Tag: witnessing

Secondhand Witness

Secondhand Witnessing

Luke 7:2-3 (ESV) Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.

According to Webster, one definition of secondhand is to receive something indirectly.  When we read a newspaper or watch TV news, we’re receiving the news indirectly and is, therefore, secondhand.

When we share Christ with others, it too can produce a secondhand effect.  I was talking with a woman who had accepted Christ but was swept into the Watchtower organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  She was about to be baptized, and her husband asked me to speak to her.  During the time I spent explaining and defending the gospel, she came back to Christ.  The secondhand effect was, unbeknownst to me at the time, her husband also came to Christ through listening to what I had shared with her.

If we are active and open Christians, I think this effect, the secondhand effect, may occur more often than we might think.  This may well have been the reason Nicodemus came to Christ: he had heard someone talking about Him and was intrigued enough to seek Him out.

Nowadays even simple acts of courtesy may be enough to catch someone’s attention as a Christian act.  A simple “God bless” or “How can I pray for you?” which is overheard by others could as well. Even saying grace at a restaurant may well not only give boldness to other Christians to do the same but is a secondhand witness to those around us.

I spend a lot of time on social media defending the faith and trying to encourage fellow Christians.  Secondhand witnessing is broadly effective here.  While I may be defending the truth of God’s Word with a recalcitrant antagonist, it is not he alone who is reading my remarks.  He may be there to attack the gospel, but there are dozens of “lurkers” reading our conversation and hearing the Truth being defended and expounded: secondhand witnessing.

There have been times when we have visited a friend in the hospital and prayed over them for a quick recovery.  Those walking by the room and seeing this are reminded of a power greater than that of the medical professionals on staff.  I know when I see others praying in a hospital, it is a testimony to me of God’s great power.

When we were first married, the neighbor, also a young husband, and I were working on some project and needed to go to the hardware store.  We took my car, and when I started the engine, the radio came on and was set to a local Christian radio station.  My neighbor sort of mumbled under his breath, “Sheesh, even his radio station is Christian!”  I don’t remember ever sharing Christ with him or doing anything overtly Christian for or with him.  Somehow he understood our faith – Secondhand Witnessing, I guess. People are watching us.

I’m happy to say the church I attend is a praying church.  On a weekly basis I see people praying for one another on the patio in front of the sanctuary: sometimes one-on-one, sometimes in fairly large groups.  Others who witness this see we rely not on ourselves but on the God we pursue in prayer.

Why is this important?

Whether it’s a hospital visit that turns out to move a passerby, a witness overheard by someone else, even a bumper sticker, tee shirt, or hat that carries a Christian message, we effect the world around us by our life, our attitude, and how we show Christ in us, these all speak to others secondhand.

I sometimes wonder if when we all are seated at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, someone or several people will seek us out to tell us something we unknowingly did or said moved them to consider Christ and were saved or encourage in their walk. Perhaps someone will come to us and say “I saw you standing firm during a tough time I could never face.  I was inspired.  And it was that faith and courage which caused to look again at Who your God is.” – Secondhand Witnessing.

Reasoning Together

Sometimes when we try to share the gospel with others, we end up in an angry argument.  This isn’t the way we should be behaving according to Scripture:

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)  but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

I find this instructive.  We are not told to run from discussions, in fact seven times in Acts, Paul is seen reasoning with the Jews in the synagogues as well as with the general population in Ephesus at the hall of Tyrannus.  The passage says “This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” (Acts 19:10)

Acts 17:2 (ESV) says And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.  It was Paul’s custom to seek out places where he could start discussions, but not arguments.

When we begin discussions, we need to be sure we do so with “gentleness and respect” for the others involved.  My wife and I occasionally went to the Los Angeles County Fair.  One year, a splinter group from the Watchtower called the International Bible Students, had a booth at the fair answering “Bible” questions.  Since their beliefs are closely aligned with Jehovah’s Witnesses, I stopped by the booth to discuss some questions I had.  I spoke with a man for ten minutes or so before he called over others in the booth.  “Listen to this guy.” He said, ”He doesn’t agree, but he isn’t getting angry either.”  As a result we had an audience of a few rather than just the each other and I was allowed to share the truth.

I walked away with two important lessons: people will listen if you can keep the discussion on a friendly level, and most Christians this man had met that day had gotten angry with his beliefs.  That’s not “gentleness and respect.”  The Holy Spirit through Paul has good reasons to tell us to be gentle and respectful. 

When people see you respect them enough to hear them out, they will offer the same respect to you.  Getting angry and throwing dozens of Bible verses at this fellow at the Fair would have accomplished nothing but to convince him Christians are angry and argumentative.

We need only look at how Paul handled the philosophers in Athens to see how this is masterfully done (Acts 17:22-34).  With Paul’s efforts and the work of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of men, some became believers.

Why is this important?

We all get into discussions about our faith whether we mean to or not.  We need to understand it is not a sprint but a marathon, a relay race really.  We share with someone, maybe someone at work will do the same later, then a family member, and so on.  Our job isn’t to save people but to inform them and let the Holy Spirit do His work of salvation.  We’re all in it together. Paul talks about this process in First Corinthians:

1 Cor. 3:6-9 (ESV)  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

When we talk with someone about our Lord, we mustn’t think we’re necessarily going to see them drop to their knees and confess Christ.  While that will happen at times, our job is to plant and water.  Greg Koukl describes it as putting a pebble in their shoe, give them something to think about that will lay the groundwork for the Holy Spirit to speak to them. 

When we give long drawn out presentations, there is so much content, and person hearing the presentation could never remember it.  Often the best thing is to offer a point or two.  If they ask questions, the rest of the discussion should be to answer those not present new points.  We want to drop a pebble in their shoe not fill it with gravel.  And remember it’s a discussion, two sided discussion.  We need to listen at least as much as we speak – maybe more.