This report is based off of my personal witnessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to five individuals. The methods that were used to witness to the five individuals consisted of Servant Evangelism and traditional witnessing by sharing faith in Jesus. The first person that I will discuss is my wife, of close to eleven years, Katja. For years and years I have been communicating to her that she needs to take a look at what the Bible has to say about mankind’s need for a savior. As of late Katja and I have not been seeing eye to eye on a lot of things and it has caused our marriage to be in a state of disunion to the point that we have become legally separated. I am praying that we are able to reconcile, however my prayers are much more that God’s will be done because I know that when we are in his will that this is where we will, as his people, be the happiest if not in the present, then without question in the future. When an opportunity arose for me to do something to demonstrate servant evangelism, which is the meeting of a person’s need by performing an act or service, then I immediately took advantage of the opportunity to do so.
Katja and I were in a furniture store with the children, looking for a crib for my son when I noticed Katja looking at the beds on display. I immediately recalled that our bed was in need of repairs and that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to meet a need of hers, even though we are separated legally. I asked Katja if she would like to buy a new bed and she, of course, communicated that she would. The bed was purchased and I hope that it says that I care about her needs and have a vested interest in her well being in order to strengthen our relationship and set the conditions for me to present the gospel to her. I plan to witness to my wife during a time of need, which is when we are most receptive to God’s word, and have full confidence that I have helped set the conditions for at least her being willing to hear what I have to say. The next individual that I will speak about and that I will have a chance to witness to, again in the near future is my mother in law Astrid. Astrid is a very nice older lady who, unfortunately, I do not always see eye to eye with, I could say that the apple does not fall far from the tree, but will refrain from this type of humor because of the perceived harshness of such a statement. It was brought to my attention by my wife that she had been to my mother in law’s apartment and that her sofa was in need of repair or replacement, I once again so this as an opportunity to meet a need in the hope of setting the conditions and establishing a relationship with my mother in law that would allow me to sow the seed of the Gospel on ground that has been cultivated and is now fertile. I have shared my faith with my mother in law in the past but will do so once again this weekend by dropping off a tract that explains the Gospel of Christ Jesus and prayerfully she will respond by accepting Jesus Christ as savior. This concludes the two witnessing accounts that involved servant evangelism. The next three witnessing experiences involve the more traditional sharing of the Gospel by trying to ascertain if the individuals that I were speaking with were one; Christians at all and two, if they are Christians did they understand the true nature of the Gospel. Below you will find the account of my three witnessing experiences
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The first experience that I will relay took place in an army bay that much resembled the open bays in the movie “full metal jacket”. I had took part in a conversation earlier with a Soldier that communicated that he had attended a Christian college and that it was mandatory that he take one class in religion. I told him that he was fortunate that he did not attend liberty, because liberty requires you to take five religious courses before you graduate, (which is a good thing for some, but can be tedious for others), which led me to one day ask this Soldier if I could talk to him about what he believed to be true and whether or not the Gospel of Jesus Christ is something that he believed in? The Soldier communicated to me that he did not believe that there is or is not a God and concluded that his beliefs fell somewhere in the realm of what Agnostics believe, which is that there is no way to prove that God exist, but at the same time they are open to the possibility of God if could be proven. What came out of this exchange with the Soldier is that we do not necessarily agree on the same things concerning God, although the Soldier had attended a Christian school and had undoubtedly been exposed to the Gospel. What makes one person more receptive to the message of the Gospel than others? I believe that it is the circumstances that God engineers in a persons life that set the conditions for an individual’s willingness to entertain the things of God. No identifiable willingness to join the faith on this witnessing attempt, but a seed has been sown. Maybe one day when this Soldier is facing a tough situation he will reflect on some of the things that I communicated to him.
One down and two, more witnessing events, to go. While the first witnessing event, in the traditional mode of witnessing, involved a Soldier who was my peer, this next witnessing opportunity involved a Soldier who was one rank above mine. The setting was very similar to the first witnessing experience, while at a training exercise housed in an open bay, with the exception that when asked the question of “Sir, are you a Christian”, the Soldier responded with the reply “What would make you think that I am not”. By the tone and response that was delivered I perceived that there might have been offense taken to the question that I asked. I proceeded to communicate that I was not trying to say that he was not a Christian, by the question I asked, but rather that I was attempting to find out, if indeed he was a Christian, if his understanding of the Gospel was the same as the understanding of the Gospel that I had. This one got off to a rocky start possibly because of the difficulty in talking with a superior, normally you do more listening than talking as a subordinate, and partly possibly, in my opinion, of the approach that I used. I asked the question to the Senior Soldier in a manner that would have been received better, I think, if I had not spoken it loud enough for others to hear it. The Soldier’s defenses went up from the start and the witnessing effort was stifled, however I was able to communicate to some extent what I believe and present scripture to the Soldier, so now that a seed has been sown I will leave it up to God to cultivate what has been sown. One plants another waters, but it is God that gives the increase.
The Third witnessing event took place in a unique fashion. I was on the bus coming from a firing range, reading a book titled “Radically Unchurched” when a young Soldier asked me what I was reading? I replied that I was reading a book for a class I was taking in pursuit of a Masters in Theology. The Soldier asked me a couple of questions concerning the book and later on he approached me and wanted to know more about the gospel of Christ. I was wondering where my third witnessing opportunity would come from and it was brought to me! I explained the gospel to the Soldier and he stated that he was waiting for God to send the understanding that would convict him. I in turn told him that he should pray to God for faith and read as much of the Bible as he possibly could.
My five witnessing experiences resulted in mixed results, but I know that I have been obedient to the call of Christ to be a witness to the world.