Witness

I know, you are all thinking this post is going to be about that movie with Harrison Ford from the 80's with the scene of risque Amish bathing.  (I have only watched 43% of it due to always catching it on TV at the same point in the movie.)  To be honest, I've heard the movie is quite good and the bathing is, well, awkward.  And while I'm sure we could get into a lively discussion regarding the portrayal of the Amish in American cinema (or even in Mexican cinema)*, that is (sadly) not the focus of this post.  I had jury duty recently and it sparked a thought in my head regarding the word "witness" and why Jesus uses it in the first chapter of the book of Acts.

Now, when I say I had jury duty, I didn't actually get picked.  I did, however, have to sit through two different selection panels (we were later informed that the court hasn't used the same group for two selection processes in 11 years...we felt very honored to break the drought).  Both cases were civil cases.  In the one, an elderly woman was suing a circus clown who had allegedly eaten her dog's raincoat...I'm just kidding!  You know I can't talk about the case with you!  Had you going, though, didn't I?

Anyway, being in a courtroom got me thinking about the word "witness," as in: "and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8b).  Jesus sends his disciples off with the charge to be witnesses.  Witnesses for Him.  Witnesses in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth.  As a follower of Jesus, this idea of witnessing should be central to what we're all about.

I can remember growing up in youth group, even in college, and being at an event or outreach where we were given a crash course in how to witness to someone.  Or perhaps it was how to witness at someone.  Basically, we got tools on how to convince them to join our "team" and follow Jesus.  You could use your testimony, but only if you had sold drugs and harbored terrorists before coming to Christ (and then stopped doing those things as a result).  If you had a "boring" testimony you had to spin it in a way that you had a "hook."  The "hook"--I think someone thought this is what Jesus meant when he said he would make them "fishers of men"--was designed to reel people in (were we trying to trick them?) and get them to the point where you sealed the deal, they prayed the prayer, and you could put another notch in your WWJD Bible cover.  I never found this overwhelmingly effective.  {Side note: a telltale sign that this was not the best approach was when someone actually said, "Ok, yeah I want to do that," the person "witnessing" would respond with, "Wait, are you serious?!?"}  For me, it was a challenge because it seemed forced.  I mean, the story in the little pamphlet wasn't my story; I'm not sure it was anyone's story.  I felt like I was selling something that I didn't buy into; what made it more frustrating was the fact that I really did buy into it, I just couldn't sound convincing as a "witness."  When I would read through Acts, it didn't seem like the disciples needed all of this extra "help" to be witnesses, they just did it.

A witness, simply put, is someone who reports or testifies to what they have seen.  Now, there are people who use the courtroom example--as I used to--and state that a witness only gives testimony when they are asked to report in court.  I used this as an excuse to not have to talk about what I believed for a while, unless of course, someone asked me ("You there, talk about what you believe").  However, the disciples seemed to be witnessing all over the place, and they were frequently asked to give testimony in places that were not court.  I think the courtroom witness picture isn't always the most helpful (remember those movies where the witnesses get killed?!?).

What about someone who witnesses a baby being born?  Or someone who sees a dolphin jump out of the ocean firsthand (not on TV)?  What about someone who witnesses the beauty of the Northern Lights, or the sheer devastating power of a tornado?  You can't shut any of these people up.  They talk about what they have seen.  It changes them.  They are never the same after witnessing these moments.  Much like the disciples--who gathered on that mountain top, having witnessed the resurrection of their crucified, dead, and buried teacher--when we witness something powerful or amazing, it affects us in a deep way, far beyond what we say.

And witnesses don't need to convince anyone of anything.  I don't need you to verify for me that seeing Mt. St. Helens is an amazing sight--I know it is!  The disciples did not need anyone to convert anyone to vindicate their faith in Christ, they were testifying to what they had seen.  Sometimes, it even cost them their lives.  In fact, martys, the Greek word for witness, shows up all over the book of Acts and it is almost always translated as "witness" or "witnesses" except for Acts 22:20, where it is translated "martyr."  Stephen, who is referenced in the verse, witnessed to the life of Christ even in his own death.  The book of Acts is an account of how the followers of Jesus did what he asked them to do: they witnessed to the ends of the earth.  Sometimes they witness by preaching, other times by responding to questioning, sometimes in philosophical discussion groups, and other times by singing songs in jail.  When people saw them, how they lived and how they spoke, they believed because of their witness.

When we witness, then, there must be something greater at work than human strategy and clever packaging.  Witnessing is not a passive, selective activity.  Witnessing takes up our whole lives.  We are witnessing all the time; our behavior is always an indication of whether or not we have encountered the resurrected Jesus.  Are we always ready to give an answer for the hope that we have? (1 Peter 3:15)  Do we show enough hope that it begs the question?  Are our lives helping others gain a truer understanding of Christ, or are we simply muddying up the waters?

In my next post, I want to take a look at some of our methodology for "witnessing" or "sharing our faith."  Until then, I leave you with this story.  While at jury duty, thinking about being a witness (again, not about the movie, Witness), one of the potential jurors stood up and said that he needed to be excused from jury duty because of religious reasons.  This really piqued my curiosity, and I was tempted to ask the man what religion he ascribed to, before the judge beat me to it.  When the judge asked which religion the man followed that prevented him from serving on the jury, the man replied, "Christian."  I couldn't believe it.  I had just gotten excused from duty by playing my "It's too close to the birth of the baby my wife and I are adopting" card (which was true).  But had I known I could have played the Jesus card and gotten off, well I could have saved the baby card for another time!  I had no idea you could throw Jesus under the bus to get out of jury duty.

Please don't misunderstand me, everyone is entitled to their opinions, and this man clearly did not believe he could sit in judgment over someone else.  That opinion is fine, it may even be valid, but I don't think it's Christian.  I am pretty sure that we are the type of people Jesus would want on a jury.  People who value justice and mercy should be on a jury.  The New Testament writers urged their brethren to submit to the governing authorities, and jury duty is a part of our duty as Americans.  Wouldn't it be a far greater witness to serve on a jury than to use Jesus to get out of it?  Sadly, I think we are too quick to shirk our witness for the sake of getting out of anything difficult or inconvenient.  I, honestly, would have been honored to represent Jesus in that courtroom (as a jury-member mind you, I have committed no crime), I think it would have been yet another opportunity and venue to live out a faithful witness.   However, I would have never come to this conclusion if I hadn't sat in that courtroom that day and thought about what God expected of me as a witness.   So now, I look forward to any opportunity to faithfully witness to what I have seen, heard, and experienced from God...even if it means jury duty again in a year or so.

But I'd be lying if I said I'm not thankful that I don't have to miss the birth of my son because of some raincoat-eating clown.



*Actually, as of this posting, I have found no record of the Amish in Mexican Cinema.  Google, however, directed me to a movie about a Mennonite who lives in Mexico.  Seriously, Google?!?  Not even close!