What is a witness?

My friend, Steve, who is a pastor in Wisconsin, sent me a link to this video by a student at Luther Seminary.

Steve thought it was worth sharing. I do, too. But I also think it ought to spark a conversation. Here's why:

While it does a great job of presenting ONE aspect of what it means to be a witness (i.e., "the world needs what we have..." my words, after all, from Reclaiming the L Word, for those of you who have been following this journey for awhile), it totally misses out on the idea that the world also HAS something WE need.

The truth is, the world ISN'T all pain and problems. God loves the world, made the world, and is on the loose in the world today. In fact, according to the story we read in The Book of Acts, the earliest Christians MET God out there! In the most unlikely places. In the most surprising people. And they were CHANGED by what they experienced.

Part of why the church is in such trouble today, I believe, is that we hide out in our little "church boxes," thinking God is "in here."

First off, who in their right mind would want to go "out there" if we think only bad stuff is out there. But more importantly, we miss out on all the GOOD stuff God is doing "out there." We miss out on GOD. No wonder so many of us are depressed and discouraged! No wonder so many of us aren't even sure God is real! We only look for God "in here!"

And that's just wrong in so many ways.

To be a witness today is PARTLY to bring good news into a world that is hurting. But it is also - and just as importantly - to be on the lookout for God everywhere we go...and to dare to NAME the God we see....to give testimony to what we believe God is up to in and through the people we meet...to say not just "God CAN do something about this" but "God IS doing something about this" and, maybe even, "I see God doing it in and through YOU!"

If you're part of a church that is discouraged or depressed, it's probably time to chase 'em out the doors...not to "take Jesus" to the world...but to find him. God is alive and on the loose in the world. Nothing gets people more energized to be a part of God's mission than seeing that with their own eyes.

And THAT is where witnessing begins.

Comments

[Brenda]

Thank you for such practical thinking. I belong to a congregation who believes that we are to be apostles in the providence of our everyday life. I truly believe that means being aware of both the beauty and the pain of life.

[Tom in Ontario]

I hear you and I agree with you. But Jesus has a body in the world today and it is the church. Granted, we're not witnessing to the gospel in our world. "The World Needs What We Have" but we're not giving it to the world or telling the world about it as well as we could.

At our leadership retreat with Tana last week we asked ourselves what we think the world "out there" might say or ask of us "in here." The things that church leaders came up with were overwhelmingly negative. I think that's because we recognize that we're not doing what we ought to be doing. But we do a lousy job coming up with just what we should be doing.

You talk about naming what God is doing out there and I think people in the church are slowly getting on that bandwagon. The only problem I see so far is that we keep telling ourselves that we have to get out there and name what God is doing but we're not naming it. When I read a post like this I keep waiting and looking for the "for example..." We have to do the naming out loud (or in black and white on the screen and page).

[Rachel]

I think this calls for a response video!

Let me know if you don't plan to do it--I just might.

KELLY'S RESPONSE: GO FOR IT!

[Steve]

Agreed. Absolutely. Yesterday I challenged the congregation to begin with their families to name how they saw God at work during the day - as a way to get us (the church) to look for signs of God's work in the world. Another way I look at it is by asking the question: How did you confront evil? Not that what is outside the church building is evil, but we face evil (often very well disguised) in our daily lives. How do we live out our baptismal calling as the people of God and engage ourselves in this world that is God's creation?

[Andy]

Thanks for your thoughts on what it means to be a witness in response to the video. I'm the seminary student who created it and I think it's worth sharing how it came to exist (why it is the way it is). I was asked to make the video by one of my professors to be used when she preached at chapel on campus, so the intended setting was worship and the intended audience was a group of seminary students and faculty. The only guidance my professor gave me was that she would be preaching on Luke 24:36-48 and that the word "witness" popped out at her from that passage...other than that I was free to go in any direction. I give more of an explanation on my blog, and there are also two earlier versions of the video on youtube (links to those are also on my blog). http://anewdoxology.com/2008/03/27/witness/

[Brad <><]

I don't know that this pondering fits here or not, but I think maybe it kind of does. I've been thinking about this notion of "in and out" and how we have this tendency in the church to talk about "gathering in here with God" and "going out into the world." That kind of talk is grating on me more and more. Yet I am struggling with how to avoid it, particularly when I am preaching. As we are gathered together Christ is present with us and we are called to not remain in our stuffy pews but to go out into the world. It just seems that because we are gathered "here" that it just naturally leads to that "us" and "them" kind of talk. Any wisdom on avoiding such pot holes would be welcomed.

[Kelly]

Brad - Great stuff to be wrestling with. I think one question is what are we "sending" people out to do?? The earliest Christians encountered the Holy Spirit "out there" - in prison, on the road, in the city center, in the wilderness, in the home of a stranger, by the river. What if we sent people out with eyes wide open for God?!? What if we prepared people to meet God in the stranger, in the outcast, in the unlikely? What if we encouraged them to NAME what they see...both in the moment...and when they get back together again?!? I can't think of a better way to overcome "us" and "them" thinking. If God is on the loose in the world...at work in and through ALL creation...then we are ALL "us," aren't we???