Without an active and effective witness in the world the church is dead in the water – its doors will close one day. I’m not talking about the church universal; God will always have a group of His people who will risk everything for the sake of the gospel. However, as an individual part of that church, Calvary could cease to exist one day if we shut down our witness to the community. Jesus’ words to His disciples are appropriate and applicable to us…

³⁴…If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses him life for my sake and the gospel’ will save it. (Mark 8:34-35 ESV)

Jesus is describing a believer who is willing to give up everything, including life, instead of saving themselves for comfort or fear or convenience or whatever excuse. These are the type of people who keep the church alive and thriving; they are the ones who “keep the doors open.” Think about it – if we don’t reach people who are unsaved then eventually nobody will be left.

Friends, we have a tremendous, God-provided opportunity right in front of us. Building a building doesn’t reach a community; it just puts us providentially and strategically in a good place. If we stand back and think we’ve done a good job and now God can “bring them in” then we are missing the point of being a church. Being a church means, at least in part, being a witness. And that is where the fear comes in. Let me put our fears to rest. By saying four things.

First, the results are not up to us. As Paul pointed out to the Corinthian congregation, he planted, Apollos watered, but God harvests (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:5-9). So breathe easy, the pressure is off. It’s all on God and He’s good at what He does. He saved us didn’t He?!

Second, and I can’t stress this enough, get into the Bible and study God’s promises. Hopeful people look hopeful and hopeless people will notice and ask why we are so hopeful. The best way I can tell you to be an effective witness is to get happy in God, and the only way we are going to get happy in God is to be saturated with His Word.

Third, build meaningful relationships. The normal way God opens a door for witnessing is through people we know. It may be somebody in your family, somebody you work with, somebody you play with (you know, shopping, golf, shooting guns, or skydiving), or somebody who lives across the street. Just figure it out.

Fourth, pray hard and long. Pray like everything depended on God, oh, yeah, everything does. Pray for yourself and others. Pray for wisdom and courage. Pray for an occasion. Let’s pray for one another and share our stories. It’ll be beautiful!

Grace & Peace,