Called To Be A Witness

We are called to be witnesses of Christ. John the Baptist was one such witness. The process of witnessing is a long drawn out process born through much learning and experience through our relationship with Christ. In the Gospel of Matthew we see John witnessing to Christ whom he had not seen but encountered through divine intervention and now he wants to make sure through human frailness, if he is the one whom he is witnessing to or should he look for another Mt. 11:3.

Surely, we can witness to only what we have seen and experienced or unless God the sure witness reveals himself to us. A Christian life lived in the power of God’s Holy Spirit leads to such a witnessing. Our witness can only be born of a daily encounter of Christ; divine interventions in our life. This can only happen if we allow ourselves to meet him and involve him in our day to day life.

There are various ways we do it. The primary way of witnessing is by proclamation with our mouth. When the great Archimedes experienced the principle of volume he proclaimed it with his whole being but his mouth was what it spoke and the reason understood. Eureka!

When any court of law summons a witness he has to speak it out though his mouth. Yet we have people in modern day who emphasis the importance of witnessing by deed. Who would say;”Be a witness not in words but in deeds”, and the only way the world can read is the witness of our deed”. What they mean here is this; witness by sound character, high moral standards and exemplary virtues. Though these are good and even to be worked upon but I see in this statement an invitation to be great stage actors and deceivers in the world, unless witnessing is understood in the divine relationship dimension. Words have no value for these.  Yet they will vociferously witness (speak) to this conviction of theirs in strong words and persecuting zeal (deeds).


An example can make us understand this truth better: There was once a table laid with a wide variety of food. The host had kept it there for the elite guest that had come for the party. Though the  food was inviting yet no one came forward to even touch it. They all knew it was meant for them and the host that laid the spread for them yet no one dared to even lift one single morsel from the table. Please, why are you not helping yourself out, please help yourself", said the host. It was only then did the gathering started to gorge on what was laid. 


Though the table spoke by itself, the guest knew that it was meant for them and the host intended yet it was only the announcement that clinched the deal and the guests started feeding on the meal. 


Similarly, any witnessing which limits itself to only deeds  leaves the world hungrier still for the truth of life. It is the greatest injustice of our times to be cowardly silent and justifying our action by talking of the relevance of deeds over speech or even separating the two elements with schizophrenic zeal. 


In scripture we have Jesus witnessing and giving us an instruction in witnessing when John’ s disciples come to him to verify whether he is the one or should they look for another: He says to them; "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them”. -Matt 11:4-5

Here in this text we see both elements of witnessing, the hearing is always given the primary place in witnessing and the deeds of healing deliverance and miracles should follow. Yes healing, deliverance and miracles are above all deeds that witness.

If we are called to witness, we are called to witness to something. We cannot be witnessing to ourselves with probable sound moral qualities and virtues. Even Christ with all his sound moral qualities was criticized and persecuted and hence was no witness to the authorities.  


Many a times humanity is not matured enough to recognize the good from the evil. What is good may be looked at as evil and what is evil may be looked upon as truth. If we were so good at reading good deeds as good deeds and bad as bad then we would not be deceived by the conmen in the world. 


Christ’s call to be his witness is primarily an Invitation to witness to that truth which is able to save us by leading us to God who is our Father. It’s a call to stand before the world court and proclaim Jesus as the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through him (Jn. 14: 7). I say ‘world is a court’ because every human being is a judge and all like to make judgments.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be your witness by daily encountering you. May I daily spend time at your feet. Give me that boldness to share your goodness which I encounter in daily life with others and also not just to pray for others but even pray with them who do not know how to relate with you.