“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”. Acts 1:8
This foundational scripture is the record of the last words Jesus spoke on this earth. This commissioning of believers as witnesses of His death and resurrection is generational, so that every believer in every generation is entrusted with the commission of being His witnesses, to proclaim that God has, in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, reconciled mankind to Himself.
It is God’s good news to all men and women of every generation, for it is the message of God’s forgiveness and our salvation from the just wrath of God.
It is also the message of life, eternal life, freely bestowed unto whoever will accept the death of Jesus Christ as atonement for their sin.
It includes an inheritance reserved for people (re)claimed by God as His children.
It is, ultimately, the message of God’s power to transform a sinner into one declared to be holy and righteousness.
What is not to like about the offer of this free gift? Why is it sometimes so hard to get a response from a world that is so obviously doomed?
The early church was effective in witnessing because they took to heart their role as ‘ambassadors for Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Their manifest commitment to the lifestyle preached and lived by Jesus is what earned them the nickname: ‘Christians’ at Antioch. (Acts 11:26)
What is the reason for our lack of effective witnessing of what we clearly believe?
Perhaps it is not because the message of the gospel is not attractive, but that we who are entrusted with it to tell others, have not backed our profession of the faith with a lifestyle indicative of its power to transform lives. It is this dichotomy – the profession of faith which is not in consonance with our actions as true believers in the transforming power of the gospel, that fails to persuade that the offer of God’s salvation is worth taking.
In the book of Genesis, there are two accounts that shed light on the impact the lifestyle of a person who professes to know and love God has on the integrity of their message of salvation.
Genesis 6 and 7 provide the background to why Noah built an ark: he received a commission from God. God told him that he would destroy the earth through a flood and commanded him to build the ark into which he was to go with his family, as well as with animals on the earth. Genesis 7:7, records that having done so,
“… Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.”
Since Noah was the one God commissioned to build an ark to escape the impending destruction of the whole earth, the unquestioning obedience of his entire family (including his daughters in-law) to follow him into the ark, showed how seriously they took Noah’s word, and this was itself testament to how they understood God’s power and authority over the earth, and Noah’s relationship with Him.
By contrast, Lot, who, ended up in the city of Sodom after he was separated from Abraham, failed to save his sons-in-law because they did not believe his announcement of the impending destruction of Sodom. Indeed, Genesis 19:14 records their attitude to his warning:
So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, ‘Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!’ But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. Genesis 19:14
Christian character matters.
While Ephesians 2:8 declares that God’s salvation is bestowed upon us as an act of His grace, Ephesians 2:10 declares that the recipient of the unearned salvation is expected to live in a manner worthy of the gift freely received:
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
It is self deception when we compartmentalize our Christianity so that “there is church, and there is ‘real life’”. It is sobering to realise that we deny the power of God’s salvation, when our character, behaviour, and how we live our everyday lives do not reflect the Lordship of Jesus Christ inherent in the salvation we have freely received.
It is insightful that despite the popular notion that truth is relative, even persons who reject Christianity are quick to recognise (and criticize) – a departure from Christian principles or standard of behaviour, by a believer.
When we conform to corrupting practices because everyone else is doing them, we cannot, after participating in them, turn round to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Like Lot’s sons in law, we will seem to be joking.
I use the expression ‘corrupting practices’ to separate what we consider to be known big sins from which we strive to be guarded, from behaviour which we know is not right, but which we are quick to excuse as mere ‘human’ failings, or which we mindlessly engage in.
Our behaviour must conform to what Christ teaches and represents. This means that in what we engage in, allow, or applaud; in how we relate to our families, acquaintances, colleagues at work and school, and everywhere we live the ‘’real life”, there is a Christian standard of integrity and uprightness that a believer is expected to adhere to.
This is a call for the believer to live with intentionality in this world of rapidly changing values.
Ephesians 4:1 contains a fervent plea to the believer: “I…beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called…”
2 Peter 1:3 assures us that God has provided everything we need to live successful lives, and to be godly, and in John 14:26, Jesus promised the help of the Holy Spirit to live as we should, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
With the help of the Holy Spirit our faith will pervade everything we do at all times and everywhere. That is how we will achieve the unity of our professed faith in Jesus Christ and how we live our everyday lives – the unity that will make the message of the gospel we carry irresistible, for then we exude light, as we ourselves become light in whatever situation, and wherever we find ourselves.
It is time to intentionally reject the dichotomous life which compartmentalizes our spiritual life from our everyday living.
May we!
