Making Jesus Known
“You will be my witnesses.” – Acts 1:8
We often think of witnessing or evangelism as something quite specific: explaining the gospel to someone, inviting them to church, or perhaps asking someone if they would like to become a Christian. And those things can be part of it.
Making Jesus known is more than that.
At the heart of our faith is a simple truth: Jesus is the good news. If he didn’t do what he said he was going to do (die and be resurrected 3 days later) and he wasn’t who he claimed to be (God), then our faith is meaningless. We should have confidence in Him.
We cannot make people become Christians through our own efforts. We are seeking to make Jesus known – He is the person we are inviting people to encounter, follow and discover for themselves.
The New Testament gives us a wonderfully broad picture of what this can look like.
Read
- 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
- 1 John 3:18
- Mark 1:17
- Matthew 28:19-20
- Acts 1:8
- Matthew 9:35-38
We can proclaim Jesus through our words.
We can demonstrate his love through our actions.
We can invite people to respond and discover what it means to follow him.
We can make disciples, helping people grow in their relationship with God.
We should rely on the Holy Spirit, rather than trying to do everything in our own strength.
And all of this should be done with compassion (often lacking in the area of evangelism in my humble opinion).
More than words
I wonder if sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves to have the right words. Of course, words matter. The gospel needs to be spoken. People need opportunities to hear about Jesus. But evangelism isn’t simply about saying the right thing at the right moment.
It can also look like opening your home, making room for someone, listening to their questions, serving them, welcoming them, being patient with them, or loving them when life is messy.
One of the things I find particularly encouraging is looking back at my own journey of faith. There were certainly people who explained the gospel to me. I remember being given an opportunity to respond to Jesus and saying a prayer. But when I think about how I came to know Jesus, I realise it wasn’t one conversation that did it. It was a whole collection of people. People who welcomed me into their homes. People who listened to my endless questions without needing to have all the answers. People who included me, even when I was still very much figuring life out. People who showed me what it looked like to follow Jesus at work and in ordinary everyday life. People who prayed for me. People who gave me opportunities to serve and become part of a community. People who saw things in me that I couldn’t yet see in myself.
None of these people were perfect. They didn’t always get it right. They didn’t have all the answers.
But the imperfect people gave me a glimpse of a perfect God. Their ordinary lives became a witness to me and those around me.
Radically ordinary
John writes:
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – [Jesus]
John 13:35
I love how ordinary that is. Jesus doesn’t say everyone will know we are his disciples because we have the best programmes, the most impressive services or all the answers. He says people will recognise his followers by their love.
That doesn’t mean that loving people replaces sharing the gospel. We don’t want to reduce evangelism to “just be nice and hope people notice.” But neither do we want to reduce it to “get someone to say a prayer and move on.” (see the thief of the cross for a challenge to this in Luke 23:39-43).
We need both.
We can speak about Jesus and demonstrate his love. We can invite people to follow Jesus and walk alongside them as they do. We can serve people practically while also being willing to talk honestly about why we do it. And perhaps most importantly, we can allow our relationship with Jesus to overflow into the ordinary moments of our lives.
Go Deeper
What would it look like?
Maybe one of the most useful questions we can ask ourselves isn’t:
“What evangelistic event should I run?”
But:
“How can I make Jesus known in the ordinary stuff of my life?”
At work. With our neighbours. With our elderly parents. At the school gates. Over a coffee. In our homes. Through the way we respond when someone disagrees with us. Through the way we treat someone who has nothing to offer us in return. Through our willingness to listen. Through our generosity. Through our compassion. Through our words when an opportunity comes. And through our willingness to pray and trust the Holy Spirit to do what only God can do.
We aren’t the Saviour. We can’t make someone respond to Jesus. But we have been invited to participate in what God is already doing. And that is quite an extraordinary thing.
What might it look like for you to make Jesus known – not through something spectacular, but through the ordinary moments already in front of you?
