What are Biblical Witnesses?

All Christians are commanded to be Biblical witnesses, but the meaning of the term is not always clear. Some may say that it means to go out "witnessing" but what exactly is that? The fact is that Jesus never commanded any Christian to "go out witnessing". What Jesus did say to His disciples in Acts 1:8b was, "...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (NIV) Understanding what Jesus meant in this verse will greatly help us be more effective in our evangelism efforts.

The definition of a witness in Webster's dictionary is "A person who has seen, experienced, or heard something; something serving as proof or evidence." A witness in the court of law is someone who has seen, heard, or experienced something pertaining to a crime; they are brought before the court to testify about these things. Somehow, the world of Christendom has misused this word and given it the definition that witnessing means going out and telling someone else about Christ. That is preaching and teaching, which are very important in the evangelism as well. However, the true English definition of witnessing means that you saw, heard, or experienced something. It has nothing to do with speaking.

To use the term for evangelizing correctly, we should say that they were going out "testifying" rather than going out "witnessing". This would be a more accurate term. Getting this error turned around helps us understand exactly what Jesus was commanding His disciples to do which leads to a much less threatening approach to biblical evangelism. Biblical witnesses have seen, heard, or experienced something concerning God on a personal basis. Once this experience has taken place they will give proof or evidence to God's existence and goodness by testifying to the lost world around them.

A witness in the court of law is only valid if they have first-hand information; the same goes with biblical witnesses. As a Christian walks with God they will inevitably have some sort of experience with God, whether it be an answered prayer, a time of feeling His presence, or hearing God speak to them. Jesus' command to be His witness is simply instructing Christians to testify about the spiritual experiences they have had with Him.

Jesus' twelve disciples could very easily testify because they had witnessed Jesus doing many miracles and many great acts. They even witnessed Him alive after He rose from the grave. It would be easy for them to testify all day long about the things they had seen, heard, and experienced. In fact, the four gospel accounts we have in the New Testament are simply the disciples following Jesus' command to be biblical witnesses; they simply testified about the things they witnessed Jesus saying and doing while He was on this earth. In the four gospels, the writers did not preach their own sermons or try to convince people to be saved in their own words; they just simply told the story.

Biblical witnesses must strive to get close enough to God in order for Him to do some real things in their life. Then simply tell the story to others. They would confirm the truth of the gospel by their testimony, and would not have to work so hard striving to convince others to turn their lives to Jesus. When the term of "being a witness" is defined correctly and used properly, much pressure is taken off the shoulders of the Christian who wants to evangelize. They do not need a salesman approach to try and lead someone down the "Roman Road" or through the "Four Spiritual Laws" they just simply need to draw close to Jesus and testify about their experiences.

Biblical witnesses will automatically be the light of the world as Jesus instructed they should be in Matthew 5:14. A Christian who testifies of the experiences they have had with God in an everyday setting, such as work or school, cannot help but pierce the darkness around them. The Bible describe those who are living without God in their life as living in darkness. Darkness has many attributes; one is that it conceals and hides. The fear of the dark is not really fear of darkness, but rather, fear of what may be hidden or concealed in the darkness. It is a fear of the unknown. Those who live in spiritual darkness also have a fear of the unknown. When Biblical witnesses testify to someone living in spiritual darkness of something they know God did in their lives, it brightens the path and allows that person to see that God is there.

In today's post-modern culture, testifying of spiritual experiences is essential to the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Post-modernism believes that nothing can be known for sure, yet truth can be accepted through experiences. Many who have the post-modern mind-set may never accept what a pastor proclaims from the pulpit on Sunday morning, yet they can't deny the story their Christian friend told them of what God did in their life. The church does not need new strategies to evangelize our present, ever-changing cultures; we simply need to get back to the basics of Jesus' instructions and correctly define and apply the terms concerning biblical evangelism and being biblical witnesses.