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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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