Christian Witness
Everybody stands for something. Whoever you are, you are contributing something to the course of human events. When an issue arises, you may remain silent and believe you are not committing yourself, but your very silence counts for something one way or the other. Every life sheds an influence on other lives – good or bad, positive or negative, helpful or harmful. There is no such thing as a blank personality. These cross-hatched influences flowing out of many lives make the broad pattern of modern society. No one can stay out of it.
Christ is an issue in modern life. Every man and woman contributes something toward the fabric of our modern life. There can be no spiritual neutrality. If you support Christ, you are helping Him. If you deny Him, you are opposing Him. If you ignore Him, you are retarding Him. But you are always doing something to Christ.
It is tempting to place people in one of these three groups and pigeonhole them for future reference. It is more complicated than that. Many people go with Christ up to a certain point – and then become confused. They bear good witness in theory but fall back when it comes to daily practice. Polytheism is one example. We were raised in the spirit of monotheism – One God and Father of us all – and we would never question our approach.
The old idea of polytheism postulated separate deities for different activities. There was a god of the sea, a god of the land, a god of the home, a god of war and a god of peace. In the pagan approach, due regard had to be paid to each of these as the occasion required. If there was a question about which area was involved, you must pray to multiple gods to insure your safety. With our Christian background, we consider the idea absurd. Nonetheless, many early Christians died denying the pagan approach.
We might question if our practices match our theology. We all know people who worship Christ devoutly and sincerely on Sunday. Some of them go into the business world on Monday and pay homage to some gilded god of commerce by actions sometimes directly opposed to Christ. They sing praises to the God of love and good-will – and then, in their social circles, make offerings to a green-eyed goddess of gossip, snobbery and ill-will. They could be called theoretical Christians – and practical polytheists.
Our modern world retains many relics of classical paganism. We are encouraged to compartmentalize – that is, separate our lives into smaller pieces and address each one without regard for the whole picture. Christ involves the whole body and the whole personality – virtually every aspect of our lives. This compartmentalization is very much like the pagan polytheism. If we isolate one area and address the issues with the social tools available, we have left Christ out of the picture. We have lost sight of the big picture.
God did not design the world as isolated compartments. He designed and integrated the whole universe in which all the working parts contribute their efforts. We are really just beginning to understand the significance of all the parts of our world. We are beginning to understand that when we overuse or ignore one area of our lives, the other areas suffer as well.
We have examples of great Christian heroes whom we admire and commemorate. Most of them lived in dramatic times with real battles with real consequences. They stood up and gave their lives as their witness to what they believed. If we were really pressed, we too, would probably provide good witness for Christ. Our devotion is easy to display in a big way. The difference is that most of our tribulations are unromantic troubles, small personal irritations totally lacking in inspiration. It is difficult to wage war on trifles. We would all fight to retain our liturgy, traditions, and Anglican expressions. Pity those who would force us to accept someone else’s approach to our faith. On the other hand, we find it difficult to totally share our Christian lives with all other Christians. One of our toughest assignments is to love those we all know are not especially “loveable”.
There are three ways in which we may and should bear personal witness to Christ today just as truly as did any of the martyrs filling the pages of our Church calendar.
1. How we live our personal life is a witness. Most people do not judge Christ on His own merits as they do on the behavior of His followers. Those who injure Christ most are not His open enemies. They are the ones who declare the merits of their beliefs and live as though they didn’t exist. You seldom find a person that objects to Christ. You often find people who object to those who bear his name. Every step of our personal life either commends Christ or discredits Him.
Two men were walking down the street when one pointed to another man and said, “There is the founder of our local atheists’ club.” The other man said, “I know that man as a pillar in the Church.” The first man replied, “Yes, I know. But he professes his religion so loudly and lives his life so badly that he alienated all his Christian friends. In protest, they organized an atheists’ club in his name.”
2. Our personal testimony is also important. We would not hesitate to give truthful testimony to a court of law. We would give truthful testimony to officials investigating a crime. Why do we find it so difficult to talk about the most important influence in our lives? We are sensitive to the appearance of sham. We dislike pious pretensions and work to insure that we are not participating in anything that can be considered hypocritical. Perhaps because we find it difficult to live in accordance with Christ’s teaching, we find it even more difficult to discuss it with others. There is something to be said for humility but it does not justify hiding our religion as though we were ashamed of it. You don’t have to argue to bear witness.
Have you noticed that many card shops, even in grocery and convenience stores, now have a section for religious expression? When I was ordained, I received a number of duplicate cards and appreciated every one of them. The reason there were so many duplicates is that there were so few from which to choose. When you send a get well card, do you send “humorous” or “spiritual” cards? It would probably be a good Christian sign in our world if we could get a “humorous, spiritual” card. There should not be a “spiritual” side of lives that is not visible to the outside world. Our spiritual side is a major building block of our total personality. It must be shown to others if they are to see, understand and appreciate the gift of God’s love.
3. Personal service is often even more difficult than living and testifying about our faith. Many people assume that the work of the church is the professional responsibility of the clergy. In many cases, non-professional service is more effective among the unchurched. There are many people staying away from church because they think they are not wanted or that nobody cares. A little friendly effort may work wonders.
A new rector came to a parish at the beginning of Lent. The vestry told him that the Bishop usually came for Confirmation just after Easter. The rector said he would ask to have the visitation postponed until he was sufficiently acquainted with his new field to gather a Confirmation class. The vestry objected. They asked him to announce a time for instruction and leave it to them to bring candidates. With many misgivings the rector acquiesced, announced a meeting for instruction, and came to the parish house at the appointed time. He was met by more than a hundred people, the majority of whom were communicants in the parish who had brought their friends to learn about the Church. After Easter, a large class was presented to the Bishop for Confirmation.
This is the story of St. Andrew – he brought his brother, Simon Peter to Christ. The Gospel has always been spread and the Church has always grown, by the personal witness of Christians. Powerful leadership can bring in people but it won’t make Christians. Efficient administration helps any organization but it won’t create Christians. Christ becomes known through Christians. This is the priesthood of the laity.