Witnesses – September 29, 2009

I just finished watching the film Taking Chance, which for me was one of, if not the most moving military film I have ever seen. Based on real events, the film follows the remains of a Private by the name of Chance Phelps, who fell in combat during his tour in Iraq and is escorted home by a Marine Lieutenant Colonel. While several aspects of the film were emotionally charged and profoundly insightful there is one quote that stood out to me. At one point in the film a Korean War Veteran is consoling Colonel Strobl, played by Kevin Bacon, and says: “You brought Chance home. You’re his witness now. Without a witness, they just disappear.” For reasons that I will try, and most likely fail to explain, these words cut to my heart.

In my recent studies the concept of witnesses has been a prevalent topic, particularly in Focus on the Family’s Truth Project and Lee Strobel’s film The Case for Christ. Both of these studies highlight the importance of eye witnesses. Just as in our contemporary justice system the observers of an event lend credibility to the account. The same holds true with the Bible. Five thousand men and their families witnessed Christ’s miracle with the fish and loaves. (Matt. 14:13-21) A countless number of people witnessed His scourging and crucifixion. (Matt. 27) Pinnacle to the Christian Faith, more than five hundred people witnessed the resurrected Christ. (1 Cor. 15:3-8) However what strikes me as more consistent than all of these is the witness of the twelve Disciples, who for three and a half years traveled, ate, slept, prayed, learned from and ministered with Jesus Christ; the Jesus who is LORD of the universe, Creator of creation, the tangible embodiment of the intangible God, the Messiah. It is what they saw, heard, lived and recorded that demonstrates for us what it is to be a Follower of Christ. For me this concept begs two questions.

First, are you witnessing Christ? Are you taking time everyday to learn His ways and walk in them. Returning to the military theme, each moment is a battle ground where we can advance with the Will of God, fall behind by doing our own will or get left behind by doing nothing. Paul in Philippians tells each of us to “work out your own salvation” (2:12) while God is completing His work in us. (1:6) Does that describe you, are you consistently growing in the characteristics that make you like Christ. If this is the case, than you are embracing your role as a disciple by mimicking what you have witnessed in the Messiah.

My second question is: who is witnessing you? Our lives are to reflect Christ so that those who don’t yet know Jesus may be directed to Him. So often we are like a playing card, at church and with Christian friends we show everyone our face so they know we are the ace of spades; but everywhere else we show our back so we can blend in with the rest of the deck. The tragedy is that those are the times that showing Christ is the most important, yet no one gets to witness it. I am not saying that you need to buy a soapbox and start thumping people in the street with a forty pound Bible, but rather that the actions of your life become consistent. St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel to all the world and if necessary use words.” This was the last command Christ gave us. “and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

If it weren’t for the faith and surrendered lives of early believers like Peter, John, Paul and Barnabas, the Christian influence would have disappeared off the face of the earth in the first century. Look around, now in the twenty-first century that influence as become endangered. Satan’s schemes permeate music, media, government, and whether we admit it or not, our lives. This is not because we haven’t said anything; the world has certainly heard our agenda. It is because we haven’t done anything, the world has not seen our surrendered lives. As we draw near to the end of the age, more than any other time we need to start acting like Christians, or more specifically acting like Christ. Without a witness our influence disappears. “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” (II Cor. 2:15)