California. He called the police one evening and told them he had been
robbed of over $300 as he was closing up that night.
The police questioned him and he was able to give the police sketch artist a
detailed description of the suspect. The artist was impressed with the
amount of detail Martin was able to give him and in a short time he had
drawn the face of the robber.
When the artist finished he was surprised to notice that the drawing looked
very much like the victim Thomas Martin. The police questioned him further
and he confessed that he had stolen the money himself.
You see, the thing with being an accurate witness, is that you actually do
have to "witness" something. In the world of religion the word "witness" has
come to mean "sharing something we know about God." The problem is that to
be an accurate witness we must experience something ourselves, before we can
share it or "testify" about it.
Lloyd Ogilvie once said: "That only the things that have happened TO us can
happen THROUGH us." Reread that quote and let it sink in for a moment. The
concept is that the Gospel message is a personal message. It is a personal
witness or testimony about what has happened TO us. If it hasn't happened to
us personally, then there is no way we can pass that message through our
lives to others.
Our world is longing for peace, comfort and strength, but those things can
only be shared by those who have allowed God to touch their lives. Maxie
Dunnam wrote one time: "Christianity brings peace, but it is often only
Christ's presence in our Gethsemane. Christianity brings strength, but more
often than not it is strength to bear our pain when our thorn in the flesh
is not removed." Christianity brings peace, but often on the Jericho road,
where we have been beaten down or when we identify with the bleeding
stranger, who I believe is a portrayal of Jesus among our world.
I shared with our church family last week; that I don't believe people are
much interested in how much bible we can quote to them. Rather, they want to
know what difference God has made to our lives. We can only share with
others through our lives, the things that have happened to us.
So, what kind of a witness are you? Are you only telling the story, or are
you living the story, because God has touched your life? That's the
difference we see in the lives of the early disciples. When Jesus said in
Matthew 28, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel," they went and
they were successful, because people could see what had happened to them
through their very lives!
Again, what kind of a witness are you? Just maybe it's time to reconnect to
the one who can change lives, Jesus Christ our Savior!
Russ Lawson
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