A Witness for Jesus

In recent days I have found myself in disagreement, maybe conflict, with someone that I care deeply about. I made a statement about women not voting for democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the recent New Hampshire primary election. According to some poles candidate Barry Sanders received fifty-five percent of women votes while candidate Clinton received forty-four percent of women votes. I will not go into all that was said by the two of us in this exchange. I want to focus on one subject matter that was brought up. During the text message exchange I suggested that people should be honest about things instead of worrying about political correctness. I was criticized for being like republican candidate Donald Trump who has made it clear that he will say what he believes regardless of whether or not it is considered to be politically correct. Let me pause here to say that regardless to how one feels about Donald Trump and what he says there are reasons that at this point he still leads the slate of republican candidates in the polls. This shows us that being politically correct is not necessarily going to make or break a person in any given situation. So, what does this have to do with my topic “A Witness for Jesus Christ? In my text message exchange with my friend I responded to his suggestion that I was being like Trump. I said, “The Pharisees were politically correct, but they were not of the truth.” As we read the Gospels we discover that the Pharisees and the scribes were in constant debate with Jesus because Jesus did not abide by their rules of religious rightness and political correctness. Instead, Jesus came to witness to the will of God. Jesus came not to be approved of men, but He came to make God known in the world with the purpose of reconciling humankind to their creator who is God. In saying what His Father would have Him to say and to do what His father would have Him to do Jesus would become popular with some people and antagonized by others. This article is motivated by the fact that my friend is a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is a founding pastor of a church. Here is the point, Christians; especially those of us who preach and teach the Word of God are called to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. We are called to make Christ known to the world whether or not the world considers what we say and do to be politically correct. Since we are saved and called to witnesses for Jesus Christ there are some things that we must say and there are some things that we must do if we are to be effective witnesses for the Lord and Savior of our souls. In the Bible Christians are called to “testify,” or “witness” by giving testimony, doing works, and even dying for the sake of Jesus Christ by proclaiming in words and deeds to a hostile world the message, that is, the teachings of Jesus Christ (see Matthew 28:18-20). There are at least fifteen related Greek words that are translated into the English words “testify,” “testimony, and “witness” (W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr,, Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, [Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996], 623, 624, 680, 681). It would take a complete commentary to cover the many scriptures that use these words, and thus, our discussion is limited. When we look at these many words collectively it can be seen that a witness for Jesus Christ is one who proclaims Jesus as Savior and Lord, faithfully speaks the truth of God, takes a stand on behalf of Christ Jesus and fellow Christians (John 13:34-35) because their hope is in the resurrection and the return of Jesus Christ instead of seeking to make personal gains in this present life. Jesus said: ‘“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My father who is in heaven will enter”’ (Matt. 7:21, NASB). Jesus told His disciples, not to store up treasures for themselves on earth, but store their treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21). They are not to worry about personal needs because God will supply their needs (Matt. 6:25-34). It seems to me and I believe that the church must consider wholeheartedly the degree to which we seek to be approved by the world in contrast to the degree to which we seek to be approved by God. Is the witness of the church being compromised when its members speak what the world dictates to be appropriate and politically correct when what is being said contradicts what is said in scripture? Does the church still believe that the Bible is the Word of God expressed in the words of people? Has the light of the church been put under a bushel and has its salt lost its saltiness rendering it ineffective and for many meaningless and having no relevancy for their life? Does the church approve of its members living a lifestyle that the scriptures tell us is wrong in the sight of God? Has the church become too weak to stand up for the teachings of Jesus? When I was ten or eleven years old, my mother had a poster hanging on the wall. It had a poem of about four or five stanzas, but I remember only the first two. The first stanza said, “Say nothing that you would not like to be saying when Jesus comes.” The second stanza said, “Do nothing that you would not like to be doing when Jesus comes.” I have thought about this several times over the past fifty to sixty years of my life. Now, for me, this means that one of my primary aims in life is to do my best to be who Jesus saved me to be while living on the earth. My mother taught us that “Jesus is coming back looking for a church without spot or wrinkle.” I had no idea where this was said in the Bible, but I was sure that it must be there somewhere since my mom said it. I have learned that this is stated in Ephesians 5:27. In this periscope of scriptures Paul compares the relationship of the husband and the wife to that of the church and Christ. The church is subject to Christ because “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (vv. 24-27, NASB). We are more than sinners saved by grace. We are new creatures in Christ. Old things have passed away and we are new in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) and we are expected to think differently and sacrifice the cravings of the flesh so that we can live cleansed and holy lives for God (Rom. 12:1-2). During His earthly ministry Jesus was constantly in conflict with the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes who were the religious leaders of Judaism. They determined what was religiously and politically correct to say and do. Their disdain for Jesus and His teachings, and His works was so great that they sought to kill Him physically. Eventually, they convinced Pilate, the Roman governor to crucify Him on a cross because His ministry violated their laws and the laws of the Roman governor. Jesus was not politically correct in what He said and did. Now, if the church believes that the “Great Commission” (Matt. 28:18-20) that Jesus left with the church is valid today it must be determined to speak the truth of God and live by the commandments of Jesus. The church does not have the power, that is, the authority and strength of its own to carry out this commission. The church receives its authority and strength from Christ (Matt. 28:18; Acts 1:8). Let the church seek not to be loved by the world because the scripture says: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). In conclusion, if we try to be politically correct in all things, we may risk being effective as a witness for Christ.