Am I a witness?

The last words of Jesus were a call to witness to the ends of the Earth. As I worshiped with a bunch of pastors this morning, I found my heart reflecting on that call. As Jesus leaves this fledgling group of believers, His final reminder is not to develop strong leadership and great programs that will draw in the masses, but to stand as a witness and testify that there is one God who loves us and has redeemed our lives through the sacrifice of Jesus. I think that the moment we become more concerned about the "development" of Christian leaders, the moment our focus shifts to simply "sustaining" what we have, we are lost because we have lost the call of Jesus to be witnesses.

Now I know that I'm not the most loving relational person and that skews my perspective on the importance of community. I know that in 2 Timothy, Paul tells Timothy to pass on the Gospel that he has been entrusted with to other faithful, trustworthy men and women. Obviously, we must bring leaders to maturity, help Christians grow in their faith, and wrestle through caring for and creating genuine Christian community (see Acts 2)! But Jesus began his ministry (I will make you fishers of men) and ended it (You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the ends of the earthy) with a call to evangelism. There I finally said it, the dreaded "E" word. Without it we are lost - all the vision, all the hope, all the joy will be empty and short-lived if we are not witnesses for Jesus.

And I'm afraid that is what we have lost in Western Christianity. Praise God for those who are trying to bring it back. May we be witnesses for His glory. Amen.