Can God Use a Silent Witness?

I was just reminded of a William Fay quote, “Many times your witness is sabotaged not by what you do but what you don’t do. If your voice trembles, your hands shakes, or you stumble over words, God can use your witness. God cannot, however, use your silence.” (William Fay the author of, Share Jesus Without Fear).

SCripture:

 Romans 1: 16-17 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:  first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

Lesson:

In a recent discussion a group at our Bible Study, we talked about our witness. We concluded, that while everything that we do should be done in love we should not confuse the sharing of the gospel with love. According to Paul, we speak the gospel but we demonstrate it through love. Paul goes to great lengths to explain the importance of our witness and testimony. He is not alone. Read aloud what others say. We cannot remain silent and if we do there are consequences.

Luke 9:26-27. "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels 


Mark 8:38 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."


What is the difference in speaking the gospel and demonstrating the gospel? We speak the gospel but we demonstrate it through love. There are times we can share gospel of Christ in silent ways such as the . However, we must be so careful in that it is so easy to hide behind these things and thus justify our reasons or excuses for not being verbal with out witness.

The key word in the gospel is Jesus. I used to get around the talk by saying, “Where do you go to church?” or “Have you been baptized?” A great percentage are or have been members of a church and baptized. However, and while those questions may be good ways to open the door, they are avoiding a most important question? So, the next most important question we must get to is, “How is your relationship to God/Jesus? Is your relationship to God/Jesus where you want it to be? This is a direct question and most will pause and either look me in the eye or at the floor and say, “No, I am not where I need to be.” And, then that opens the door with, “You can be.”

We must bring people to Jesus. Perhaps by examining how and why Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, we might be more diligent in our efforts to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

I agree that silence is a poor excuse for a witness. However, I do believe there are ways a person can witness in non-verbal ways. Here are some way I believe a person can witness in non-verbal ways. Can you think of some others?

1. Share music, magazines, tracts, books, videos, etc.
2. Consider changing your approach to sharing the gospel by telling others of your experience with Jesus and how He has made a difference in your life.
3. Pubically proclaiming Jesus through your dress and actions.
4.       

Prayer:

Dear father, place within me a thirst to share the gospel of Jesus with everyone I meet. Help me to be bold when sharing my faith with others. In my daily walk, open doors for opportunity for me to share of your love with others. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.