REFORMED WITNESS
Volume XIV, May 2006, Number 5
Christian Witnessing
By Prof. H. Hanko
From the May 15 and June 1, 1973, issues of The Standard Bearer
Introductory Note
The contents of our column in this issue are the substance of a speech delivered for a Mr.-and-Mrs. League Meeting held last month. Since the speech is concerning a matter which properly belongs to subjects treated in this rubric, we thought it appropriate to include a written draft in our column.
The treatment of the subject of Christian Witnessing in this article must not be considered exhaustive. There are aspects of witnessing which are not mentioned. There is first of all, e.g., the whole subject of the witnessing which is carried on by the Church as a whole. I refer specifically to such work as is being done by our radio broadcasts, our Standard Bearer and Beacon Lights, the programs of our local congregations in pamphlet distribution, etc., and it would be a mistake to de-emphasize the importance of this work. There is also the whole subject of so-called "corporate witnessing" advocated strongly by some, and a form of witnessing which takes place through various Christian organizations. This is a subject in its own right which is not treated within the scope of this article.
The article is intended rather to concentrate upon the individual believer's calling to be a witness; and to lay down guidelines and Scriptural principles which ought to be followed. Nor is it our intention to overlook the positive Christian witness which is made constantly by our people and our Churches in the establishment and maintenance of Christian day schools, the support of various kingdom causes such as our Theological School, the faithful attendance at divine worship services - all of which are means of witnessing in their own right, which have far greater effects than we can measure. In all these things we ought to give humble thanks to our covenant God Who has enabled us to perform all these tasks to His praise and glory.
Christian witnessing is a subject of considerable interest in our day. There are several reasons for this. One such reason is that various movements have emphasized this aspect of the Christian's calling very strongly. This is being so emphasized that it is in fact gradually becoming a substitute for the preaching of the gospel. Assuming that Scripture indeed calls us to be witnesses in the world, the discussion has also been carried on within our own Churches. The question naturally arises: How can we be such witnesses?
It is plain that this is indeed our calling, as stated in such passages as Isaiah 43:10 and 12: Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. It is also true that we are not always as faithful in our calling as we ought to be. Nevertheless, I am afraid that we are sometimes tempted to follow the methods of modern evangelism. We must be on our guard against this.
The Character of Christian Witnessing
Before we actually enter into a discussion of our specific calling to be witnesses, we must understand clearly what Christian witnessing is. There might be some who are impatient with this discussion. I have heard it said, e.g., that we spend so much time in discussing the theological questions involved that we never get around to the actual task of witnessing. Whether there is truth to this assertion or not, the fact is that unless we understand clearly Scripture's teaching on this subject, we shall go badly astray. This is evidenced on the one hand by the fact that much of today's witnessing proceeds from a humanistic (man-centered) viewpoint. The subject revolves around what man must do, what man accomplishes, how man responds, etc. There are any number of expressions which bear this out. In connection with witnessing, one hears, e.g., such expressions as, "confronting others with the challenge to accept Christ"; "zeroing in on one's prospect"; "techniques for soul winning"; "pushing for a decision"; "confronting America with Christ"; "sharing Christ with all men"; "winning the world for Christ." I consider all such expressions as completely Arminian and thoroughly anti-scriptural both in their wording and in the theology, which they imply. Such witnessing is not the calling of the Christian and is directly contrary to the Word of God.
It is of the utmost importance that over against all this humanistic emphasis we be theological also in the matter of witnessing. We must begin with God, proceed throughout from the viewpoint of God and His purpose, and end with God alone. Only then will we fulfill our calling.
This subject is important too, because the general direction witnessing takes today makes of witnessing a substitute for the preaching. Not only are all Christians called evangelists, but by this terminology the distinction between the official preaching of the Word by an ordained ministry and the Christian witnessing of believers is blurred and erased. In fact, so common is this becoming that there are trends even to discard the preaching altogether in favor of evangelism and personal witnessing. Some organizations make recommendations for evangelistic programs. In connection with the sermons they include: invitation from the pulpit to invite unsaved neighbors and friends to the worship service; sermons on how to witness; short sermons for children in addition to the regular sermon; giving persons the opportunity to present personal testimonies or make a personal commitment during the service. In connection with congregational involvement the recommendations include: allow more people more voice in outreach services to society; allow more involvement for small children; make a place in the services for more expressions of joy and gladness; more openness of faith and not such a formal setting for the church service; more congregational involvement during the service. We have also reported before in our magazine how some are advocating a complete dismemberment of the present church structure and worship service so that personal witnessing may be more effective.
We must get straight what is the relation between preaching and witnessing. It is possible, I presume, to get bogged down in this discussion. (Here too the complaint is often made that we have put so much emphasis on the preaching of the gospel that we have in effect denied the Christian's calling to witness. I do not believe this objection is true, but there it is, the complaint is often made.)
If we are to formulate a definition of Christian witnessing, we might do so along the following lines: Witnessing is the calling of the Church of Christ to testify through her members of the riches of the Word of God to those with whom these members come into contact, believing that God will use that Word according to His own purpose in Christ. There are several elements of importance implied in this definition.
In the first place, we must be clear on the point that God is the only One Who can witness. We mean by this especially two things. On the one hand God is the only One Who can witness of Himself. He alone can speak of Himself and make Himself known in all the riches of His own divine being and in all the works which He has determined to do. On the other hand, even when God calls us to be His witnesses, God Himself witnesses through us. He gives us the spiritual ability to know the truth; He gives us the words we must speak. He presents the opportunity and occasion for witness, and He alone can make that witness bear the fruit which He has intended.
In the second place, God's witness of Himself is recorded in the Holy Scriptures. He has caused the testimony of Himself to be infallibly set down by holy men in His Word. Here then is the standard of all truth and the only content of our witnessing as well. It is clear, therefore, that when we witness, we witness of God. This is surely what the passage which we quoted above from Isaiah 43 means when it says, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord..."
In the third place, this witness has been entrusted to the Church. There is a rather significant passage in Luke 24:48 in this connection. We read there and in the foregoing verses: "Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things." There are some interesting features about this text. It is true of course that this passage refers particularly to the fact that the preaching of the gospel was committed to the apostles, and through them to the New Testament Church. But the truths set forth in this passage are applicable also to the matter of witnessing.
It is primarily stressed in the text that the apostles' ability to understand the Scriptures was dependent entirely upon the fact that the Lord opened their understanding. Without this work of grace it was impossible for them (and it remains impossible for us) to know the truth of the Word of God. Secondarily, the Apostles were (with the understanding of the Scriptures given to them) made witnesses of all that the Scriptures say. They were of course personal witnesses to the events of the life, death and resurrection of Christ. But they were called to be witnesses, that is to testify, of these things in their future work. The point is driven home, therefore, that for the people of God to be witnesses of God and Christ, it is necessary that they possess spiritual understanding of the Scriptures - understanding of such a kind that it gives them personal acquaintance with Christ Himself through the Word of God.
Thus the calling of the Church to witness is a calling given to the Church as a whole, but also is the particular calling of each individual member who stands in the office of believers.
This brings us to another question concerning the relationship between witnessing and the preaching. It is important to maintain this distinction, especially when the lines between the two are being more and more blurred in our day, when in fact preaching is being abandoned in favor of witnessing.
The distinction is principally between the preaching, which is the official proclamation of ordained office-bearers by which God calls His elect people out of darkness into light, and witnessing, which is the testifying of each member of the church of the inheritance that he possesses in Christ.
There is the closest possible relation between the two.
Preaching is first of all the spiritual power of witnessing. It is through the preaching that the people of God are enabled to be witnesses of God in the world. Separated from the preaching, true witnessing is impossible. Secondly, preaching and witnessing complement each other. The content of preaching and witnessing is the same. Believers preach through the instituted offices in the church, while they witness in the office of believers. Both are the work of God, which He performs within the Church. Thirdly, witnessing serves the Church and the truth of God. Witnessing may and can bring others to the Church of Christ. Our Heidelberg Catechism speaks of this in Lord's Day XXXII, Question and Answer 86:
Q. Since then we are delivered from our misery, merely of grace, through Christ, without any merit of ours, why must we still do good works?
A. Because Christ, having redeemed and delivered us by his blood, also renews us by his Holy Spirit, after his own image; that so we may testify, by the whole of our conduct, our gratitude to God for his blessings, and that he may be praised by us; also, that everyone may be assured in himself of his faith, by the fruits thereof; and that, by our godly conversation, others may be gained to Christ.
Nevertheless even in this connection the important thing is that God's name is given constant testimony in the world.
The Calling
This brings us specifically to the question of the calling to witness.
We must reject out of hand all so-called "confrontation witness." Any kind of witness which "confronts man with the claim of Christ," no matter what specific form it may take, has no place in the life of the Church or in the calling of believers. It is man-centered in its entire approach. It is Arminian in its character with its emphasis on "accepting Christ," "soul winning," "decisions," etc. Indeed, there is an inescapable element of pride in it, all because the emphasis always falls upon "what we shall do for God." There is an arrogance and a presumption in this, which ought to be anathema in the life of the Christian.
If we turn to the positive calling, there are several points which we ought to make. In the first place, because the preaching of the gospel and Christian witnessing are so closely connected, we may expect that there will be an analogy between the two in certain important respects. I refer specifically to the fact (which the book of Acts makes very clear) that God always directed the course of the gospel in the labors of the apostles. God sent Peter to Cornelius and Philip to the Ethiopian Eunuch. God directed the church at Antioch to choose Paul and Barnabas and send them out to preach the gospel, and in fact so closely did God direct the course of the labors of the apostle that they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia: "...after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not" (Acts 16:6 and 7). It is this same truth which the Canons of Dordt emphasize when they speak of the fact that we must preach to all those "to whom God out of his good pleasure sends the gospel," (Canons II, 5).
The principle holds true also for witnessing. It is a safe principle to follow, for in following it we follow the direction of God. The question is, of course, how do we know where God is directing us to perform the work of witnessing? The answer to this is that we must witness to all those whom God places upon our path, and it is this idea which I have attempted to incorporate into the definition of witnessing which I offered above. The Scriptures also very strongly suggest this. I have reference, e.g., to such a passage as I Peter 3:15: "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." While witnessing is not specifically mentioned here, we may assume that this "answer we must give of our hope" is precisely the genuine character of all witnessing. So Peter teaches us, we must give such an answer to those who ask us. This certainly implies that our witness must be directed to those whom God places in His providence, in one form or another, upon our path. God puts such people upon our path. God brings us into contact with them. Then we can be sure that God wants them to hear the witness to the truth, and God will do the work He intends to be done. We must remember that witnessing is God's work. We must not try to take matters into our own hands and be wiser than God. We must expect Him to do His work, even when He is pleased to use us.
The question necessarily arises in this connection whether so-called door-to-door evangelism is the proper calling of the Church. While I am not prepared to condemn such door-to-door witnessing, there are several points which are worth making. 1) It is almost always fruitless, and this is to be expected if what I have said above is true. 2) If such type of witnessing does meet with success, it is at worst at the cost of sacrificing the truth, or at best the cost in bringing into the church those who are not properly instructed in the truth of God - with the result that the church increases her problems with unfaithful members. 3) I have absolutely no use for making Sunday School an arm of witnessing or an aspect of evangelism. The idea seems to be that through the Sunday School children are brought into the Church, even if the parents are not. Some even suggest that one can perhaps get at the parents through the children. It seems to me this is wholly at odds with the Reformed truth of the covenant - that God saves His people in the line of generations. I.e., that God saves believers and their children. This is the emphasis in the book of Acts throughout.
The whole question arises as to what form our witnessing must take. There is one point here that needs the strongest possible emphasis. The Scriptures certainly point us to the fact that the strongest witness we make is the witness of our life. This sort of thing is often disparaged and even mocked in our sophisticated day. It is mocked as being a dodging of our calling. It is disparaged as being ineffective. But the Scriptures point us to this nonetheless.
We earlier quoted the passage in I Peter 3:15. In this passage the apostle points us to our calling of being ready to give an answer to those who ask of us a reason for the hope which lies within us. While surely the emphasis of this passage falls upon our readiness to give an answer, it is equally obvious that this answer presupposes a question, and that question is concerning the reason for our hope. Now it is clear that, if wicked men ask a reason for our hope, they are prompted to ask such a question because they observe the evidences of our hope in our lives. The whole thrust of Peter's remarks here centers in the fact that we live lives which are constant expressions of our hope. That is, we live as pilgrims and strangers in all our conversation. This life will be the life of the antithesis, and this will raise in the minds of unbelievers startling questions concerning that hope - to which we must be prepared to give answer.
The same truth is taught very clearly by Jesus Himself in Matthew 7:21-23: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them. I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
This is not to say of course that our witnessing must not also include speaking the truth. Paul writes of confessing with the mouth as well as believing with the heart. But the fact of the matter is that any verbal testifying of the truth, which is not the fruit of a life of the antithesis and of a godly walk according to all the precepts of Scripture, is a sham and a hypocrisy.
In an interesting book by Michael Green entitled Evangelism in the Early Church, the question is discussed concerning the personal witnessing of the saints by means of which the Church was spread to every nook and cranny of the empire of Rome. He quotes from ancient church fathers and makes comments himself upon the fact that the main witness of the saints was the witness of a changed life, changed by the power of grace. He sums it all up when he says, "Unless there is a transformation of contemporary church life, so that once again the task of evangelism is something which is seen as incumbent on every Christian and is backed up by a quality of living which outshines the best that unbelief can muster, we are unlikely to make much headway through techniques of evangelism."
Thus, by means of a godly life, the power of grace is manifested in us; the attention of unbelievers attracted and aroused; the opportunity for witnessing is given; and the truth of that which we believe is substantiated.
The Importance Of Witnessing
It is at this point that we must bend every effort to look at things in their proper light. We often tend to glorify door-to-door witnessing and some kind of personal confrontation. There is a certain glamour about it that appeals to us. There is a certain zip to it that makes it sound proper and exciting. I fear, however, that there is also an element of pride and self-glory in this sort of thing.
We must remember after all that this is not the difficult way to witness. It is the relatively easy way. The difficult way is the way of faithfulness to our covenant God in our own station and calling in life. The difficult way is the way of a faithful covenant mother in her home, who goes about her daily tasks as a virtuous woman, cheerfully filling her God-given assignments in the quiet fear of the Lord. The difficult way is for a husband and bread-winner to occupy his place at the drill press in the factory or behind a desk or in a garage being a constant testimony of the grace of God in his day-to-day labor in all his actions and speech. The difficult way is the way of the antithesis in a world of darkness and sin, the way of being pilgrims and strangers in the earth, and this is the God-glorifying way.
We must never weigh the importance of this in human terms. The important thing is not winning souls for Christ, extolling ourselves because of evangelical prowess, or boasting of numbers of converts or weighing success in terms of their 'decisions'. God always witnesses. He also witnesses through us, and He uses that witness as He sees fit.
You see, the point is that God alone must be glorified. He must be glorified in the manifestation of His work of grace in the salvation of His Church according to His decree of election. It is a terrible thing when this does not happen. When David confessed his sins of adultery and murder to Nathan the prophet, Nathan assured him that his sins were also forgiven. But at the same time, Nathan told David that the sword would never depart from his house, because he had given occasion for the enemies of God to blaspheme. This happens sometimes in our lives. Our lives are occasions for enemies to reproach the cause of God. That is the opposite of witnessing. That is horrible beyond description.
Always our witness must be of such a kind that it points away from ourselves to God. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
Then the glory is God's alone, and that is all that counts.
Let us, if we would be faithful witnesses, examine our own lives in all respects. Then, conforming our lives to God and His Word, we will have opportunity to be, and will become, faithful witnesses to God in this present world.
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