EVANGELISM AND WITNESSING AS A LIFESTYLE

Lesson 4 for April 28, 2012

Evangelism and witnessing are related to:

Our lifestyle. Our compassion.

Our empathy. Our friends and relatives.

“The great lesson that Christ taught by his life and example was that of unity and love among brethren. This love is the token of

discipleship, the divine credentials which the Christian bears to the world. “By this shall all

men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Love to God and man must be an inwrought principle in the

soul; for there is no other way that the Christian can become a “partaker of the

divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.””

E.G.W. (Review and Herald, August 12 1884)

A LIFESTYLE

“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart”

(2 Corinthians 3:2-3)

Our relationship with Jesus is shown (even involuntary) in our behavior and in the way we treat others.

A LIFESTYLE

People around us watch our behavior; our behavior influences on them, it is a silent and daily sermon.

“The compassionate Saviour, who drew hearts to Him by being touched with the feeling of their infirmities, saw a still greater need than bodily suffering. He saw symptoms of a deeper illness. Outward affliction is the result of a diseased heart; and the physical suffering of the people suggested to the Saviour the cause that produced this effect.

E.G.W. (Signs of the Times, August 25 1898)

It was this soul-trouble that led the great Physician to come to the earth as a restorer… So it must be in the work which we as children of God are to do for suffering humanity. While ministering to the physical needs of those who need our help, we are to show them that their hearts must be cleansed from defilement”

C O M PA S S I O N

“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36)

Being compassionate means to understand that people around us need a Saviour beyond their worries and sufferings, so they do not to perish forever.

“Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”” (Matthew 9:37-38)Being workers is not a task for a few people, but for all of us.

COMPASSION

“Thus the apostle [Paul] varied his manner of labor, shaping his message to the circumstances under which he was placed. After patient labor he was successful to a large degree; yet there were many who would not be convinced. Some there are today who will not be convinced by any method of presenting the truth; and the laborer for God is to study carefully the best methods, that he may not arouse prejudice or combativeness”E.G.W. (Gospel Workers, section 4, “Tactfulness”, pg. 118)

E M PAT H Y

E M PAT H YEmpathy is the ability to put yourself in others’ shoes. It is to think like he/she thinks and to feel like he/she thinks. It is to being aware of others’ needs just like they feel them, not like we think they need them. Jesus and Paul are good examples of empathy.

“And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some”(1 Corinthians 9:20-22)

Let’s see how Jesus always acted according to the people He was dealing with.

The Samaritan woman

He spoke about the water of life.

The farmers

He talked about sowing, harvest

and the right time.

The fishermen

He talked about fishes, fishnets

and storms.

Jesus had a wonderful way of presenting great spiritual truths as He identified with the normal issues of daily life, and those who listened learned about the water of life and the need to sow the gospel seed. Many of them even became

fishers of men.

E M PAT H Y

We can teach and preach all we want, but if people feel misunderstood, unloved, and unaccepted, then our witness will be severely hampered, no matter how eloquent our preaching or how reasonable and true our teachings.

This leads to the simple idea of hospitality. Hospitality includes the areas of acceptance, welcoming, openness, caring, generosity, kindness, and friendship. These qualities all have to do with the way that God would have Christians relate both to one another and to those whom they seek to reach for the Lord.

E M PAT H Y

“It is not God’s will that we should seclude ourselves from the world. But while in the world we should sanctify ourselves to God. We should not pattern after the world. We are to be in the world as a corrective influence, as salt that retains its savor. Among an unholy, impure, idolatrous generation, we are to be pure and holy, showing that the grace of Christ has power to restore in man the divine likeness. We are to exert a saving influence upon the world”E.G.W. (Counsels on Health, section 13, “Counsel to physicians and nurses”, pg. 593)

OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES

Some of our friends and relatives may be people who don’t know Jesus as their personal Saviour yet.It is a lot easier for us to reach them, since we have a closer relationship with them. That’s why Jesus told the ex-possessed Gadarene “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you” (Mark, 5: 19)

On the other hand, we must find the right balance between “being in the world” and “not being of the world” (John, 17: 11-19)

How far can we commit ourselves to our friends and relatives without compromising our beliefs? A firm foundation of our principles will undoubtedly make a difference.

OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES