a Christian W itness
B y W e s ley Nelson
1. You have a bad temper, which needs to be corrected. 2. You are inconsiderate of your family, and are unwilling to be help ful at home. 3. You are sharp and dishonest in your criticisms. 4. You are self-righteous, Pharisai cal and prudish in your judgment of others. Some time soon after the Spirit has dealt with you about the first lesson, concerning your temper, you may be speaking with'-the person with whom you work about your experiences in general. You have the opportunity to say something like this: “Do you know that the Lord showed me something the other eve ning as I was thinking about the Christian life? He showed me that my bad temper was the result of my own stubbornness. I am so glad He has forgiven me for it. I asked Him to cleanse me of it and help me to overcome it. I realize I have lost my temper several times here on the job and have made it quite difficult for you. I hope you will forgive me and help me to overcome it.” When you have learned your sec ond lesson, concerning your relation ship to your family, you may have the occasion to say to your wife: “Honey, when I was praying the other evening, the Lord spoke to me A U G U S T 1 9 5 4
about my inconsistencies here in the home. I hadn’t realized how bad it was until the Lord called it to my attention. Of course I’ve asked Him to forgive me, and -I know He has. Now, I’d like to ask your forgiveness and your patience with me, and your help in suggesting ways I can over come this bad habit.” You won’t say it the way it is Writ ten here. You will say it in your own way as you speak naturally about your other experiences. When you do this, you are witnessing. Let it be emphasized that this is not a con fession of sins. It is a confession of Christ as your Saviour. Your sin -comes in, as inconspicuously as pos sible, to make clear how specific His salvation is. Some times you may not even say what your sins are. You are witnessing to Christ’s redemptive work and the emphasis must always be there. This requires no special ability and is not dependent on sensational experiences. It is awfully humbling, but the way of the cross is the way of humility. As you go on with God, humility should become a way of life for you. This kind of witnessing may be prosaic, but it is practical. You are not even giving advice to others, you are telling what God is doing for you to work out His pur pose in redemption. The Spirit will
use your humble testimony, and oth ers will become hungry. You may find, sooner than you think, that you will have the opportunity to lead some needy soul to the Saviour, and you have become a soul-winner as well as a witness. It is true that witnessing in this way has its pitfalls. You may be tempted to excell even in humility, to glory in how sinful you are in order to make God’s redemption more sensational, or to think you enjoy witnessing when you just enjoy talk ing about yourself. However, a close walk with God is the cure for this too, and even the escape from this pitfall will redound to the glory of God because it is a part of the re demptive work of Christ. All Christians can be witnesses. If this were not the case God would not have called all Christians His wit nesses. Witnessing does require hon est dealing with God and a continual sensitivity to sin. However, these are the requisites for Christian living in general and are not special qualifica tions for witnessing. It is true that we don’t get much glory for this kind of witnessing, but that is what makes it so effective. END.
The Rev. Mr. Nelson is pastor of the Mission Covenant Church, Oakland, Calif. 15
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