The Lausanne Global Conversation is on the World Wide Open Network
Author: Michael Ramsden
Date: 30.07.2010
Category: World Faiths
Editor’s Note: This Cape Town 2010 Advance Paper has been written by Michael Ramsden as an overview of the topic to be discussed at the Morning Plenary session on “Bearing Witness to the Love of Christ with People of Other Faiths.” Responses to this paper through the Lausanne Global Conversation will be fed back to the author and others to help shape their final presentations at the Congress.
“And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets – who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated – of whom the world was not worthy – wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (1)
Love is costly. Out of love, something may be offered to a recipient for nothing, but that is not the same as saying it didn’t cost the giver anything. It may cost everything. Yet when it comes to the issue of witnessing to people of other faiths, we seem to be looking for methods and means that cost us nothing. The only way to achieve such an end would be without love- which is maybe why so much of it comes across as clanging symbols and noisy gongs. Rejected love is painful – Jesus expressed his heartfelt longing in the face of stubborn rejection. There is an urgent need for us to pour out our lives into reaching the lost as he poured out his life and reached down to us. It was EM Bounds who famously remarked that as the world is looking for better methods God is looking for better men, and perhaps we need to concentrate more on changing our hearts than working on our methods.
Jesus, in preparing his disciples for the trials of this world, told them that difficulty would come. They might have thought that, with God on their side, no suffering would ever befall them. Jesus however told them:
“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think that he is offering service to God…” (2)
Immediately, before he utters these words, Jesus says “And you also will bear witness…”(3) The word witness is from the Greek word “martys.” This word was translated into Latin “martir”, and as its use was developed down through church history it became the word “martyr” as we have and understand it today. Even in the New Testament though, the connection between being a witness and the suffering it entails is very clear. We are all called to be witnesses. In being a faithful witness to Christ, persecution will come. “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”(4) “The world hated me,” Christ said (5), and so we should not be surprised at the hatred that we ourselves attract on account of his name. (6) As we read in Hebrews, faith and faithfulness lead both to great victories in his name – kingdoms were conquered, justice was enforced, promises were obtained, mouths of lions were stopped, the power of fire was quenched, the edge of the sword escaped from, foreign armies were put to flight, and women received back their dead by resurrection; and also to great cost as the world would see it - some were tortured, others suffered mocking, flogging, chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. Truly they were those of whom the world was not worthy.
So let us set aside any thoughts we may have about being able to witness to those not of our faith without cost. There are both great miracles – escaping the sword; and great martyrdoms – many were killed by the sword. There is no contradiction here. Just the certain knowledge that we are called to give our lives in his service and will one day be called home.
Let us also remember that we follow in the footsteps of the “martys”, the witnesses, who went before us. They were not simply spectators wishing to be entertained. They have gone ahead of us and run the race well. They are not few in number, they are a great cloud. The stands they occupy are not sparsely filled – they are packed – with those who laid down their lives in service of Him who is the author of life itself, and who now have eternal life through the founder and perfecter of that faith. We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, we read in Hebrews, so let us not lose heart, nor lose our way, but rather fixing our eyes on Christ, let us run after him who despised the shame of the Cross, and is now seated at the right hand of God. Let us fix our eyes on things above.
This is not a unique time in history. There is always a cost to reaching people with the good news about Jesus. It is a cost that perhaps many who claim Christ may not ultimately be prepared to pay. But this is this context in which the Gospel took root and spread. Preaching a message of repentance and faith has always been challenging. I have had the privilege of speaking in some parts of the world in which personal safety cannot be guaranteed. It is always disappointing to hear some people’s concerns that maybe I shouldn’t go to a particular place because the risks are too great. Yet our goal is not to conserve our lives at any cost, but rather to live our life in obedience to the call we have received. We are not called to ignore risk, or to be reckless. Everything must be prayerfully considered. But to refuse God’s call to go because of hardship is to demand something that the first Apostles would struggle to recognise as genuine Christian obedience.
There are several pointers for us in Hebrews:
This passage in Hebrews is riddled through from beginning to end with the hope of the resurrection. We follow in the footsteps, not of the dead, but of those who have the hope of new life in Christ, a resurrected life that Christ has already won for us. Let us not fear death; if we lose our life for Christ we end up keeping it.
Other papers written in this series cover other vital aspects that could very legitimately be presented here. In particular let me highlight the paper by Rebecca Manley Pippert. I have not talked about prayer and proclamation, scripture and the Holy Spirit, Christ and the cross. These are essential: the object of our witness, the power behind our witness, the content of our witness, the goal of witness and the nature of our witness. But unless we understand that in light of the Gospel, because of the Gospel and for the Gospel we must be prepared to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before us in obedience to God’s mission we will not even be able to begin to address the issue at hand.
Let me offer two additional thoughts. For the early church, everyone was by definition of ‘another faith’. So we learn much just by simply reading the New Testament. Firstly, we see how Scripture employs witnesses. As A A Trites has written about the Gospel of John:
“The Fourth Gospel provides the setting for the most sustained controversy in the NT. Here Jesus has a lawsuit with the world. His witnesses include John the Baptist, the Scriptures, the words and works of Christ, and later the witness of the apostles and the Holy Spirit. [I would add that we too are being called as witnesses.] They are opposed by the world… John has a case to present, and for this reason he advances arguments, ask juridical questions and presents witnesses after the fashion of the OT assembly. The same observation is true of the Book of Acts, though Luke develops his case somewhat differently from John.
All of this material is suggestive for twentieth-century apologists. The person and place of Jesus… is still very much a contested issue. The claims of Christ as the Son of God are currently widely disputed. In such an environment a brief must be presented, arguments advanced and defending witnesses brought forward, if the Christian case is to be given a proper hearing. To fail to present the evidence for the Christian position would be tantamount to conceding defeat to its opponents. That is to say, the controversy theme, so evident in the NT, appears to be highly pertinent to the missionary task of the Church today…
… it is noteworthy that faithful witness often entails suffering and persecution.”
There are three marks of these Biblical witnesses:
Secondly, we must also give much thought to our credibility as witnesses. Someone may be an excellent eye-witness to an event, but if they are a known drunk their witness to any event will be questioned. We are to be known by our fruit. Titus 2:14 tell us that the “purpose of Christ’s death was to purify for himself a people enthusiastic for good works.” (9)These are not the basis of our salvation, but they are the evidence of it, and by them our Gospel is “adorned and commended to others.” (10)
Sadly, it seems that as a church we have wrestled with the balance between good works and having a people eager to do good works, and the preached word of the Gospel. Yet these two always go together. The writers of the first Lausanne Covenant had exactly the same struggle, and we would do well to reflect on the balance that they expressed: “The church may evangelize (preach the Gospel); but will the world hear and heed its message? Not unless the church retains its own integrity, the Covenant insists. If we hope to be listened to, we must practice what we preach… In particular, the Cross must be as central to our lives as it is to our message. Do we preach Christ crucified (I Cor. 1:23)? Then let us remember that a church which preaches the Cross must itself be marked by the Cross.” (11)
What we preach must be evidenced in our lives; otherwise we will always be seen as offering theories and speculations when what the world is looking for is concrete transformation.
There are many issues that could be addressed in this advance paper. There are many useful and effective models and approaches, some of which are described and discussed within this forum. We have also made some large assumptions – namely that it is agreed that we should be witnesses, that we are agreed what we are witnesses to, and that the purpose of that witness is to see disciples made amongst the nations. Others are addressing these issues.
Yet without a resolve to accept that we are called to lay down our lives, we end up with glorious theory and no action. The opposite danger of springing into action without growing in our understanding of the Gospel also ends up crippling the church – without deep roots the church withers. Are we prepared for the cost?
May we all learn to be true witnesses.
© The Lausanne Movement 2010
Keywords: Witness, cost, suffering, persecution, martyr, preaching, Hebrews 11, cross, credibility, good works, truthful
Michael Ramsden has not Contributed any other Resources entries. To see other content that Michael Ramsden has Contributed, click here
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Comments: 31
Recommendations: 4
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Singapore
During an informal discussion, several converts of other faiths shared that they came to a saving knowledge of the Christian faith because of the lifestyle of Christians. As a result, I was inspired to continue in my spiritual journey by living a life that is a testimony of "salt,"and "light," bringing glory to our God.
16.09.2010
United States
I think that the most enduring motivation to reach those of other faiths is one’s love for God and wanting to please him. If we love God, and we realize that he loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, then we will be driven to reach out. There should come a time in each of our journeys that we honestly and humbly offer ourselves to do whatever pleases him. If we do that, we give him the right to shape the desires of our heart, to conform them to his desires. One of those desires will be to want people to know him. When this desire is in our heart, we won’t even think about the "cost" because we will be driven by something much higher, much deeper. And then we will also say like Hudson Taylor said: "I never made a sacrifice."
14.09.2010
United States
i love this sentence:
"Yet our goal is not to conserve our lives at any cost, but rather to live our life in obedience to the call we have received."
As an itinerant minister I have brought my children and wife into 20 countries this year and some of them were not as safe as others. In regards to one north african country, someone asked me about the safety issue and i told them something our kids can recite by heart . . .
"the safest place in the world is in the centre of God’s will"
12.09.2010
Nigeria
When I was in seminary, we were taught that witnessing was sharing the four spiritual laws and telling people about Christ in other ways. This helpful article points out that our witness is much more profound and much more personal. To witness is to tell what one has seen, heard and experienced. And our personal witness is still our best hope for successful evangelism and also a powerful tool for discipleship as well.
Unfortunately, one of our most effective times of witnessing is when we suffer. Therefore, as the author says, we must not run away from suffering or persecution but pray that God will use our testimony in these difficult times to point people to Christ.
09.09.2010
Argentina
Excelente presentación. Me impactan los siguientes párrafos: “Cuando pensamos en ser testigos a personas de otras religiones, nos parece estar buscando métodos y medios que no nos cuestan nada. La única manera de lograr tal fin sería sin amor. Hay un modelo y necesidad urgente que desafía nuestras vidas en poder llegar a los perdidos y es como El entrego su vida y llegó hasta nosotros. Se están buscando mejores métodos pero tenemos que centrarnos más en cambiar nuestros corazones que enfatizar nuestros métodos de trabajo.”
“Siempre sido difícil predicar un mensaje de arrepentimiento y fe. Hay lugares donde no se puede garantizar la seguridad personal. Siempre es decepcionante escuchar algunas personas que hacen referencia que no van a un lugar determinado debido a que los riesgos son demasiado grandes. Sin embargo, nuestro objetivo no es conservar nuestras vidas a cualquier precio, sino más bien vivir nuestra vida en obediencia a la llamada que hemos recibido. No estamos llamados a ignorar el riesgo, o ser imprudentes. Todo debe considerarse. Ore. Pero rechazar el llamado de Dios para ir a servir a un determinado lugar debido a las condiciones de vida difíciles es rechazar la enseñanza que los primeros apóstoles habían colocado como auténtica marca o muestra a la obediencia cristiana.”
“El capitulo 11 de Hebreos nos recuerda que seguimos los pasos, no de los muertos, sino de aquellos que tienen la esperanza de vida nueva en Cristo. La resurrección de nuestras vidas es la realidad que Cristo ya ha ganado para nosotros. Debemos permitirnos ver esta realidad y avanzar en no temer a la muerte. Si perdemos nuestra vida por Cristo terminamos manteniéndola y no la perdemos.” “Debemos estar dispuestos a seguir los pasos de aquellos que nos han precedido en obediencia a la misión de Dios” “Cabe destacar que ser fieles testigos a menudo implica sufrimiento y la persecución”. “Hay dos grandes milagros – escapar de la espada; y ser mártires – muchos fueron asesinados por la espada. No hay contradicción aquí. Sólo la certeza que estamos llamados a dar nuestras vidas en su servicio y un día el nos llamará para ir a casa”
“La Cruz debe ser fundamental para nuestras vidas como lo es nuestro mensaje. ¿Predicamos Cristo crucificado? A continuación, recordemos que una iglesia que predica la Cruz será marcada por la misma" “Lo que predicamos debe ser demostrado en nuestras vidas; de lo contrario siempre seremos vistos como ofreciendo teorías y especulaciones, cuando lo que está buscando el mundo es una concreta transformación”.
05.09.2010
Singapore
Thanks for challenging us to be true witnesses of Christ.
Indeed, my experience has been that new believers are often the most passionate about witnessing for Christ, especially when they have had an authentic and personal encounter with God. It reminds me of the Samaritan woman at the well and how after meeting Jesus, she went about so eagerly to testify about him.
What is more amazing is that while earlier her reputation was not good, yet when she simply shared what she knew and heard from Jesus, people believed in her. Indeed, when God’s truth is faithfully proclaimed, it has the power of salvation since it is not dependent on us.
Sometimes, the challenge for believers is that after a while, there is no longer a "newness of life" or intimacy with God. There is nothing much we can witness about Christ because our knowledge of God is no longer personal or has not made any real impact upon our lives.
We are not prepared to pay the price because the truth that God’s glory is so much more glorious, that the souls of man are so much more precious, and eternity with God will satisfy so much more have not captivated our hearts and minds. Thus, we cling on to what we can see or hold and are not ready to give of ourselves fully to God.
I’ve also come to learn that truth was never meant to be mere head knowledge or information. A witness to a car accident merely reports the event as objectively as he can. But since Jesus is the truth, a witness of Christ is one who is caught up in the loving actions of God, because at the cross, Jesus has begun and will continue the good work in this person’s life.
01.09.2010
United States
I was struck to the core one day 6 years ago when I asked a prominent missions leader where in the world I should go to make a maximum impact for the Kingdom of God. He said, go to the toughest places, places like Y*m*n. Go to the places where the fewest workers are, and where the most unreached are. A lot of believers think the people in those places are harder to reach spiritually, but that’s not the case. They are often MORE open to Jesus than people in more reached places. The only reason so few believe is that there are so few going to them, to help them know who Jesus really is. And the reason there are so few going? Because it’s uncomfortable. It’s hot. Or inconvenient. Or it seems, to our western sensibilities, dangerous. That’s the real reason they are unreached. Because we’re not willing to get uncomfortable to reach them."
I think the suffering you call us to be willing to endure is not just about a willingness to die a physical death - although that is part of it. Are we willing to die to the other everyday things we hold so dear? Comfort, convenience, ease? Cable TV? The internet? Having a close group of friends who speak our native language? This is actually much more challenging on a gut-level.
The sad thing is that many missionaries go to the field, and rather than dying to the daily luxuries, end up gravitating to ex-pat ghettoes on the field. They make the big jump to the unreached country, but spend most of their time with other foreigners, doing foreign things. And they fail to really bond with local people, really learn the local language, and really bear fruit. As I plan to go back to the field soon, this is a place where I want to be intentional to embrace suffering - to get uncomfortable in order to bond with local peoples and build deep friendships that point to Jesus!
Don’t get me wrong. I believe in community and team deeply - and I am not proposing a "lone ranger" mentality. But I believe teams on the field must be VERY intentional and sacrificial, in order to be sure that they keep the main thing - building deep friendships with locals - the main thing.
19.08.2010
United States
Thank you for this inspiring and challenging paper. This message needs to be taught more faithfully, maybe even for the first time, in many churches.
Similar to some of your experiences, I have been disappointed by people’s concerns that the risks and discomforts we encounter serving as missionaries in a foreign country are too great. Some people have told us, "I could never do what you’re doing." If He calls, we must be obedient, whatever the cost.
A good read on this topic is Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship.
14.08.2010
United States
Thank you for these thoughts. My natural tendencies are to avoid discomfort, to avoid suffering, to seek efficiency and to seek good bargains -- that is, how I can get the most out of the least effort and expense. I am thankful for this reminder that true love and obedience are costly and painful.
09.08.2010
Taiwan (ROC)
Thank-you for your encouraging article and the focus on the normality of suffering in our sharing of the gospel. So many messages speak of ’victory’ only and have no place for suffering. That is so unbibilcal.
The list in Hebrews and the comments on it, "God was not ashamed to be their God ...and the world was not worthy of them" are so much more inspiring than the bland things taught by people who think suffering is to be avoided at any cost.
04.08.2010
Spain
En ocasiones como creyentes pensamos que somos los mejores y que tenemos la mejor doctrina. Pero en mi caso particular, al compartir con otras religiones como el Islam y el catolicismo, he podido observar que ellos siguen unos principios biblicos funcionales que muchas veces nosotros pasamos por alto, como por ejemplo, las buenas obras, el ayuno, la oracion constante de los musulmanes, y otros tantos. En ocasiones a pesar de ellos no tener la verdad establecida por Jesus, sin embargo, actuan de manera mas convincente, con entrega, con amor que los que poseemos la verdad. Asi es que no debemos jactarnos de la doctrina, sino vivir de manera tal, que muchos sean atraidos a Jesus. Esto, logicamente, conlleva sacrificio, entrega, humildad y mansedumbre... el fruto del espiritu en nuestras vidas. Y para que esto sea mas que una simple teoria, el grano de trigo tiene que morir para dar fruto... y es precisamente aqui, en donde nos cuesta ser testimonios para otras religiones. Lo que nuestro libro sagrado, La Biblia, nos dice, no necesariamente es lo que estamos trasmitiendo y viviendo con esas culturas y religiones del mundo. Cuando esto cambie, cuando vean verdaderamente que somos sus discipulos... si tuvieramos amor los unos por los otros... entonces seran atraidos al Evangelio de Cristo.
31.07.2010
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