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withnessing*
by
john o'keefe
if
I were to offer to you a fantastic, once in a life time opportunity
where you could not loss at all - and you needed to do was act right now - no
waiting, right now - what would you do? - what would you say? if your like most of us you would take the
advise we have been given most of our lives - "if it's too good to be
true - it is" or, "if you have to accept right now,
without investigation - don't, there is always a catch" good
advise, right? after all, we have all heard the stories of being
ripped-off; real-estate investments turned sour; stock market
fraud; investor rip-offs; we have heard them all and we are very
cautious of anything that "sounds too good to be
true." we all know this, and we teach it to our kids;
if we know this, why do we as a church tell people -
"accept Christ today, you never know what will happen tomorrow;
eternal live is waiting for you, and if you wait too long the
deal is off."
this comes from our being told - "witness" to people - it is
the "great commission."
the
word "witness" is a noun - it is defined as a "person
who gives evidence or testimony" what I find interesting is
the fact that nowhere in scripture does it tell us to only witness - we
are to help make disciple - that requires something different, something stronger,
some thing more, something like - "withnessing."
the
word "with" is a preposition (prepositions are words that
connect the noun and the action taking place) which means "in the company
of, among, as an addition to, because of, in the same direction of, at
the same time, on the same side." "ness" being a
suffix that relates to a condition of being, action or behavior.
so, a withness is one that is in the condition of being with, the action
of being with or the behavior of being with. - a withness is one who
takes a person along a faith journey, and helps them see how faith will
work in their lives. it is the same system that Jesus used with
the disciples, and the disciples used with each other, and others.
it does require a bit of involvement on the part of all
believers. because, as i believe, sharing our faith is a
requirement of all who claim to be followers of Christ.
they key for me is the driving force behind the sharing of our
faith.
in
john 2:38-39 Jesus is approached by his first disciples. when they
asked where he lived, Jesus replied - "come and see."
now Jesus could have taken out the scripture and quoted all the
scripture that told of who he was, and what was going to happen - but he
did not. what he said was - "come with me and I will show you
a way of life that which rock your world." that is what we
care called to do with those seeking to know God and to see who Jesus is in
their lives.
now
I will be the first to admit that being a witness is a whole lot easier
then being a withness - but being a withness is so much more fulfilling
- it will rock your world. to be a withness here are some of the
major points you need to know -
being
a withness requires you to invest emotionally into creating
a true and honest friendship with those you walk with. you must
get to know the person you are walking with, and they need to get to
know you - faults and all. your walk must not be based on any
other motive but to know the person - so, if you are wanting to
know people to "share the faith" or "grow your
church" you are coming to the table with a motive - and
your friendship will stop as soon as you achieve your
goal. if we look at churches, and the people who have
left, we find that many leave because they fell like a number -
to truly be with someone means you desire to know them and will
be their friend no matter what.
being
a withness requires a great deal of time, and possible resources.
a true withness is one you can call at 3:00 am and ask for a ride home,
and they come to get you - no questions asked. if you get a call
at 1:30am from a friend and they are drunk - do you go and pick
them up? do you do it and give them a lecture on the evils
of drink? of do you pick them up, take them home and check
on them the next day - just to make sure they are all
right?
being
a withness requires you go beyond self, and enter the selfless.
if you dislike a person, for what ever reason, that is the person you
need to approach - you need to know the unloved, and love the unknown.
you need to put aside your ideas of what is and is not a
"good christian" and get dirty - all are called to
serve and to be humble in that service.
being
a withness requires that you build community - home
groups, cell groups, study groups - it does not matter what you call
them, the idea is the same - build community where people are invited to
join and encouraged to grow. it means you open your home to all
who desire to enter - all - even the unclean and the hurting.
being
a withness requires that we stop being check book people, and
start being date book people. stop writing check to some
group to feed the hungry - get out there and help feed the hungry; stop
writing checks to "help those in need" - get dirty and
help those in need.
withnessing
is a way of helping people see Christ in you, and knowing that you are
in Christ. it is not "doing good deeds" - it is helping
to change lives in community while going beyond self limits and allowing
God to alter who you are at your core - withnessing is faith in action.
withnessing is not trying to "make a christian" it is
"being christian."
withnessing
will cause you pain and it will get you dirty - but if we tell
people that a relationship with Christ has truly changed our lives, we
must be willing to show that it truly has. it is not just stating
facts, or giving tracts - it is helping and committing to people in the
love of Christ. the idea that sharing our faith is the call of
just a "called few" is so not the way it truly is - we
are all called to share our faith - and sometimes we just might
have to use words - but when our faith is so much a part of who
we are, we share our lives with others - and our faith comes out
in our walk.
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