Wednesday: Be a Fruitful Witness
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in their eternal council before the foundation of the world
(Eph. 1:4), laid the plan of salvation. That is, even before the first human was created and, of course, before the first humans sinned, God had a plan in place to rescue the world.
Image © Darrel Tank from GoodSalt.com
The plan is rooted in the cross, and the good news of the cross must be told to everyone in the world. The responsibility of that witness is placed on every Christian.
You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth
(Acts 1:8, NKJV). The final charge of Jesus underscores the importance the Lord placed on the witnessing role of His followers.
What lessons must those in Christian witness learn from the parable of the sower and the soil? Luke 8:4-15.
What and when is the reward of the one who witnesses? Luke 18:24-30.
What does the parable of the minas (Luke 19:11-27) teach about faithfulness and responsibility in witnessing?
In each of these texts, and others, the dangers, the responsibilities, and the rewards of witnessing and faith are revealed. We have been charged with a solemn responsibility; but considering what we have been given, how little is really asked of us?
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I won't give the popular view about the parable of the minas and thus it won't fit the idea that it has something to do with 'responsibility in witnessing' although it does have something to do with faithfulness.
The story of the minas is about being faithful to God and not following our Master (read 'employer') in doing unsavory business even though we know this will cost us dearly. God doesn't want us to have Usury as a business model, ask interest when we loan money and he wishes for us to be able to reap where we have sown and not that it is stolen from us. The 'wicked' servant is the hero in this story.
About Loans & Interest:
Deut 23: 20
Neh 5:7
Psalms 15:5
Ezekiel 18:8
The people surrounding Jesus would have understood this story as it happened a lot that people were forced to sell their property before the harvest because of loans that they could not pay, as the interest at the time was somewhere between 10 and 20%. So the lender would 'harvest where he didn't sow'.
The moral of this story: Don't follow the majority in doing wrong (Exodus 23:2)
The storehouse is for God's work, and we are all his priests. I absolutely believe interest charged to the churches is biblically wrong. The time of the end is at hand, break open the storehouse and make sure the churches can do the last days mission. A time is coming when no work can be done, and our reserves will be raided for greed by the Antichrist. I pray we, as Isreal can look the dragon in the eye and say -- we spent it all on the gospel.
The profit is weighed in saved souls not saved capital.
Why are believers required to follow closely the Lamb? (Revelation 14:4) What makes necessary all the faithfulness in cross-bearing, self-denial (Like 9:23), witnessing (Mark 16:15), enduring persecution (Matthew 5:10), and all the other stringencies and difficulties (Matthew 7:13)? Why could not the sinner just believe, and be sheltered or spared, not having to put up with anything inconvenient (like witnessing) or get involved in anything strenuous (like witnessing)?
Salvation is not about escaping a raging fire which is burning out of control. Rather it is about returning to a former state. Christians are pardoned not to avoid fire, but to prepare for it. Three Hebrew youngsters in Babylon were prepared by closely following the Son of God, representing Him and their loyalty to Him. By the time the test came they were fire-proof (Daniel 3:27).
Those who need a fire escape are in serious trouble. To the rebellious God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28, 29), and so the wicked are slain by the brightness of His coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
The inconvenient and uncomfortable fire-proofing activity which the saints are required to endure prepares them for living in the presence of an eternal flame (Isaiah 33:14).
Rather than regret the redeemed will reflect and rejoice that they were loved and forgiven sinners saved by grace, who were privileged to share in Christ's sufferings and hardships.
When Jesus was about to go into Jerusalem in His triumphal entry His disciples began to get excited and were loudly praising God and glorifying Jesus. Some of the Pharisees got a bit annoyed at the display and called to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples" (Lk. 19:39 NKJV). The reply they got was, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out" (Lk. 19:40 NKJV).
At the first advent angels were the ones that made sure the wise men got to Bethlehem and they were the ones that announced the message of the messiah to the shepherds. At the cross even the elements of nature testified to the horror of what was being done to Jesus. So the natural question is why are we commissioned to be witnesses when these greater beings can do the job?
I would like to offer several possibilities:
I am sure there are many more but these are good starting points. The first one has to do with the sin problem and probably one reason why God had His prophets write the Bible rather angels or for God to do it Himself. We are naturally afraid of the supernatural. Just look at the many times when God's chosen ones were flat on the ground trembling when they were before the almighty. As the children of Israel told Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die" (Exod. 20:19 NKJV). The same happens when man is confronted with angels (Rev 19:10; Rev 22:9) so there is a natural barrier that rises between man and anything greater than himself. Even pastors find a wall being erected when they try to witness. It is one of the consequences of the fall in Eden where fear enters in the place of love. Our personal witness gets around that barrier.
The second one is a matter of training to be a citizen of Heaven. In that place created beings do as God does when it comes to moral judgments. Man cannot create like God can but he can be merciful and loving similar to how God is. Like the tithe, witnessing and caring for others breaks the selfishness prison we are in. It also forces us to be more aware of our influence on others.
If all else fails it at least gets us to make a firm decision about what side we are on. It is hard to be a fence straddler when we must give an account for our beliefs that we voice.
Another question that often comes to my mind concerns what our witness should consist of. When Jesus was on earth He bore witness to the Father in Heaven and I think one of the greatest statements He ever made about that was, "In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you" (Jn. 16:26-27 NKJV). It has been said that one of the favorite themes of Jesus was the paternal love of the Father and perhaps that should similarly be our witness to Jesus.
Ever since the fall the human family has been in constant fear of God, most of it being prodded on by the Devil who wishes to create a separation between man and his God. He has therefore blasted us with some of the most insane doctrines that paint God as a diabolical blood thirsty despot. A lot of the same has been done to Jesus by those who hate any thought of a higher being to whom we must be accountable. So to me we have our work cut out for us to get people to see a loving God who does not outrightly condemn, who wishes everyone would choose to be with Him and be a valuable member of God's family.
To me it was not absolutely necessary for Jesus to die on a cross in order to save us for the sovereign God who answers to no one can do what He wants without question but the problem lays in our acceptance of His proffered salvation. The cross gives us a legal reason for believing in that provision and shows us the love He has for us. It is something that we can believe in because it is tangible like a written pardon from a governor that we can grab on to in full faith. So the cross not only answers one of the main questions of the controversy but also gives us a reason for believing in His promises and that to me that is a definite part of our witness to Jesus. "Jesus loves me this I know because the Bible tells me so."
One of the abiding principles of the Gospel, is that for it to be effective in our lives it must be shared with others. The big picture that the Parable of the minas is telling us is that keeping the Gospel to ourselves and not sharing it is just plain wrong. I like to think of that when I am tempted to be drawn into arguments that define our truth (doctines). Over the years we have invested heavily in arguing about the nature of Christ, the composition of the Godhead, the relationship of faith and works; but in all these arguments have we considered how we are to share the good news of the Gospel.
There is a time to discuss, argue and debate, but if that is all we do, we are keeping the Gospel to ourselves rather than sharing it with others. We have been given/learned/accepted truth. But with that truth comes responsibility to share and if we miss that bit then we do not have it to share. That is the lesson of this parable for me.
for the end to come then good news of kingdom must be spread.