Who Is a Witness?

The spring day was hot and muggy. My wife and I were on a short-term teaching and preaching assignment in greater Manila, Philippines. Our home base was an upstairs apartment on the seminary campus. A young woman appeared at our door asking for work. I’ll call her Janet, and she wondered if we needed a maid. At the missionaries’ urging, we hired her—the going rate in that area at that time was 10 pesos or 36 cents an hour. Janet had a husband and three children. Her home was without water, electricity, or refrigeration with dirt for a floor.

I thought a lot about Janet. She was a gracious and helpful presence in our home-away-from-home. I knew she had previously worked for other missionaries. Their lives and words no doubt prepared her to hear about Jesus. One day as I crossed the campus, the Holy Spirit said, “You have given her a job. Will you tell her about Jesus too?”

I invited Janet to join Nancy and me for lunch the next day. During our time together, we learned that through the loving witness of previous missionaries, Janet had made a commitment to Christ. After only a few minutes of conversation, Janet began to cry. Her relationship with Jesus was not what it should be. There at the lunch table she prayed, renewing her commitment to God. The next Sunday, Janet went to church and knelt at the altar as public testimony of her changed life.

Over the next weeks, we watched Janet grow spiritually. When we left Manila, she said through tears, “I’m sorry you’re going, but I’m happy in the Lord.” Janet renewed her commitment to Christ because we were witnesses.

Soul-winning eyes see things other eyes don’t see.

Soul-winning eyes understand Jesus. He said, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). Soul-winning eyes see people who need the Savior and those ready to receive him.

What is a witness?

I am a Christian witness when I tell another person what Jesus means to me and what he has done for me. After Jesus delivered the demon-possessed man, the man wanted to travel with the Lord to his next ministry assignment. Instead, Jesus said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you” (Mark 5:19).

Notice the elements of good witness included in Jesus’ instruction.

First, we are to go to our family—the people we best understand and with whom we have the most rapport.

Second, we are to tell. Though people will notice our changed life, it is still necessary to tell who made the change—Jesus!

Third, we are to stress how much the Lord has done for us. Our testimony should highlight the blessings Christ has brought to our life.

Fourth, we are to emphasize the Lord. The focus is not what we have done for God but what he has done for us.

Witnessing is personal. You are telling your story. You are sharing your experience. Sometimes, a witness is indirect. You are telling what Christ has done for another. But the most easily understood and effective witness is your story. When Peter stressed his personal experience, his testimony was so powerful that the Jewish religious authorities of the day commanded him to stop speaking about Jesus. Peter replied, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Witnessing is telling another what Jesus means to me and has done for me.

We also need to understand another term: soul winning.

Soul winning is [a ministry] attempting to bring people to a personal acceptance of Christ as Savior and Lord. Those who are soul winning present the facts of the gospel and call for a decision. It is more thorough than witnessing and involves explaining biblical truths needed for one’s salvation. It involves an element of persuasion. Witnessing may consist of a one-sentence testimony: “John, I can only say that in the place of an empty life, Christ has given me purpose and meaning.”

Almost all soul winning involves witness, but a witness does not always result in immediate soul winning. The Christian’s hope is that the end result of a witness is a soul won to Christ.