BY HUNTER GREENE
Last week, I witnessed a murder. About 7 p.m. on Saturday night, I saw the Florida Gators remove all life out of my Tennessee Volunteers. I was there. I felt the humiliation from the Gator fans around me. I watched a full Neyland Stadium turn into a ghost town. I experienced the loss of the game, and I can now testify to the complete and utter dominance of the Gators.
In one way or another, we are all witnesses. As participators in this world, we are constantly witnessing the things around us. Some of us witness sports events. Some witness concerts. Some witness tragedies. The fact that we experience these events makes us witnesses to them. A witness is simply one that can testify to the truth or validity of a claim. A witness is one that provides evidence and proof for such claims.
We read a Bible that claims that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead. As Christians, our lives are to be witnesses to this. We are to provide the world evidence that what is written in God’s Word is true. We are even commanded to do so in Acts. Acts 1:4-8 reads, “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
We are to be the witnesses of Jesus Christ. Our lives are to testify that He is God and that He loves us. We can do this through evangelism. However, I don’t think we should define evangelism as simply handing out Gospel tracts or preaching at people on the street corner. I think God wants our evangelism to be much more focused, intentional, and relational.
We are told to spread the good news of Jesus in three public sectors: Jerusalem, Judaea/Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. If you are like me for most of my life, I have had no idea where to find these places on a map. I knew Jerusalem was in Israel and the other ones were probably in the Middle East. But by failing to know the geography of the area, we have missed Jesus’s point in telling us to go to these places.
We are first instructed to evangelize our Jerusalem, the city where our ministry starts. Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until He came to them. I see this as the place where God has specifically placed us. In other words, it is our inner most circle. I would define my Jerusalem at this point in my life as Milligan College. It is where I spend most of my time and see the same people on a consistent basis. Your Jerusalem may be your community, neighborhood, work place, or school. God wants us to intentionally evangelize these places because we are given this greatest opportunity to laugh, cry, and live with these people. We can show them over and over and over again that we truly care about them as people and want to alleviate their needs. Your Jerusalem is the places and spaces that you go to every day, and every day we must take Jesus there.
Judaea and Samaria are larger regions that surround Jerusalem. I would consider this to be like the Tri-Cities. These are the places that we travel to and through. We may never develop a strong relationship with people in these places, but we can still show Jesus to them at all times. I am reminded of times in my life when someone, whom I did not know and still don’t, decided to do something kind for me, and their actions changed my life. Evangelizing Judaea and Samaria would describe the times where we pay for someone’s food or gas. They describe when we stop on the side of the road to help a stranger. God wants us to extend our circle of influence as we go out into the world.
Lastly, we are commanded to go to the ends of the earth. In a nutshell, God wants us to love all people, of all nations, of all tongues, and of all tribes. We may not be called to foreign missions, but we must be ecumenically minded by seeking to form and cultivate relationships with people of different races, ethnicities, and even other religions. We cannot expect to convert people unless we interact with them. Friend, you are the witness of Jesus Christ in your community, your region, and your world.
(The Solution Column is provided by Pastor Brandon Young of Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, Hampton, and his associate, Hunter Greene)