Francis of Assisi, the medieval Italian mystic who founded the monastic order that bears his name, used to tell his followers, "Go and preach the gospel. If necessary, use words." Francis's emphasis on witnessing for Jesus through deeds more than words fits in neatly with several passages from the New Testament.
A Call to Witness
In the New Testament the noun describing a person as a "witness" (martus) relates to the nouns for "testimony" (marturia, marturion) and the verb for "testify/bear witness" (martureo). In the passages where these words appear, witnessing or testifying is mainly a verbal act: telling someone about the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:32), or the coming of Christ (John 1:7), or the righteousness of God (Romans 3:21), or some other aspect of God's truth.
Yet some important passages about witnessing in the broader sense do not even contain the word "witness." In passages such as Matthew 5:16 and Philippians 2:14, 15, Jesus and Paul emphasize glorifying God by means of good behavior. In addition, four passages in 1 Peter illustrate the importance of witnessing by example. Peter says that:
- Believers must live so well that even those who want to criticize them will be forced to admit their good deeds and glorify God (2:11, 12).
- Christians should do good and thereby "silence the ignorant talk of foolish men" (2:15).
- Christian women married to nonchristian men should live in such a way that their husbands who do not "obey the word" may be won over "without a word" or "without talking" (3:1, 2).
- Believers should "set apart Christ as Lord" in their hearts and stand ready to "give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (3:15).
Living Well
In each instance, especially the last, the writer does not say that a verbal witness is unimportant; but he does suggest that living well comes before speaking well.
Who would you rather see at work every day, a fellow employee who talks about Jesus all the time but treats other people badly, or someone who quietly goes about his business and models rock-solid Christian integrity? Which would you rather be? In these passages, Peter leaves no doubt about which God prefers.
Living well and witnessing in words do not exclude each other. It's not an either-or situation. But verbal witnessing based on a foundation of good living rings true, while a verbal witness contradicted by bad behavior amounts to hypocrisy.
Francis of Assisi could tell his preachers to "use words" only "if necessary" because they laid a foundation of good deeds by taking care of lepers and helping the poor. Imagine what would happen if we Christians had such a low rate of family dysfunction, so few scandals and squabbles in our churches, and so many obvious good deeds to our credit that people would start asking about the faith that underlies our deeds. That would make the verbal part of witnessing easy, mostly a matter of answering questions.
Carl B. Bridges is a freelance writer in Knoxville, Tennessee.
OUTLOOK is a forum for responsible Christian writers. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Standard Publishing or THE LOOKOUT.
OTHER COLUMNS:
November 15, 2009 - Bringing Christ to French Guiana
November 1, 2009 - Walking the edge
October 18, 2009 - Watch what you say
October 4, 2009 - Proposing a new proverb
September 20, 2009 - Fear and trembling
September 6, 2009 - Elwyn
August 23, 2009 - Where did the Bible go?
August 9, 2009 - The public school: a local mission field
July 26, 2009 - Astonishing the judges
July 12, 2009 - Letting the past go
June 28, 2009 - Line up
June 14, 2009 - The path to spiritual growth
May 31, 2009 - A tribute to one of my heroes
May 17, 2009 - Silent soldier
April 19, 2009 - Operation Resensitization
April 5, 2009 - The temptations of ministers
March 8, 2009 - Conversation over shoes
February 22, 2009 - By their plurals you shall know them
February 8, 2009 - What is missing from your retirement plans?
January 25, 2009 - Turn the page
December 28, 2008 - Abba, Father
December 14, 2008 - Elementary truths
November 30, 2008 - The illusion
October 19, 2008 - Acting like a toddler
October 5, 2008 - Don’t miss this
September 21, 2008 - Foolish schemes
September 7, 2008 - God’s hand is everywhere
August 24, 2008 - The dance
August 10, 2008 - Strange land
July 27, 2008 - God’s amazing grace
July 13, 2008 - A best seller
June 29, 2008 - My grandfather’s clock and worship
June 1, 2008 - Reclaiming the name
May 4, 2008 - God is not our fairy godmother
April 6, 2008 - Success: what is it and who can measure up?
March 9, 2008 - Need to know
February 10, 2008 - The top three myths of singleness
January 13, 2008 - By invitation only
December 5, 2007 - Yes, Abbie, there is a Jesus
November 18, 2007 - 10 Ways to be a good Christmas customer
October 21, 2007 - The dividing line
September 23, 2007 - What do you fear?
September 9, 2007 - A life well lived
August 26, 2007 - To murmur, or not to murmur
July 29, 2007 - The cross and the Christian
July 15, 2007 - Turning the other cheek: still a valuable biblical principle
July 1, 2007 - Why the tie?
June 3, 2007 - The death of a son
May 6, 2007 - A prayer for the dying
April 8, 2007 - The omnipresent God
March 11, 2007 - Do the Amish have superheroes?
February 11, 2007 - What’s your black history?
January 14, 2007 - The split branch
December 31, 2006 - The house of regret
December 10, 2006 - The redemption of the innkeeper
November 26, 2006 - Too many choices
November 12, 2006 - Break the bashing habit: Learning to love the unsaved like Christ does: November 12, 2006
October 15, 2006 - Be ‘salt and light’ this Christmas!: October 15, 2006
September 17, 2006 - Who is a legalist?: September 17, 2006 Issue 38
July 23, 2006 - God speaks through our brokenness: July 23, 2006 Issue 38
June 25, 2006 - 'What I am looking for in my church leaders'6/25/06; Issue 26
May 28, 2006 - Walking in humility5/28/06; Issue 22
April 2, 2006 - God's correction about correcting4/2/06; Issue 14
March 5, 2006 - 173 children call her "Mom"3/5/06; Issue 10
February 5, 2006 - A mom, a mini-van, and a rapper's chant2/5/06; Issue 6
January 8, 2006 - Life for Jackie; January 8, 2006
December 11, 2005 - Christmas in China; December 11, 2005
November 13, 2005 - Alternate Christmas Giving
October 16, 2005 - Leaving regrets behind
September 18, 2005 - What kind of relationship?
