Recently, I read a little story by S.
Briscoe, about keeping quiet instead of sharing faith:
Feeling a concern for witnessing can mean
that you will have to stand up and be counted, and this can bring some degree
of abuse. Years ago I was praying with one of my children at bedtime, and
I asked him if he had any problems we should pray about. He couldn't
think of any, even though I could think of a number! Rather unwisely, I pressed
the point and asked, "Don't you have any problems at school?" "No,"
he replied quite firmly. "Don't the kids give you a hard time because
you're a Christian?" Again the answer was "No." Thinking back to
my own traumatic school days, I said, "But kids always give you a hard
time if you let them know you're a Christian." His reply was frank beyond
belief: "All the more reason you don't let them know!" And quite
happily he turned over to sleep.
With the refreshing candor of the very
young, he had put into words the practical reasons why many Christians don't
witness. They don't want to take the consequences.[i]
Many Christians have reasons for not
sharing their fath with other people.
Among these reasons, they tell themselves that they are too young or too
old, and thus nobody will listen to them.
Or, they tell say that their past or present mistakes may taint their
witness. Still others say they are
afraid of failure or rejection, while others are actually afraid of
success—because that means they’ll be responsible for following up and
discipling a new believer. Mary
Magdelene might have had these and more objections to testifying about her
Savior, yet she was the first that Jesus told to tell the Good News of His
resurrection.
In John 20, Mary was the first of
the disciples to go to the tomb after Jesus’ burial. Though other gospels name a group of women,
John mentions only Mary, so we can assume she lead the way. Arriving to anoint Jesus’ body for burial,
she found the tomb empty. Assuming
someone had stolen His body, Mary ran to tell the disciples. They responded tentatively, sending Peter and
John as a contingent, perhaps in case the Romans had laid a trap for all of
them. After the men investigated the
crime scene, Jesus chose to appear privately to Mary. Not only did He show her that He had been
resurrected, but He also told her He would ascend to God. Then He said, “…Go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and
your Father, to my God and your God (John 20:17).’” So,
Mary went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and gave them His
message.
Like many Christians today, Mary
could have given all sorts of reasons why she was uncomfortable sharing the
Good News about Jesus. First, she could
have said, “I’m only a woman.” It amazes
me how many people in the twenty-first century still disqualify women from full
service in the church, all because of a few misunderstood passages of
scripture. Yet, Jesus was a liberator of
women. The Bible is full of heroines,
many of whom spoke for God, took up arms, or performed acts of courage for the
sake of the faith. Regardless, many
churches and denominations limit the kinds of service and ministry a person may
have, based on antiquated views of gender.
In Mary’s day it would have made sense for her to raise the objection
that she couldn’t instruct the disciples because she was, after all, a woman. Women were considered incapable of deep
spiritual understanding, and were not allowed to teach men. Nevertheless, Jesus trusted her to be His
messenger, and she answered His call with faithfulness. If Mary could say yes to sharing her faith,
and didn’t let gender become an obstacle, then neither should gender be an
obstacle when you are, or anyone else is, called to share faith.
Mary might have shrunk from
obedience to Christ because her tainted past made her feel unworthy. No, I’m not talking about the rumors that
Mary had been a prostitute before becoming a disciple. Actually, there’s no mention in the Bible of
Mary having loose morals at all. That
misinformation was spread by Pope Gregory I (540-604 AD), when he mingled the
stories of the unnamed penitent woman in Luke 7:36-50, Mary of Bethany (Luke
10:38-42), and Mary Magdelene. Some have
even falsely identified her with the woman caught in adultery in John 8. Yet the Bible never says anything about her
ever being a prostitute, or having loose morals. It does say that prior to her becoming a
disciple, Jesus cast seven demons out of Mary (Luke 8:2). Though no details are given as to the nature
of this demonic experience, Mary could have felt ashamed that something about
her had invited demonic presence. She
might have thought that, though Jesus had cleansed her, her past disqualified
her from service. Yet once Jesus freed
her from this bondage, He clearly viewed her as worthy to accept His call. In the same way, many Christians doubt their
own capacity for ministry based on their tainted past. They make excuses why their history prohibits
them from service, or why others may not accept their witness or testimony
because of their past. But when Jesus
cleanses you, He also declares your worthiness to speak for Him.
Just as Jesus told Mary to go and
tell the Good News, He calls you to do the same. It should be something you can’t contain,
something that no excuse can prevent.
Your witness should simply leak out of you, uncontrollably declaring the
joy you’ve found.
Many years ago some men were panning for
gold in Montana, and one of them found an unusual stone. Breaking it open, he
was excited to see that it contained gold. Working eagerly, the men soon
discovered an abundance of the precious metal. Happily, they began shouting
with delight, "We've found it! We've found gold! We're rich!" They
had to interrupt their celebrating, though, to go into a nearby town and stock
up on supplies. Before they left camp, the men agreed not to tell a soul about
their find. Indeed, no one breathed a word about it to anyone while they were
in town. Much to their dismay, however, when they were about to return,
hundreds of men were prepared to follow them. When they asked the crowd to tell
who "squealed," the reply came, "No one had to. Your faces
showed it!"[ii]
So our faces should show the joy we
have because of Jesus’ great love for us.
Witnessing shouldn’t have to be something you’re told to do—it should be
something you can’t keep from doing.
Even though Mary may have considered herself an unlikely evangelist, she
did not make excuses. Instead, she
jumped at the chance to go and tell people the Good News. For whatever reason, you might consider
yourself unlikely as well. But God wants
you to go and tell people what Jesus has done for you.
[i] S.
Briscoe. Getting Into God. p. 88. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/w/witnessing.htm. October 3, 2017.
[ii]
Original Source Unknown. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/w/witnessing.htm. October 3, 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment