Witnessing is opening my heart in a way that allows me to weep openly on the shoulder of another and let others weep openly on my own. It’s honest communion and loving in a way that the world cannot understand. It is about loving God with all my heart and soul and mind and strength and letting His love be the love in my own heart for others. As I’ve watched coverage of trials in the news this week, I’ve seen clearly the importance of a good witness. I’m not an attorney, but I can discern the difference between heart-felt testimony that simply states the truth with love and a witness with an agenda trying to sway the jury.
Witness isn’t about taking sides, pointing fingers, or making comparisons. God doesn’t need for me to defend Him, but He does want me to be a witness to His love. God doesn’t have to be sold as if He were the latest, greatest gadget guaranteed to fix all. Salesmen convince, cajole, and motivate others, and Satan is looking for slick sales representatives. God’s witnesses aren’t in the sales department although we often sound as though we are. Tracts, flyers, pitches, and pushing often take the place of a loving presence because it is much easier to sell than to witness.
There are a million ways to sell, but there is only one way to witness. Sales is about taking the truth and twisting it to benefit me and my agenda. It’s about bending, but not breaking the law. The same is true for sales when it comes to God. He’s been packaged and sold in so many ways that I couldn’t count them if I tried because new ways are constantly on the horizon. When I try to sell God, there is something in it for me. A sales commission in Christian ministry might be high contributions or large numbers in attendance. It may be a running list of those I’ve led to the Lord or an accounting of the hours I’ve spent working for God. When it comes to witness, all the credit and accolades go to God.
Measure is meaningless when it comes to witnessing. In a court of law, witnesses considered to be experts are paid for their time and effort. Many of God’s witnesses want the same reimbursement for their expertise. I want recognition, payment, compensation, or credit for my witness. I want others to know that I have gone out of my way, worked hard, and spent my valuable time winning souls for God. Those witnesses belong in sales.
God is love, and if I am to be His witness, I must be willing to be broken. Love breaks my heart in a beautiful way that allows me to be a loving presence, weep with those who are hurting, and let them hear me weep when I am hurt. Witnessing for God involves stripping away pretense, letting go of the need to be right, and being who God created me to be by loving myself and others as He does.
It’s not complicated, and I’m sure judges on this earth wished the same were true for witnesses in their courtrooms. God doesn’t need a courtroom here on earth because He knows the heart of everyone without having to hear any witnesses. God has a world filled with His children, and we are all in desperate need of Him. Witnessing is designed to feed, fill, and free all His children. Love shared in a way that glorifies Him changes everything as only an honest, loving witness can.
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