Bearing Witness - Friday Fast
Joel Schmidgall
Jul 06, 2007 · 7:55 AMOpen your eyes and look at the fields…they are ripe for the harvest. John 4:35
We usually put evangelism in a church ministry category. Or we think evangelism is talking to people you don’t know about the 4 spiritual laws.
But evangelism is bearing witness to Christ’s work in your heart. It is acting and speaking the truth and love of God into your every day life. When I was younger I perceived evangelism as an unnatural thing, but it’s exactly the opposite. The call of Christ is confrontational, but it’s also extremely loving and accepting. Serve your neighbors with the love of Christ, speak to your friends with an openness and honesty about what God is doing in you, and allow God to open up your eyes and realize the harvest is ready around you.
As we go to Uganda, we go as witnesses to what God has done in our lives. We don’t go as preachers, teachers, or public speakers. We go as witnesses. That means there should be an attitude in our hearts of expectancy. Expectant of what God can do in us and through us. Amen!
Prayer Fuel: John 1:7; Acts 10:43; Acts 26:16
.joe
Jul 06, 2007 · 10:20 AM
washington dc
if you’ve never read the weight of glory by cs lewis, you really should… it helped me see people in a different way… with this quote specifically…
There are no ordinary people. You have
never talked to a mere mortal. Nations,
cultures, arts, civilization—these are
mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of
a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke
with, work with, marry, snub, and
exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting
splendours. This does not mean that we
are to be perpetually solemn. We must
play. But our merriment must be of that
kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind)
which exists between people who have,
from the outset, taken each other
seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no
presumption. And our charity must be a
real and costly love, with deep feeling for
the sins in spite of which we love the
sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence
which parodies love as flippancy parodies
merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament
itself, your neighbour is the holiest object
presented to your senses. If he is your
Christian neighbour he is holy in almost
the same way, for in him also Christ vere
latitat—the glorifier and the glorified,
Glory Himself, is truly hidden. (C.S. Lewis – The Weight Of Glory)
one of the hardest things i have to do as a photographer is capture people. people like to look good and they trust me to make that happen. i was talking with my friend josh longbrake (http://www.thelongbrake.com) last week and he said to me regarding taking photographs in africa… “it’s so essential to let them know that you don’t think you are better than they
that you value them more than you value yourself and that it’s because you respect them and their story..and that’s why you’re photographing them.”
i’m expecting great things! i can’t wait to pass out high fives!
Michael
Jul 06, 2007 · 3:56 PM
Great word, Joel. I am definitely more than a little nervous about the “evangelism” part of the trip, so it’s good to remember that God just calls us to be, as you say, open and honest.
p.s. what are the 4 spiritual laws?
Bonita
Jul 07, 2007 · 11:22 PM
Thanks for the great post, guys! Definitely reminded of the importance of this now - I’ve been posted to Beijing this past month, where I need to show a foreign passport to be admitted to the fellowship I go to. Can’t go much into it now, but please pray that I will utilize the opportunity to be a constant witness at work, especially to my Chinese colleagues who don’t have the same opportunity we do.