Ecclesial Support for Personal Witnessing
Personal witnessing is an essential part of our spiritual walk and it benefits both us and the listener.
Read Time: 6 minutes
It strikes me that the Lord Jesus Christ could have organized the Great Commission in so many ways. However, it was by Divine wisdom that each disciple of Christ, regardless of perceived capability, would embrace personal witnessing as an intrinsic part of their spiritual life.
The benefit of witnessing is unique in that it benefits both the hearer and the one doing the witnessing. When faced with fear and uncertainty in conversations with friends and colleagues, we learn to trust our Lord. We understand we can overcome our inadequacies because Christ strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). When we trust in him and do his work, we gain spiritual effervescence that builds our faith.
Somewhere in Christadelphian history, it seems we started thinking of preaching as being carefully organized and executed ecclesial programs, often done by our most capable speakers. Undoubtedly, these programs have been highly effective in many cases, and God has blessed us with men and women who have open hearts and minds and have heard our witness. But hasn’t it always been that more intimate personal witness was the most effective way to connect people to our God?
An Inextricable Part
Each of us provides exclusive contact points for those we interact with. Just like the uniqueness of a fingerprint, no two disciples have the same reach. Each will have distinctive touch points at work, in our neighborhood, with our family, and in the local community. You are the light in each of those scenarios, offering to illuminate their room of darkness. The Lord Jesus Christ knows this. He will prepare you to be the conduit for his truth as he searches for men and women with open and contrite hearts in our community. It is his work.
Paul spoke of the responsibility each believer has for witnessing. It all starts with prayer.
All personal preaching must start with earnest prayer. Such prayers ask God to open our eyes to discover opportunities to witness to others. We ask Him to help us see the doors He is opening for speaking a word. We ask Him to lead us to these people. Then, we ask for courage and strength to speak. We must look for His direction when we pray to our God for such opportunities. As Paul said, we want to “make the most of every opportunity.”
All personal preaching must start with earnest prayer.
But Paul mentions another, perhaps underused, aspect of preaching. We need to pray for each other to be able to witness. Now, the Apostle Paul had already been told he was a chosen vessel, one who was to bear the name of Jesus Christ before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel (Acts 9:15). Still, the Apostle counted it great gain when his brothers and sisters petitioned God to help him proclaim the gospel.
Further, Paul asks the Colossians to pray that he might “proclaim this message as clearly as I should.” This request was made as he lay in chains in Rome! Prayers for preaching the gospel were part of first-century fellowship. It connected all members of the community in purpose and service. It helped everyone to know they could contribute.
I suspect there may be very few of us who have sustained our own prayers for a “door of utterance” (Colossians 4:3 KJV) to be opened for our fellow brothers and sisters. Some may remember and bless the work of our missionary families. But it would be unusual, in my experience, for us to think about praying for our brother and sister to be given opportunities to proclaim the Word. How wonderful it would be to know that when we are anxious about speaking to a neighbor, we have others praying for us. We can share that fellowship daily, not only when we meet for worship services.
What Can Ecclesias Do?
Healthy ecclesias, as Bro. Roberts commented in The Ecclesial Guide, should keep a balance of focusing on the edification of members and the promulgation of the gospel to those outside. Accepting that personal witnessing may be the most effective way for us to preach, ecclesias would do well to provide practical “how to” education and encouragement to members about personal witnessing.
Beyond expounding on the Biblical admonition to preach, ecclesias can teach members how to generate spiritual conversations with friends and colleagues. This effort requires having a genuine interest in others. It starts with just being friendly! We look for common ground, areas, or experiences where we may share a common interest. These “connections” provide openings to share a small thought or make a spiritual observation.
Once we have provided education to our members (I recommend including young people), it would be helpful for ecclesias to keep personal witnessing as an ongoing agenda item. Some church denominations find it useful for leaders to develop messaging on critical issues in the news. What is a message we might have on the Gaza War, the upcoming elections, gun violence, social injustice, or environmental threats? Members might find it extremely helpful to discuss what we consider saying to our friends and colleagues.
Ecclesias would benefit from classes on first principles, focusing on wresting some of the false doctrines known in other churches. For example, classes on how to discuss Satan and the Devil with a friend would be extremely valuable.
One of the most important things an ecclesia can do is offer ecclesial classes, talks, and events that would attract members to invite friends and colleagues. Compelling talks on relevant and current concerns would greatly help someone wanting to introduce a friend to the ecclesia. Social events, like a pancake breakfast, a barbeque, or a charity car wash, can be an excellent way to introduce interested friends to the ecclesia. It would be ideal to have an event each month that members would be excited to invite their friends to.
Talk Together
When we see personal witnessing as a significant part of our faith lives, discussing our experiences is valuable. It is common to share insights from reading the Word or even lessons in applying the gospel to our lives. It encourages us to hear others also get an elevated heartbeat when before a judge explaining why we abstain from jury duty. Or to listen to a success story of how a brother or sister has been speaking with a neighbor who seems to be showing interest.
The fact is our conversations in the truth are usually aimed at strengthening one another in the main focus areas of our lives. Let’s elevate our personal witnessing stories to such a level. Surely, we can encourage and strengthen one another and share ideas that might be just what you want in your interactions with friends and colleagues. Ecclesias would find a way to bring personal witnessing and the experiences of our members to the ongoing agenda for our consideration.
This Special Series
We are thankful to the writers of this special series on personal witnessing.
In February, Bro. Joe Hill provided a Biblical review of how preaching was accomplished in Bible times. This effort was helpful as it reminded us that preaching is the core of who we must be as believers.
In March, Bro. Peter Hemingray surveyed preaching efforts in North America over 170 years. This series reminded us of the personal creativity and passion brothers and sisters have had for sharing their faith. It has made huge differences in the conversion of many and strengthened our Christian community.
In May, Bro. Jeff Gelineau reminded us that our own story may be an extremely powerful witness. Simply sharing what the gospel has meant to you and your family is a wonderful place to start conversations.
In June, Bro. Martin Webster shared an excellent article on the fears and joys of witnessing. In it, he provided valuable insights into overcoming fear through humility and love. He called on all of us to look for ways to spread the word in our communities.
In September, Bro. Darren Tappouras shared his thoughts on preaching readiness. He demonstrated that all preparation for preaching starts with earnest prayer. It calls for a partnership with the Divine!
In our October issue, Bro. John Bilello reminded us that in all preaching, we must acknowledge our sufficiency is of God. We are doing His work, and what we accomplish is through His strength, not our own. Bro. John also called on the community to rethink how we might harness technology to promote the Word effectively.
We were also honored to have four brothers and sisters share their personal stories of how they came to the truth. We thank them for sharing their insights and celebrate their presence in our community today.
May we all pause for a moment and prayerfully think about people in our lives to whom we might purposely reach out. Let’s begin by petitioning our LORD to show us opportunities to preach, making them plain before our face. Let us all commit to speaking a “word in season.” Someone touched our lives, and it has brought us unspeakable joy. By God’s grace, may we also offer a cup of cold water to someone else who is terribly thirsty.
Dave Jennings