What It Means To Witness

As Christians, we are called to further the Kingdom of God by spreading the Gospel—the Good News of Jesus Christ. But each of us experiences that good news differently. We are called to be witnesses, and “witnesses” can only testify to what they have personally seen or experienced. So, in a sense, when we share the Gospel with others—our experiences of God at work in our lives—we are sharing ourselves through our story, as well.

Many of us find that daunting, at best. Our reluctance may be based on two fears: failure and rejection. These have both been large stumbling blocks in my own life.

Overcoming Obstacles

Maybe we fear failure because we don’t think our writing and speaking abilities are good enough. We may not have the training, knowledge, or skill, we believe is necessary to succeed. In Acts 4, Peter and John were able to overcome this obstacle through the power of the Holy Spirit. And in verse 13 we are told, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

Secondly, some of us lack the confidence to share our personal stories because we fear what others will think of us. Maybe we think our story is uninteresting or embarrassing. Or worse yet, there are bad parts to our story that we are ashamed of. We may even feel those parts disqualify us from service, including talking to others about the Gospel.

Everyone has known brokenness. But hardship makes us stronger, suffering is a part of life, and we learn from our mistakes. Our brokenness, no matter how great, never need keep us from God’s presence. The Gospel is not about being good so we can be with God. It’s about being with God, so he can change us— transform us into who we are meant to be.

Ideas of the Shipwrecked

Our brokenness and God’s healing are incredibly powerful when we include them in our story. Our past may be someone else’s present. And by sharing our past struggles and downfalls, as openly as we can, our stories are deemed more genuine to those who hear them. Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset went so far as to say:

“These are the only genuine ideas, the ideas of the shipwrecked. All the rest is rhetoric, posturing, farce.”

The world is full of shipwrecked people. And there may be some out there who will listen to you and only you because everyone else’s words seem to them like rhetoric, posturing, and farce.

I will never forget the worst time in my life when I felt like a shipwreck. Hidden parts of my life were painfully exposed. For a while, it looked like my marriage was broken beyond repair. But God, in his graciousness, sent friends who shared their own shipwreck stories. Because they did, I listened to them, and God spoke to me through them. Since then, I have experienced miraculous healing within myself and within my marriage. We are meant to be witnesses, to show people the power of the Gospel. Sharing our stories can truly change lives.

What is keeping you from sharing your story? Be a living example and share how Christ has changed your life.