The Daily Word of Righteousness

Evangelizing and Witnessing, #4

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16—NIV)

The witness our country needs and is looking for is not more evangelism, it is righteous behavior on the part of the Christians. The righteous behavior of the Christian people is the true and eternal witness of God, His Person, His will, His way, and His eternal purpose in Jesus Christ. The transformed life is proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Can you say Amen to this?

To announce that Jesus Christ has died on the cross for our sins, was raised from the dead, is Lord of all, and is coming again to judge all people, is evangelism. It is the good news. There are those in the Body of Christ who have been chosen by the Lord to carry the good news to mankind.

To show forth in our life the Presence, the righteousness, the holiness of God is to bear witness. It is the light by which the world glorifies God. Every Christian is called to be a witness of the God who has saved him or her. The entire Body of Christ is God's witness, God's servant who will bring justice to the nations of the earth.

As far as "getting people saved," which is not a scriptural expression, the very best thing any of us can do is to follow Jesus closely. He will bring us to the people with whom He is dealing. We may just plow the ground. We may water the ground. We may plant the seed. We may cultivate. We may reap. One plows, one waters, one plants the seed, one cultivates, one reaps. But the heavenly Farmer guides each worker.

When the novice, with no sense of the Lord's guidance, goes forth to plow, water, plant, cultivate, and reap in the same night so he can write in his record book how many "decisions for Christ" have been made, he is neither evangelizing nor witnessing. He is proselytizing. He is blind and leading the blind.

No man can come to Christ except the Father draw him. If we are not following the Lord, how can we know what we are doing? This is spiritual Babylon, the building of a tower to Heaven according to our own wisdom and strength.

Sometimes a person will see your godly life, or perhaps hear a sermon, and there is no evidence any change has taken place. Perhaps years later something will happen that will cause him to come to the Lord.

The point is not that we should not be preaching. It is rather that we should follow the Lord with the understanding that each one of us has a different gift and ministry. More than that, nothing is to be taken for granted. We are to look to Jesus for every detail of all that we do every minute of every day. If Jesus is not leading us step by step then we are walking in the flesh. We are not truly evangelizing. We are not truly witnessing. We are making proselytes to our way of thinking.

To be continued.