What do we convey by what we say or don’t say or by our actions? What kind of witness are we? What is a witness anyway?
According to Random House College Dictionary, witness is: 1) to see or know by personal presence and perception; 2) to be present at an occurrence as a formal witness, spectator, bystander; 3) to bear witness to, testify to, give or afford evidence of.
The gospel writer John says of Jesus, “What Jesus has seen and heard, of that He bears witness, and no man receives His witness. He who has received His witness has set His seal to this, that God is true.” Jesus was an eyewitness to what He has seen and heard in heaven. John 3:32-33
So then, what did Jesus mean when He said to His disciples, “You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth?” His disciples were to bear witness to, testify to, or afford evidence to what they were witness to. Paul as well was told, “For you will be a witness for Him (Jesus) to all men of what you have seen and heard. (Acts 22:15)
I wondered if a silent witness could also be effective? The psalmist thinks so. He says in Psalm 89:37, “It shall be established forever (speaking of the Davidic Covenant) like the moon and the witness in the sky is faithful.”
The credibility of even being a silent witness was validated recently when I met with a friend. She had been broken because of years of physical and emotional abuse from her very dysfunctional family. As we sat in a coffee shop, I listened as she recounted a pivotal point in her life.
Hopeless, Abandoned, Broken
She told me how one Sunday morning as she sat at her apartment window looking out at nothing in particular – feeling hopeless, abandoned, and broken, she noticed a family across the street get into their car and leave for church. “I want that,” she whispered. “I want to be a family – one that loves each other. I want to go to church. I want to belong.”
Her neighbors, of course, did not know my friend had seen them nor had they realized that because of their silent witness, my friend decided to go to church the following Sunday. That was the start of her journey in search of faith and healing of her brokenness. She had been wounded, but not destroyed. She had been alone, but not abandoned because for the first time, she sensed God’s immense love reached out to her. She had hope.
As I listened quietly to her story, I began to wonder, Does my verbal witness of Jesus give hope to the hurting, healing to the wounded, and love to the broken? Does my silent witness, my actions convey the same message as my verbal message does?
What do we convey by what we say or do not say or by our actions? Do you ever wonder such a thing?