“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, (John 17:20)
A friend of mine read this today at a men’s prayer group, and it struck me how Jesus prayed for us to continue to tell others what He’s told us.
I don’t think Jesus is just talking about sharing the gospel with the lost since He says “their word” and not “My Word.” We are often confronted by people who need to hear an encouraging word from us or guidance of some sort. What we share to encourage them or guide them comes from principles discovered in our study of God’s word. We use our words to share the wisdom God has given us through our similar experiences to theirs.
I think there is still another facet to this. God uses “our word” to guide us in raising our children. Prov. 22:6 tells us to Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Much of that training comes from teaching our children God’s word, but it also comes from the wisdom we as parents learned through God teaching us through experience.
One reason Jesus came to earth as a man was to experience what we experience, our temptations, our trials, our pain, and our joys. Jesus was as much a human being as you and I but still retained His divine nature. As a man He learned through more than God’s Word: Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. (Heb. 5:8)
Don’t we learn obedience through suffering, too? Don’t trials teach us more about God and our relationship with Him? Don’t we learn not to “touch the hot stove” once we’ve been burned?
Not everything God teaches us comes from His Word alone. Much of it comes from others and where God has worked in their lives and taught them.
So, some of what we pass along from Jesus through the apostles through the ladder of Christians in time past up until we came to know Jesus came by word of mouth.
When the church was young, they relied on the apostles to tell them the truth. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42)
Look at all the sources of learning just in that one verse. We have the teachings of the apostles (the New Testament even though it didn’t exist at the time), fellowship of believers, and prayers (direct communication with God Himself).
Yes, no doubt witnessing was included in Jesus prayer in John 17. We are to go into all the world and preach the good news, the truth that we can be cleansed of our sin through a simple yielding of ourselves to Christ. But let’s not forget to build one another up as well.
Proverbs 27:17 says “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” This isn’t talking only about sharing the word with others but discipling one another, working with one another, watching and learning from one another.
Why is this important?
We have people in our lives that need to learn from us how to live as Christians. Paul did this with Timothy and Titus. He first taught them head knowledge through God’s Word and Paul’s past experiences. Then he took them into the mission field with him to see how it’s done. Only after that did he send them out alone to learn by doing.
It’s the same with us. We too often think simple Bible teaching alone is enough to create an effective evangelist or a powerful Christian. It’s not. Experience adds to our arsenal when we share, counsel, or guide as believers.
When my wife and I visited Colonial Williamsburg, we stopped at the cabinetmaker’s shop and saw men at different skill levels working together. Those who were less experienced and less skilled were being taught the basics by those further along. It was a wonder to see. There was only one master cabinetmaker there, though. He knew what was to be done and was ready to help the less experienced when needed.
We are all in different levels of our Christian experiences. Some of us are apprentices. Some are journeymen. Still there is only one Master who sees the overall picture and is willing and able to help us. He relies on the journeymen, though, to help the apprentices through knowledge and experience.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 