May 5, 2010 A True Witness

"A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies." Proverbs 14:25  There is more to being a true witness than telling true facts.  Jesus demonstrated this in His witness to the Samaritan woman.  His true witness won her to Truth.  He also taught her how to be a true witness.  Then her true witness won others to Truth.  We cannot of our own ability win souls, but we can be in a place where the Spirit of Truth can work to draw people to Christ.  Let's see what Jesus had to show and tell about being a true witness.

First of all, Jesus did not hide Who He was or what He had to offer.  He didn't try to cover anything up-- He was a true witness in that He did not use any kind of deception.  Darkness and deception had no place in Christ, and that is His work in us, to reveal these things by His light of truth.  He was spiritually transparent, and the light and love of God shone through.  He told pure truth.  He had no "fear of man," and He had no need to use tricks to try and win people.

Jesus did not ignore the darkness in the woman to whom He was witnessing.  He let the light shine right on it.  If we were to do this in a sense of judgment, as probably the woman had often experienced before, the opportunity to share the truth would be over.  Even though Jesus' light was shining with nothing but the Father's love and compassion, the woman's habit was to deflect the conversation away from her darkness-- she changed the subject, even though previously, she had been very interested in the offer of living water.

Since the woman began the topic of worship, Jesus took up that topic.  [The whole time He was talking to her, He was always steering her away from looking at everything in the natural and helping her to focus upon the spiritual instead.  This was really a key in getting her free from her sinful lifestyle.]  "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4: 22-24   He showed her how needful it was that she allow the light in and not hide from it, even to cover up her shameful darkness.  He was telling her that God already knew about it, and yet was still willing to reveal Himself to her.  She was ready for the revelation, and believed that Jesus was the Messiah, Who was to be her covering.

When the Samaritan woman went to be a witness to the people of her town, she no longer was trying to cover up and hide.   She had received His word about being a true witness, and her statement was: “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him. John 4: 29-30  Something about this was enough to make the whole town want to come and meet Jesus.  Once they had heard Him themselves, they too believed.

Whenever Jesus speaks to us, He shows us that He is the provision for whatever it is that we're needing.  He also lovingly shows us what it is that is keeping us from receiving whatever it is that He has for us.  He does this because He loves us.  Every place that is dark in us is a place that can be inhabited by Jesus' light.  The light will always overcome the darkness, so all we have to do is let the light in. 

One of the best ways to become more filled with Him, which is how we become a true witness for Him, is to worship Him.  True worship is not happening when our bodies are doing one thing and our hearts are somewhere else.  It also doesn't happen when we're not being honest with the Lord.  So true, unveiled worship in God's presence is one of our most important preparations for work in the harvest.  This is where we become transparent enough for His light to shine forth into the world.  Worship in spirit and in truth needs to become our lifestyle.

The "fear of man" will compel us to cover up (or deflect people's attention away from) things we think will not be acceptable to others.  It is always based on our own perceptions, or that which others have taught us.  It is not related to how God really sees us, but sometimes to how we think He sees us.  The more we encounter the love of God through Christ, the more we realize how very much He loves us.  Even if He reveals darkness in us, He shines in His light and dispels it, filling us with His love.  We can run and hide from it if we choose, but it is wise to choose truth.

Personally, I have to keep on opening up to the presence of God to overcome the fear of rejection that keeps me struggling with the desire to hide.  He keeps on reassuring me of His love, filling me up with His light, and helping me to lay down anything that I might use to hide from Himself and others.  This motivates me to continually seek His help:  if I am hiding behind something, for example, a mask of cheerfulness when I am depressed, then I have become a deceitful witness telling lies instead of the truth I want to tell.  This may sound very harsh, but it is probably one of the greatest reasons in the Church for not seeing a much greater harvest of souls into the Kingdom.

The process of becoming a true witness is often painful, but always rewarding.  The joy comes when we get to enjoy the fruit of the harvest with the Father and the Son.  "And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together." John 4:36