8 APRIL

THE WITNESS

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses  in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8 )

Who is a witness? An individual who, being present, personally sees, perceives or has personal knowledge of something. All Christians have an obligation to be witnesses for the life, death, resurrection and saving power of our Lord, Jesus Christ in our environments and the world at large, through the leading and power of the Holy Spirit. This power gives the Christian witness courage, boldness, confidence, insight, ability and authority to bring conviction of sin, righteousness and judgement. The ultimate aim is to bring people to saving faith and repentance, without being unduly condemnatory.

This story, “Have You Tasted My Jesus?”, provides a good illustration. At the University of Chicago Divinity School, one of the greatest minds was invited to lecture in the theological education centre. Rd. Paul Tillich spoke for two and one–half hours proving that the resurrection of Jesus was false. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection, the religious tradition of the church was groundless because it was based on a relationship with a risen Jesus. He then asked if there were any questions.

After about 30 seconds, an old preacher stood up. “Docta Tillich, I got one question,” he said as all eyes turned toward him. He pulled out an apple and began eating it. “Docta Tillich,” (…crunch, munch …) “my question is a simple question.” (Crunch) “Now I ain’t never read them books you read and I can’t recite the Scriptures in the original Greek. (Crunch, munch…he finished the apple). “All I wanna know is: This apple I just ate, was it bitter or sweet?” Dr Tillich answered in exemplary scholarly fashion: “I cannot possibly answer that question, for I haven’t tasted your apple.” The preacher looked up at Dr Tillich and said calmly: “Neither have you tasted my Jesus.”

The 1,000 plus in attendance erupted with applause and cheers.

ACTION: Do not miss any opportunity to be a witness for Christ.

PRAYER: Father, God, grant me wisdom and courage to be your true witness.