Stephen
Terry, Director
Why Witness?
Commentary
for the July 4, 2020 Sabbath School Lesson
"When God saw what they
did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not
bring on them the destruction he had threatened. But to Jonah this
seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to
the Lord, 'Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home?
That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you
are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in
love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord,
take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
Jonah 3:10-4:3, NIV
What a great question. Why do we witness? Perhaps
it is intrinsic to our nature. We find a great restaurant, and we tell our
friends about it. We hear someone famous is coming to town, and we share the
news with our friends, who find our excitement contagious. They in turn pass on
both the news and the excitement to their friends. We discover a recipe that we
really like, and we share pictures of the finished dish and share its recipe
online so others can enjoy it. We share pictures of children, grandchildren,
pets, and family outings. We even freely share our political leanings, even
when others may not want to hear them. Let's face it. We like to share,
especially when it is well received. But even when it is not, we have a hard
time not sharing.
One of the things we like to share is our faith in
God. It fills us with joy and peace, and we want others to be able to feel that
joy and peace, also. But this sharing is different. We can enjoy a picture of a
kitten or of someone's meal without any commitment to ever owning a kitten or
cooking that meal ourselves. People understand this and do not ask others about
why they do not own that pet or cook that meal. But the problem with faith is
that it begs the question, "If it can make you feel this good, why would you
not want to commit to it?" And people begin to shy away because there is a
difference between appreciation and commitment.
But even then, there are many who pass from
appreciation to commitment when it comes to politics, and their commitment can
become so deep, it seems to be a matter of life and death, judging by the
conversations that take place on social media between individuals of differing
political perspectives. So, is the implied need for commitment to realize the
peace and joy really a meaningful impediment to sharing one's faith? What might
cause us to hold back? In some countries, it might be a capital crime to share
the Christian faith, and some might shrink from doing so to save their life or
the lives of their families. But what about in countries where there is no
serious barrier to sharing what we have discovered? Why would we not?
Several decades ago, as a teenager, I discovered
the joy of having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Prior to that, I had little
direction to my life, little sense of purpose. Perhaps this was because as
children, we were simply allowed to exist with little parental effort to give
our lives direction or goals. But one evening at a youth meeting, this
wise-cracking, disrespectful teen who went down on his knees to Christ, stood
up again a changed person. And it felt really, really good. "Changed" does not
mean I became perfect or holy, or had some kind of aura emanating from me. But
I now had a sense of purpose and direction I did not have before. From that day
until now, many decades later, impulses to be destructive toward myself and
others have slowly and continually dissolved to be replaced more and more with
compassion for others and a desire for them to experience the joy I have known.
This desire is not to race over the landscape with sword and steel like Richard
the Lionhearted or Saladin to convert others through conquest and bloodshed.
No, the desire is to make myself a servant to others who want to know more and
who are also seeking purpose and direction. Often, little is gained by driving
others to a course of action. More often, it plants a seed of rebellion, always
ready to sprout when adversity threatens.
Some see sharing their faith as a matter of
obligation, of obedience to the command found at the end of Matthew's gospel.[i]
However, from personal experience, the command seems unnecessary based both on our
natural desire to share and the joy that fills us once we come to Jesus.
Perhaps an important source of that joy is the gift of the Holy Spirit we
receive after repentance and baptism.[ii]
Functioning as an ephemeral mentor, the Spirit can give shape to that sense of
direction and purpose I discovered. We receive grace for our mistakes and
missteps, both intentional and accidental as we offer them up to Jesus. He
places them on the cross where we find freedom from the condemnation they
should naturally receive.[iii]
Even though I was a teenager when I came to Jesus, I still knew that what I had
been doing was wrong. I could see it written on the faces of those I had
wronged. I could see it in the emptiness I felt when I did wrong. Sure, I
pretended that I was having a good time, just like everyone else I was hanging
around with, but inside I had little sense of meaning to my life and guilt
plagued my thoughts. I did not understand that before God entered my life, but
it became abundantly clear through the contrast of my life afterwards with my
life before. It reminded me of when I got my first pair of glasses. I was so
near sighted that I had no idea that a person could see individual blades of grass
while standing up. Once I put those glasses on, my entire world view changed. I
discovered things that others, gifted with perfect vision, took for granted.
When I gave my life to Christ, I discovered the joy that many Christians also
seemed to take for granted. I do not mean this in a
negative way. They simply knew this is God's character and were comfortable in
their relationship with him.
Since I have always felt free to share my faith and
have done so, I have wondered for very many years, why some seem to shy away
from sharing, even though their nature makes them want to. Perhaps it derives
from their approach to sharing. Like Jonah, the prophet to Nineveh, they may
become caught up in the idea of judgment and doom. Fortified with charts of
ferocious prophetic beasts and timelines of devastating events, they desire to
preach doom for all mankind. But like Jonah, they discover that God is not
wanting to destroy anyone, but rather to save them from their destructive
course. Frustrated that the gloom and doom does not come to pass as they
predicted, they sit and fume like that prophet, refusing to bring their sharing
into harmony with God's compassion and grace toward mankind. Like Jonah, they
are so convinced of the rightness of judgment, they forget God's purpose is not
to judge mankind but to save them.[iv]
Our condition before we come to Christ and after is
so remarkably changed that the Bible calls it darkness and light. Jesus, the
light, shines into that darkness that we might find our way, a way other wise
obscured by the dark. I could no more see the steps I was taking and whether I
was on the correct path in that darkness than if I were a blind man trying to
feel my way along. That was indeed my only guide, my feelings. According to how
I felt at the moment, I would turn this way or that with little thought for
where It might ultimately lead. If it seemed like it might be fun or only
something different, I would do it with little thought for the consequences.
Too often, this meant I would hurt others, and they would sometimes hurt me.
This tendency can be deep-rooted in us and can take the Holy Spirit our
lifetime to overcome. The same emotions and feelings that drove me all over in
the darkness before are still wanting to continue their influence even after I
have given my life to something better. But the difference is now, there is an
inner voice questioning those choices and reminding me of the consequences of
similar choices in the past. I can no longer turn to my feelings alone with out
the question "Why?" being whispered in my mind.
For me, this is a reason for witnessing, for if
someone had not witnessed to me and led me to my knees before my Savior, I
would not have known the blessing I now know. And it was God's kindness, not
his judgment that made that happen.[v]
So unlike Jonah, we have a message to share. It is not about an apocalyptic
doom to come. It is about a hope that exists now. 24/7 the news tells us of all
the things we should fear, and filled with that fear, so many take up arms and charge
into the fray to defeat that menace as though their lives depended on it. But
those who have come to God know there is a different story. Even death cannot
overcome it. "Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or
nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death
all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced
that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor
the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39, NIV)
