Your Journey As a Witness by Bill Wilson
Remember when we were younger, we would play doctor, or cowboy or house or some such thing. In this time frame, much of the "Church" is playing church. It's all about the numbers, paying the pastor, increasing the worship team, the new building fund, whatever. This keeps everybody thinking they are busy and doing something for the Lord. And they are, it's just not necessarily the Lord's best plan for them.
Many have been asking me how to witness; are the "little people" able to do this, or do they have to have a big time ministry. We talk about this very subject quite a bit among our small church group. I encourage everyone to minister where they are. We are all called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do our part.
Too many people are just playing church. They are going to services; worship like everyone else beside them; often get encouraged and they go home and return to their lives. During the week, they might go to their Wednesday service, a prayer meeting or some group they belong to. It's inside the walls of the church back to inside the walls of their homes, and not much mixing with the real world.
Like a good marriage, you can't just play house, you have to work at it. Same principles apply. First, be an example. Second, communicate, not in a preachy way, but in a common sense, biblical-based way. Make sense.
Creating disciples is not always knocking on doors and handling out tracts (I'm guilty-have done that a lot), but rather it's relationship building and relationship management. To me, it's heart to heart-treating others as you would like to be treated, and in doing so, making the case for Christ with words, actions, and by example.
In our church, we have a man who because he was in academia, has a lot of liberal, unbelieving friends. His ministry is very difficult because he gets put down, ridiculed and ostracized. But he keeps trying-some sow, some water, some harvest.
Another lady in our church works in a very diverse dental office. She gets to witness, in her way, to Jews, Muslims, and, yes, Christians.
Another ministers through her contacts in the horse industry as well as to members of her family.
Yet another does hair. The people who sit in her chair get to talk about things that lead to Christ and his ways-either subtly or more directly.
One man in our church witnesses quietly in his place of work. He is widely respected and asked to say the prayer now at workplace gatherings.
All these outreaches count. They change peoples' lives. You can do it, too. We have to remember that God's word does not return void and that each of us is a joint that supplies according to our measure to make increase in the body. Every journey starts with the first step. We can take a step of faith, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in pursuing God's plan for us.
If you want to witness, seek the Lord and have Him show you the way that we join together in what James 1:22 says to "be doers of the word and not hearers only."
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