Leadership Thought: A Lesson in Witnessing I Learned from the Couple Below
 

Dear Friends,

Yesterday at Millers, a popular breakfast spot where my friends and I often go, I met a wonderful couple shown in the picture above. It was taken over 60 years ago, and today they are in their late 70’s and still walking with Jesus. 

As my friends and I were having breakfast, the man and his wife overheard our conversation and learned that we were Christians by our conversation. There's nothing like the Christian faith to provide opportunities for making new spiritual friendships. The couple came over to our table and introduced themselves, and for the next half hour, we openly talked about Jesus as we shared our various spiritual experiences. 

The man had been a paratrooper and had come to Christ during his military days at Fort Bragg.

I asked the man how he came to know the Lord, and he told me an unforgettable story. He was with four other paratroopers when a woman stopped them and wanted to know if they would like lunch.  She then proceeded to single out my friend, and placing her finger in his chest, she asked, "Can you read? " He said, "Yes, I'm a paratrooper, and I can do most anything!" 

She then handed him a tract and said, "Read this!" As he read it, the Holy Spirit took control, and right there he gave his life to Christ, and for the past 60 years, he and his wife (pictured above) have been faithful followers of Christ.

His conversion experience was certainly not the result of a normal textbook evangelistic presentation, but the Holy Spirit used this woman's unconventional witness to lead him to Christ, and his life was changed forever.

It is easy for us to miss those opportunities the Holy Spirit provides to us to witness to our faith. We convince ourselves that it is not the perfect situation to share our faith. Maybe we don't want to risk the embarrassment of rejection, or we don't want to look foolish, and so we avoid doing what we know God has called us to do.

I confess that this has happened to me, and I am a pastor, and this is something I am trained and expected to do.

I wonder if you and I would ever be bold enough to stop somebody who is with a group of friends and confront them by sticking a finger in their chest, asking if they could read, and then taking the time to share the gospel. That's not the conventional way that people come to faith, but there are countless amazing stories of just such miraculous ways that God has brought people to faith through such unusual evangelistic approaches.

I remember someone telling me we should never pray for opportunities to share our faith; for the opportunities are endless and all around us. Instead, we should pray for the boldness to take advantage of those opportunities, for as Jesus reminds us, "the fields are white unto harvest.”

Paul writes, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." ( Romans1:16). Let it never be said of us that we were ever ashamed of the Gospel.

Many years ago, I remember the late Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, sharing an unforgettable definition of evangelism. He said, "Witnessing is sharing Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results up to God." 

I find this statement liberating. Winning people to Christ has nothing to do with us or how wonderful our spiritual presentation might be. It's all of Him and none of me, for it has everything to do with the Holy Spirit.

We are to "Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not unto our understanding, but in all  our ways we are to acknowledge Him, and He will direct our path."( Proverbs 3:5-6) 

When I look at the picture above of this exuberant couple dancing in the spirit, I realize it might never have existed had it not been for the faith of one sold-out follower of Jesus who was not ashamed or embarrassed to share the gospel. 

If we have placed our faith in Christ, we can rejoice and look forward to what awaits us beyond our earthly existence. But until then, we have a responsibility to share the Good News with others.

As the apostle Paul writes, “How can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” (Romans 10:14 NLT).

As we walk through our lives today, let us do so with a renewed desire to be His faithful witness, sharing our faith with all those around us. 

Yours faith and friendship,

Tom