The Cost of Witness (2)

I have titled our reflections on John 15:18 – 16:4, the Cost of Witness, for it seems to me that Jesus is saying to us that to love Him and love others, which must result in witness, will cost us dearly. This passage flows from what precedes it and into what naturally follows it, it does not stand alone. No passage in the Upper Room stands alone anymore than any passage in Scripture stands alone. Let us ponder this passage in the knowledge that to love others entails losing our lives for them (15:13); just as the Father gave His only begotten Son, He continues to give all of His sons and daughters, let us be mindful of our calling in Christ. 

When I was a lad in Christ (I met Jesus when I was 15 years old), I was well aware of John 16:2, “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.” This was one of the earliest passages embedded in my soul, along with the Call to Discipleship of Mark 8:34 – 38. I believed what Jesus said and it never occurred to me to doubt Him. One result of this is that when I shared Jesus with others, and was rebuffed, that it didn’t surprise me. Some folks accepted the Good News and others didn’t, this did not surprise me. 

No one had to tell me to share Jesus with others, I shared Jesus because He was changing my life and it was evident in the Bible that we are commanded to share the Gospel. I shared Jesus with friends, with classmates, with adults I met; after all, a coworker at my after-school job had shared Jesus with me, ought I not share Him with others? I never thought about whether I should tell others about Jesus any more than I ever thought about growing an ear or a nose – it was natural. 

It never occurred to me not to read the Bible and it never occurred to me not to witness. I devoured the Bible, I found life and purpose and love in the Scriptures. Why don’t we expect young people to read the Bible? Why don’t we expect adults to read the Bible? What have we done to ourselves? Why don’t we share Jesus Christ with others? 

Rather than make excuses we ought to return to our first love, or for many of us, find the love we have never known (Revelation 2:1–7).

And let me be clear about something that I’ve been pondering for a few years, our mission is not to propagate a worldview, it is to preach and teach Jesus Christ, it is to bring Jesus to others and to bring others to Jesus. A “Christian” worldview is not a substitute for Jesus and the Gospel, a Christian worldview is not the Gospel. People can have a Christian worldview (whatever that may be) and not know Jesus Christ. 

It seems to me that our churches are playing T-Ball when we should be playing baseball. We are like little ones playing organized soccer for the first time in a recreational league, there is nothing organized about it, we are running all over the pitch in utter chaos, making “own goals” along the way. This is what happens when we are not formed by the Word of Christ, we are without form and void – we may say we are rich, but that is an illusion (Rev. 3:1–6, 14–22).

As I said, as I was coming to know Jesus I shared Him with classmates and friends. Some were noncommittal but encouraging, for they could see the change in me. Some came to know Jesus. Others rejected Him…at least in that season of life, hopefully they have come to know Him since then. I can still see myself sitting on the platform at the base of our high school flagpole, it was a raised concrete square. I was reading my pocket New Testament and Psalms when one of my best friends, Frank, came up and knocked it out of my hand with a few choice words. I never understood why, but he was infuriated that I had come to know Jesus. 

While I was living and going to school in D.C. when I met Jesus, I had friends back in Rockville, MD who had been part of my life. I recall gathering a small group of them one evening in the room of a church in the area in order to share Jesus with them. By this time my best friend had also come to know Jesus and also shared Him that evening. I still recall one of our friends with us in that room, he had attended church all his life and couldn’t understand the idea that Jesus wants a personal relationship with us. Well, I could understand his confusion because I also had attended church at one time and had never heard anything about a relationship with Jesus. 

It never occurred to me not to share Jesus because I might be rejected, Jesus said I’d be rejected.

One of the things that did surprise me as a teenager was that adults who I assumed knew Jesus, or who I thought would be glad that I had met Jesus, were not that keen on what I had to say. I still recall one family member who dearly loved me, and who would always love me and give me mercy and grace, saying to me, “You’ll get over this.” This was one of the few times this dear woman was wrong. 

I also remember a meeting I had with the associate pastor of a church in Georgetown (D.C.), it was of the denomination in which I had been nominally raised. I wanted to meet with him because I wanted to find a church to attend. However, early into the meeting I realized that we had a disconnect. He wanted to talk about liturgy and the church year and vestments (and gave me a booklet about those things), and I wanted to talk about Jesus and the Bible. I never went back to that church. 

When I was in the Army, in Basic Training, in Infantry Training, and at my permanent duty stations, it never occurred to me not to share Jesus. I still recall my first night in Basic Training at Fort Bragg, NC. I had a decision to make when it was time to hit the bunks for sleep, and I knew I needed to make it right then. I knelt at my bunk for prayer. I wanted my first day in the Army to include my testimony for Jesus. 

Now let me be clear about something, and I’ll use Basic Training as an example. My life was far from perfect. I didn’t always get things right and I didn’t even always try to get things right. But sharing Jesus with others was important for them whether the vessel sharing Him was getting it right or not. Yes, for sure our actions matter, we want to bear good fruit, but when we mess up, in Christ we have forgiveness and reconciliation and we can model redemption to others even in our weaknesses, stupidity, and outright disobedience. We can show the world what reconciliation looks like in Jesus Christ. 

Like a fool, one night I went to the enlisted men’s club and had a few beers. The thing was that I wasn’t used to beer. I don’t know that I had had more than one beer my entire life up until that time, if that. That night I had beer with dinner and boy did I get good and drunk; drunk as in sick. I’ll spare you the details, but the next morning I was dealing with guilt and shame and a mess to clean up. 

Thankfully there was another man in the platoon who knew the love of God in a way that I hadn’t yet realized, and in the midst of my terrible theology that my salvation was in question, he came alongside me and spoke to me of God’s love in Christ and that I was secure in Christ, that what Christ had begun in me that He would complete. 

As I reflect back, it strikes me that not one of the men in my platoon made fun of my stupidity (I was likely the youngest man in the unit by far, having enlisted a few weeks after turning 17). Nor did my Drill Sargent make fun of me – I’m sure I wasn’t the first one to make a fool of himself. 

My fellow soldiers knew I felt bad about what I had done, and we went on with life, meaning that I went on sharing Jesus with them. Even in our stupidity, we can show others the Way of Jesus. 

This reminds me of a time when I was CFO of a firm in Richmond, VA. I was on the phone with one of our commercial tenants (we were a property developer and management company) and the conversation escalated into a shouting match. We hung up on each other with a “BANG!”

As soon as I slammed the phone down, I thought, “What have I done?”

Knowing that my staff had just heard what occurred, I immediately went out of my office and walked down the hall, going into every office and apologizing for what I had just done. Then I called the tenant back and apologized, asked his forgiveness, and we had a remarkably good conversation in which I offered to help him out of a tough financial situation. 

My point is that when we get it wrong, we have an opportunity to witness by showing others how Christ redeems and forgives us, and how we can reconcile with others. Saying “I am sorry,” and “Please forgive me,” and “I was wrong,” can be a powerful testimony in a world gone crazy with hate and anger and a refusal to accept responsibility. When saying these things, it is critical not to make excuses, not to justify ourselves, not to seek the easy way out.

Friends, the point is that we are called to put Jesus and others before ourselves, and if we mess up we need to get over it and move along because life isn’t about us it is about Jesus Christ and others coming to know Him. We need to get over ourselves and get on with Jesus and loving others enough to share Jesus with them, and loving Jesus enough to share Him with others. 

I have never shared with a group, whether in person or in writing, about my experience with beer in Basic Training. I share it now in the hope that it may help someone. Of course I realize that I am likely the only person to ever have such an experience. I have shared it a few times with individuals in order to help them through something they’re dealing with, but never with a group. I will never forget the other solider who came alongside of me to share the love of Jesus and His forgiveness with me, I was so insecure in Jesus, I had no idea how much He loved me. I forgot the soldier’s name, but I can still see his face. 

I am sharing these things for a few reasons, perhaps for more reasons than I realize. One is that I want you to know this is not some theological game with me, it is the essence of life in Christ. The other is that I haven’t been, nor am I now, perfect. This is about Jesus and His grace and not about how well we do things, not about techniques, not about selling something to someone. We have the Water of Life and shame on us if we are not offering it to folks dying of thirst (whether they realize it or not). 

Another reason is that in a forthcoming reflection I want to share about a mistake I made as a pastor when it comes to encouraging folks to share Jesus.

I hope something here has helped someone.

Much love,

Bob