The essence of being a follower of Jesus who lives under His rule and reign is that we are called to share Christ within us to this world. This has typically been taught as being a witness of Christ with an emphasis on evangelism. Yet, being a witness of His rule is much more than sharing the good news – it must involve being an example or a living epistle.
For too long Christians hid behind a type of evangelism that once they shared the good news or invited someone to a meeting, they could retreat into the safety of their own, feeling that their job was done. Yet, this approach leaves the world without the much needed influence of Christ in its midst as a continuous witness and light.
Kingdom living calls for full integration with the world we live in!
Jesus was certainly accused of the same in being called a friend of prostitutes and tax collectors! He was in fact rejected by the religious of the day because he refused to conform to their “God pleasing practices”.
Jesus prayed in John 17: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. “
In the parable of the yeast it is clear that Christians are to become part of the whole lump (world) in order to see the whole come into its full purpose.
Also in the parable of the wheat and the tares it is clear that it is His will that we must co-reside with the sons of evil until the end of time.
This is the essence of being a witness – living out the Christian life by following the Spirit in simple day by day obedience. Whether this seems significant or not is of no consequence. What he desires is the witness of his light and life through our lives in very simple ways.
Jesus has never asked any of us to be successful or significant. He simply asked us to follow Him to the places and people he would lead us and then do His works. This is true witnessing – whether it be to prostitutes, tax collectors, politicians or Pharisees.
Ultimately we will become trees planted by waters of life, and the world will feast from the fruit we bear and experience His life through us.
This is the ultimate witness of the defeat of the enemy in this world: that the sons of sin and evil have chosen to become the sons of God as witnesses against the evil one.
Ephesians 3:10-11 “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Let your kingdom come, Lord Jesus!
I have been thinking a lot recently that a King only is a king in as much as he has a constituency of citizens in submission to his rule. In the same way, a resident in the country who is not in submission to the rule of the king can hardly be counted as a citizen but is always a stranger falsely claiming to be a subject. So is it also in the Kingdom of our God and His Christ, may we who name his name be as citizens submitted to his rule.
This is so true Jessop, thank you.