LESSON 2: WITNESSING IS NOT EVANGELIZING

EVANGELISM 

LESSON 2 

WITNESSING IS NOT EVANGELIZING

 Acts 1:8; 11:26

 

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE:  Matthew 5:16 

“I don’t believe we should go around talking about religion. I just let my light shine. People will know that I am a Christian.” I’m sure we all have heard these words before. This expression has been used by so many Christians throughout the years. What does it mean?

It means that they deem it unnecessary to say one word about Christ outside the church. They think if they follow a certain pattern of life, the unsaved who observe his life will be impressed to the point where they will come seeking Christ. Now some who say that are quite sincere. But usually it is an excuse.

The truth is that a wonderful Scripture has been twisted to justify the action. It is used as an excuse for disobedience. This verse is a definite instruction. A good look at this verse will rescue some from deception. Satan has used this verse to silence many of God’s people by giving it a slight twist.

God’s Word is called light (Psa. 119:105, 130). The Word of God shines. Just as the sun scatters darkness, so does the Bible illuminate men. Without God’s Word, men cannot see. They have no way of determining their direction, spiritually.

“Let your light shine...” says Jesus. But, what is our light? Our light is our word and it can shine on our works, just as God’s light shines on His works. You see, people can marvel at the works of God and give Him no credit. When He does something wonderful in your life, people can see it and give you the credit instead of God. They will never give Him credit for anything in your life, unless you direct their attention to Him.

The sun comes up every morning and people never think to credit the One Who made it. If men can behold a wonder that fills the sky and fail to recognize God, they will surely never credit Him with a small wonder in your life; unless you say so. Let your light (words) so shine so men can see your good works and credit God for them. Our light and our works are two separate things. Our light has nothing to do with our works. Your light merely illuminates our works to reveal that they are done by God. And God’s Light has nothing to do with His work either. His works and His light are two separate things. But without His light, people do not see that they are His. And without your light, people will never see His hand in your life.

WITNESSING IS NOT EVANGELIZING:

In a courtroom we can see the difference between evangelizing and witnessing. The two are specialties and are distinct skills, as we will see. When a witness is called to testify he is asked to make statements from his own personal knowledge. He tells what he knows. He does not probe or challenge. He gives forth what is asked of him and that’s all. That’s the extent of his role

The prosecutor doesn’t take the stand. He’s a lawyer. It’s not his business to tell what he knows. Instead he extracts information from others and uses their words to prove his point. He knows how to take facts and present them to win cases. That’s his business. All of his moves are aimed at getting a conviction.

A person who is evangelizing is like a prosecuting attorney. His moves are calculated to extract information from a prospect. He then uses that information to lead that person to Christ. Far from telling a person what he knows, (witnessing) his efforts are all geared to getting a prospect to do something about Christ. He’s not content to tell people anything. He wants them to act, to do something about their salvation.

Evangelizing consists of a single task, bringing a soul face to face with Christ and pressing him to receive the Lord as his Savior. Witnessing on the other hand, is a work which can be performed in countless ways. The moment a person does anything to share the Word of God; he is a 100% successful. Witnessing ranges all the way from giving someone a tract to telling another what Jesus means to you. Thus, evangelizing and witnessing are not the same. While everyone can witness for Jesus, not everyone can lead souls to Christ, at least not at first.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE:

The average Christian doesn’t know the difference between evangelizing and witnessing. Most think they are synonymous. That causes them to shy away from dealing with people. Believing there is no way to witness short of winning a soul to Christ, they are reluctant to start. A multitude of brothers are content to remain silent, thinking only those prepared to win souls are qualified to speak for Christ. About 80% of all Christians have this notion. Satan is using it to keep them out of action. To them winning souls is a terrifying business thinking that unless you are equipped and have been called to do that work they cannot and should not do it.

FORGET SOUL WINNING:

Does it sound as if I’m saying to you “Don’t win souls?” You could get that idea. What I am saying is, “Witness first and then win souls.” I truly believe that all Christians could become evangelists if they would first work as witnesses. There is nothing more torturous than forcing yourself to evangelize when you don’t have the personality strength for that kind of work. The thing to do is to develop your strength as a witness, and then you can do the task of evangelizing with confidence and enthusiasm.

The Holy Spirit makes up for deficiencies in our personalities but, it doesn’t do it automatically. We must learn to work with Him at close range before His strength becomes our strength. That kind of know how doesn’t come overnight. Its one thing to say God’s Spirit does this and that for us, it’s quite another to experience that working in an actual situation. The average Christian can’t recognize the working of the Holy Spirit in a live situation. It takes time and experimentation to become familiar with the work and power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why I believe that all Christians should witness first and then evangelize.

EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD WITNESS:

God is aware of this variable in his people. He knows some are endowed with boldness, while others are shy and timid. That’s why He gave the command to witness (Acts 8:1). Everyone can witness, even though not all go on to lead souls to Christ. There are ways to witness that match the shyness of the most timid soul.

Jesus installed the witnessing program to accommodate this variable in His people. Everyone can begin with the easiest steps of witnessing and then, with the passing of time, graduate to evangelizing. It is wrong to expect people to perform spiritual tasks that they are not yet qualified to do. There are those who accept the challenge of their pastor to try to evangelize. A sense of duty drives them. For a time they go through the nightmare of attempting something beyond their ability, but it doesn’t last. Before long, they recoil from it. And that’s bad. Usually it instills a fear from which they are not easily recovered. 

Brothers can be reminded of their obligation to Jesus and then be forced into evangelizing, but it does not bring good results. There is no joy in slavish conformity to the Great Commission. Many brothers have been rushed into evangelizing, only to give it up later when it proved to be a joyless duty. It is wrong to turn brothers sour on reaching others for Christ. It is better to start them off as witnesses, and let their strengths accumulate. Then, as they acquire first hand experience in dealing with people, there’s a good chance they will go on and start to evangelize. 

EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD LEARN TO EVANGELIZE:

Every brother should start off as witnesses rather than evangelizing. But that doesn’t mean they should forget about evangelizing completely. If a brother takes witnessing seriously, he has a fine chance of building his strengths to the place where he can become effective in evangelizing.

There’s a difference between learning how to evangelize and actually evangelizing. Even if a person feels he could never lead a soul to Christ, he should acquire the mechanics for doing it anyway. Why? Because you don’t know when you will be faced with a situation where someone will need your help to find God. Everyone who has received Christ should equip himself for that moment. There’s no guarantee that someday, someone will not say to you, “what must I do to be saved?”