The Most Powerful Witness
We stood in a small circle together for the first time in six and a half months, two feet apart, various coloured masks covering our faces, anxious to serve in our church’s kid’s ministry again. Our space was small, our capacity with public health regulations was small and we wondered how very different things would look that morning.
I stared around the circle, fully aware that the last six and a half months had been anything but easy on any of us, and yet these few longed, even in their personal struggle, to serve our families again. I worried they would feel they needed to put on a brave front for the kids or for each other.
As we headed into an hour of ministry, I needed to remember the promise that even in the struggle, or especially in the struggle of the last few months, when Jesus sent out the twelve disciples, he commissioned them
“As you go, proclaim this message: The Kingdom of heaven has come near.”
In these last months of COVID-19, of isolation, fear, uncertainty and change, Jesus has come near. For many of us there were hard days, dark days, days of tears and frustration. He told the disciples that their futures would be difficult, but he also reminded them that their faith walk was solidly built on His presence in their day to day messy lives. The foundation of their message was built on communicating what they had witnessed and experienced walking with him. It was their intimate relationship with him that they could proclaim from the rooftops. It is no different with us today. It is our relationship with him in the day to day messy lives we live that sustains us, it’s how he shows up for us, that is the message we have to share.
“What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.” – Matthew 10:27
Sometimes, I wonder if we get this backwards. We want to proclaim what we do not know, what we haven’t yet experienced. We want to fudge the truth, so it looks a little prettier as Christ followers: walk with him and it will be sunshine and roses, walk with him and there won’t be any trouble. But the opposite seems to be true. The road with Jesus isn’t one devoid of struggle and hurt; the road with Jesus is one knowing that his presence in the struggle makes the difference.
“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9
Our most powerful witness is a truthful witness.
What would happen if as leaders we found ways to vulnerably acknowledge our real struggles and point to the whisper or presence of God in the middle of the mess? What if THIS is how we live Christian lives of integrity?
1 John 1: 1-5 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we proclaim concerning the World of Life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
