WIN 100But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed nor will there be one after me…I have revealed and saved and proclaimed – I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.” (Isaiah 43:10,12)
Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one. (Isaiah 44:8).
Effective Christian witnessing and evangelism are under increasing attack, persecution, and fear of offending others in a pluralistic context. The modern church’s new metrics for theology, leadership, fresh expressions, and ministerial effectiveness are exacerbating church decline and closure. The world faces numerous global crises today as people lose trust in their leaders, religious and political structures, and each other. We are in a culture that is increasingly hostile to the evangelical Christian worldview; hence, becoming faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ, the True Light, will often require a sacrifice of social approval and status.’ We are also in a celebrity culture that lionises Christians who generate large audiences, whether in-person, online, or through publication as a feature of witness and evangelism. Christian witness offers a renewing, visible expression of the essence of Advent through the power of the Gospel.
Advent offers us a renewing opportunity to serve as witnesses of God’s love and saving truth to a world in need of salvation – hope, peace, joy, and love (Jn 3:16). Advent is Christ-centeredness of true witnessing and accompanied by the witness of the Spirit. The term witness can be used as both a noun and a verb. Witness, as a noun, refers to one who testifies about something they have first-hand knowledge of so that others might believe in the message they share (1Jn 1:3). Witness is also a verb that ‘describes the wide array of activities that Christians can engage in to share the abundant life of God with others.’
Advent’s witness begins with acknowledging the darkness of the world, including sin, despair, and hopelessness, before the light arrives. It is in this darkness that the need for a witness becomes crucial. The word ‘witness’ referred to someone who testified in a legal or covenant context, messenger of Christ’s salvation to the entire world (Is 43:10, Is 44:8). Apostle Paul, after his conversion experienced along Damascus Road, he was called to be a ‘witness’ to all people concerning the risen Lord Jesus (Acts 22:15). Jesus’ command to be His witness is for every Christian (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). To be faithful witnesses of Christ, we cannot stay silent.
Witnessing is a missional response to the experience of God’s grace, and its power lies entirely in the Gospel. Witnessing is who we are in Jesus Christ, and it is not possible for those who do not know Him as their Lord and Saviour. The disciples are Jesus’ personal witnesses, bearing testimony about what and Who they know. John testifies in his first epistle, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life (1:1).
Christian witness is a divine event in which God reveals Himself through the life of His church in Christ. Christian witness is a mandate in response to Christian calling and ministry. Christians in and through the church bear witness to the truthfulness of the story of Jesus Christ. This understanding of witness is to renew and revive Christians and the church living in today’s world, restoring the true meaning of the Christian faith and, therefore, its life in Christ. Among the implications of Christianity is human obedience and faithfulness to Jesus’ calling. To live out their faith authentically and passionately. Witnessing beyond communicating the Gospel through words (evangelism) includes actions and deeds, such as acts of justice, humanitarian aid, and the arts. The way Christians live their lives—showing “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”—is a powerful form of witness.’
WITNESS CARDIOGRAM as Advent check-up:
- Do I have regular conversations with people outside the faith?
- Have I shared a meal with someone outside the faith in the last month?
- Have I served a friend who is outside the faith in the last month?
- Have I invited a friend who is outside the faith to church or my small group?
- Have I shared the gospel in the last month?
Jesus is the Light. The first biblical Advent figure, who helps us to live the Advent season well, that is, to prepare us for the coming of the Lord, is John the Baptist (the Witness). He identifies Jesus as the “true light, which gives light to every man,” and the “light of the human race” (John 1:9, 4). John, the author of the Gospel of John, says something about John the Witness: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light” (Jn 1:6-7). “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” v. 14. “And from his fullness [the fullness referred to in verse 14] we have all received, grace upon grace” (16). However, verse 15 breaks in and says, “John bore witness about him, and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me” (v. 15).
As missiologists, our task is beyond improving the scriptural literary art. We are to penetrate the scriptural ‘literary purposes—and by doing that, to penetrate to the theological purposes and spiritual purposes and evangelistic purposes’—and any other inspired missional purposes. By hearing and understanding the purposes, ‘we might believe in Jesus, the Son of God, and have life in His name.’ Missiologists do not play literary games but point to salvation and damnation by hearing and listening to what the inspired authors say (Jn 20:31).
To be a voice in the wilderness and as a witness to the Light, we are called to make much of Jesus Christ and little of ourselves (vs 6-8). Time to repent from the way we present ourselves as public witnesses – seemingly self-serving, self-excusing, self-protecting, self-exalting. We are to represent Christ and speak of Christ. Our witness is a great not as well as a great necessity. Witness as a Great Necessity – “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the Light, that all might believe through him. He was not the Light but came to bear witness about the light” (6-8). Men and women are God’s method of mission, just as the Word, Life, and Light are going to spread through the witness of human beings, and no other way.
Advent is a time to awaken millions of human lights for the Light and not just decorative lights. Humans who bear witness to Christ with words will be the means of everyone who comes to faith in the whole world. Jesus’ priestly prayer foresees coming to faith and salvation through human witnesses. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word” Jn 20:17.
In Advent, the Word and the Life and the Light must come into the world, ‘by lighting millions of cold, dead human torches with the oxygen of the gospel and the mysteriously spontaneous combustion of the new birth. And that gospel will come through human witnesses.’ Advent is a renewing call to belief just as the witness of John the Baptist (the Witness) is a message for us today, enabling us to believe in Jesus as the Light who brings hope, peace, joy, and love. Advent is about becoming witnesses, just as John the Witness was sent to testify; we are called to be witnesses for Christ, passionately telling others about the Light so they, too, can believe.
Advent is about a man, a woman, a person like you and me, that is, our witness as a great necessity. God is not dependent on human will. God sent Jesus, and He is involved in sending witnesses to Jesus. To God, human witnesses are necessary, but He does not leave His mission to the initiative of man. The God Who saves and sends (Jn 202:21, Acts 22:21). Advent calls us to personal preparation as we acknowledge our need for this true Light and prepare our hearts to receive the True Light, just as John the Witness prepared the way of the Lord.
We serve a saving and sending God. He provides the foundation of our salvation in Jesus Christ, and he provides the means of our salvation in those whom he sends. Advent is about enlivening God Who saves and sends. At Advent, God is at work, moving His witnesses through the world, making them the means of his saving work. Advent calls to say to Jesus and say with Isaiah, “Here am I! Send me” (Is 6:8).
Leadership begins with identity, just as Jesus led from Who He was. John the Baptist’s identity came as a witness and purpose, a mere human, sent by God with a mission to witness to the Light because believing comes through a witness. Advent points us to the greatness of humility in faithful ministry. John the witness knew who he was and who he was not. While the religious leaders were face-to-face with John the witness, their concern was more about credentials and authority than about repentance and faith. The religious familiarity blinded the hearts of the religious leaders to the reality of the True Light.
Believing in the Light happens through a witness to the Light, just as “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word” (Rom 10:17). Witness is a great necessity. However, our witness is a great not because we are not the Light just as John the Witness was not the Light but came to bear witness about the Light: “This is the testimony of John . . . ‘I am not the Christ'” (Jn 20:8). The great not of John’s witness is he is not the Christ – I am not the Light (verse 8). I am not the Christ (verse 20). I am not Elijah (verse 21). I am not the prophet (verse 21). I am not worthy to untie his sandals (verse 27). The principle in our witness for Christ is best expressed by John the witness: ‘You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, “I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.” The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease’ (Jn 3:28-30).
Advent calls us as a necessary witness who is not the Christ: “So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We need to answer those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord'” (Jn 20:22-23). Advent calls us to repent of the witness that needs attention for themselves.
