the world that there is but one King, Jesus (Acts 17:7, Philippians 2:9–11). But they did so without needing to directly tear down false gods like their precious Artemis. And they avoided crossing a boundary that would intentionally provoke the Roman government to step in to establish order violently. Their target was not to kill the Ephesians' idol or to change their culture. They extolled the name of Jesus as God alone without unnecessarily inflaming the situation by attacking their idol by name. Proclaiming that there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, did it all.
The Biblical Aim: Christ
We just came out of the month of June, where our culture has chosen to openly declare their sexual idolatry. It angers me as much as anyone; I do not want to have to explain to my granddaughter that the flags she sees are not just rainbows. But I also need to carefully guard my heart so that my righteous anger does not push me off course as I set out for evangelism. Tearing down cultural idolatry must never become my target.
Every June, we hear about evangelists who are arrested at Pride events, and Christians are often enraged, believing that these men were arrested for exercising free speech in preaching Jesus. But in many of the cases I am aware of, the arrests involved specific legal boundaries that were knowingly crossed. They were not arrested for preaching the gospel; they were arrested for breaking the law. They had either stepped into an area reserved by others through due process or used amplification when they knew it would break a local ordinance. Not only that, but they were all warned and knew that they would get arrested if they broke a certain boundary but did so anyway. This happens when crushing cultural idols becomes the goal and preaching Christ is a means to that end.
Our target in public evangelism is to be faithful witnesses of Jesus as he has said that we are. With this in mind, it will regulate our hearts and guide our steps in our evangelistic efforts.
My prayer for the church is that we will be faithful witnesses of Jesus and keep Him in our sight at all times. Whether it is public evangelism or dinner with the family, it is the daily and steady exalting of Jesus that brings the Word of the Lord to prevail mightily among us. It is the end as well as the means to that end.
We just came out of the month of June, where our culture has chosen to openly declare their sexual idolatry. It angers me as much as anyone; I do not want to have to explain to my granddaughter that the flags she sees are not just rainbows. But I also need to carefully guard my heart so that my righteous anger does not push me off course as I set out for evangelism. Tearing down cultural idolatry must never become my target.
Every June, we hear about evangelists who are arrested at Pride events, and Christians are often enraged, believing that these men were arrested for exercising free speech in preaching Jesus. But in many of the cases I am aware of, the arrests involved specific legal boundaries that were knowingly crossed. They were not arrested for preaching the gospel; they were arrested for breaking the law. They had either stepped into an area reserved by others through due process or used amplification when they knew it would break a local ordinance. Not only that, but they were all warned and knew that they would get arrested if they broke a certain boundary but did so anyway. This happens when crushing cultural idols becomes the goal and preaching Christ is a means to that end.
Our target in public evangelism is to be faithful witnesses of Jesus as he has said that we are. With this in mind, it will regulate our hearts and guide our steps in our evangelistic efforts.
My prayer for the church is that we will be faithful witnesses of Jesus and keep Him in our sight at all times. Whether it is public evangelism or dinner with the family, it is the daily and steady exalting of Jesus that brings the Word of the Lord to prevail mightily among us. It is the end as well as the means to that end.
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