We are to love Christ so much that we want to share His message to others. This daily devotional looks at how we are to witness to family and friends.
Nuggets
- We are to be a witness to our families.
Devotions in How to Love Our Neighbors series
We love God. We think we have a good relationship with Him.
But it isn’t about us.
Being a disciple of Christ means we want to witness to others. We want others to know His love, too.
But that is hard for some of us. We can think of a lot of excuses as to why we can’t witness.
Doesn’t matter.
God calls all of us to share His love with others.
Let’s look at some examples of those who did just that.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Let's Put It into Context #2
“The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ And they said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and you will see.’ So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour” (Jn. 1: 35-39 ESV)
The Pastor Steve-types are to point us to Jesus.
John the Baptist had a good ministry going. He was drawing crowds.
Then, here came Jesus. No, John didn’t ignore Him or hide Who He was.
Twice, John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (Jn. 1: 29 and 36). The first time, he even went on to state Jesus was our Savior.
Two unnamed disciples of John’s were interested in Who Jesus was. They followed Him home.
Now, remember, a synonym for disciples is students. They were listening to John’s message and seeking that of which he was preaching.
The two disciples had gotten an introduction from John. Now, they wanted to graduate to a more advanced class.
Side note – several sermons said that one of the disciples was John.
Don’t read this to be the calling of these two men to be Jesus’ disciples. I don’t think it contradicts Mark 1: 16-20. We have to hear about Who Jesus is and decide that we need a Savior before we are called to follow Him.
Leading Our Family to Christ
“One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas’ (which means Peter)” (Jn. 1: 40-42 ESV)
We are to be a witness to our families.
We finally get official confirmation of who one of the disciples was. His name was Andrew.
It is interesting that, in verse 40, Andrew’s claim to fame was that he was Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew was the follower of John. Andrew led Peter to Jesus.
Still, Andrew was identified as Peter’s brother.
I don’t think Andrew minded that designation. This wasn’t a rehash of Cain and Abel.
At the first opportunity, Andrew brought Peter to Jesus. Andrew believed he had seen the Messiah. He wanted Peter to have the same opportunity.
Jesus didn’t tell Andrew to go get Peter. Andrew went and got him on his own.
I have problems, though, with something Spurgeon said. He wrote, “Simon was worth ten Andrews.”
Resource
Yes, maybe Andrew wasn’t the leader that Peter was. Doesn’t matter.
I have problems with us and others comparing us with someone else. Peter had his assigned kingdom tasks. Andrew had his.
Both of them, according to Scriptures, did what they were assigned to do.
Andrew shared the gospel by bringing others to Jesus. “Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus” (Jn. 12: 20-22 ESV).
No, Philip didn’t take them to the head disciple, Peter. He took them to Andrew, the head bringer.
It seems like Peter was the preacher to the crowds. Andrew did more one on one.
We can’t underemphasize the importance of one-on-one witnessing. There is benefit of telling the masses about Jesus. We reach more people that way.
The Pastor Steve-types can’t stop in the middle of a sermon and apply something to with what a seeker is personally struggling. That can only be done one on one.
Besides, Andrew — even Peter — wasn’t the star of the show. The focus of the gospels is Jesus.
Giving one of the disciples a lot of screen time was not the intent. We were given enough of a look at the disciples to show their relationship with Jesus.
There was a lot that wasn’t written. John even said so himself. “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (Jn. 21: 25 ESV).
The moral of the story is don’t be bashing Andrew. Every time we see him, we see a man dedicated to furthering the gospel. That is what we are asked to do.
Whitelaw pointed out that Andrew (and John) were lowly fishermen. Stereotyping them would make us think that they were easily led astray by someone purporting to be that for whom they were looking.
Resource
They got it right in one. They followed John the Baptist, who’s whole purpose was to lead them to Jesus.
This brings up a good point. We can’t devalue our personal testimony. No, we might not have the Hollywood splash of Paul’s conversion and subsequent life.
Most people don’t even come close to living Paul’s life.
But they do ours. Our telling of how loving God has impacted our lives and how Jesus personally saved us will go a lot farther than reading about someone who travelled all over his known world and got to tell others.
The gospel is more easily received when it is shared by someone who has already lived it. We can be like Esther. “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Est. 4: 14 ESV).
Part of the issue we have is we don’t want to talk about some things in our past. We would rather they be forgotten.
Sometimes, though, it really helps others when we open up. It shows them the gospel in action. It really brings home how a book thousands of years old is truly relevant today,
Why do you think so many people read autobiographies and even biographies? They want to know how the person “did it.” What is the key to their success?
Jesus is the key to our success. We have to tell about Him.
We have to be the instrument through whom others find their Savior.
We like to say we can’t preach to others. Andrew didn’t preach to Peter. He talked to him from the heart.
We also like to say that it is difficult to witness to our families. They know us the best. They know all of the bad as well as the good.
Trumbull reminded us that Andrew didn’t sat a word about himself. He focused the conversation on Jesus.
Resource
We can’t make the witnessing about us. The focus has to be Christ crucified and their need for Him as their Savior and Redeemer.
Making the Connections
Why is it important for us to share Christ with our neighbors? It is because so many people are searching for Him.
Notice those are the first of Jesus’ words that John records. “Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ …” (Jn. 1: 38 ESV).
Jesus asks all of us that for which we are looking. He doesn’t fill in the blanks for us.
We have to say point blank that we are looking for Jesus to be our Savior and Redeemer.
But we have a very important promise associated with this. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mt. 7: 7 ESV).
How Do We Apply This?
Whitelaw said something very scary. He wrote, “Many discern the Light who neither rejoice in it (John 3:19) nor walk after it (1 Thessalonians 5:5).
Resource
- “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (Jn. 3: 19 ESV).
- “For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness” (I Thess. 5: 5 ESV).
“… people loved the darkness …” (Jn. 3, 19 ESV). They purposefully chose to stay with the evil rather than follow good and the light.
Don’t be one of those people.
Many people are uncomfortable with witnessing. I know I was for the longest of time.
But look what Melvill said. He wrote, “A man renewed by God’s Spirit, who does not desire and seek the renewal of others, is a contradiction in terms. The wealth acquired by the believer is kept through being dispersed; the cure accomplished through the blood of the Redeemer is a cure which is radical only in proportion as it seeks its own extension.”
Resource
Ouch! If we don’t seek for opportunities to share the gospel, we need to evaluate our own faith.
No, that doesn’t say we just share our testimony as we live our lives. While we are to do that, we are supposed to do more.
It says seek — actively look. It is our priority to win others to Christ. We have to actively look for opportunities to witness.
- Strive to bring others to Christ.
- Begin sharing with our family members not only to win them to Christ but to also gain confidence to share with others.
Resource
Father God. We thank You for designing the Plan of Salvation of us to restore our relationships with You. Use us, Lord, to spread You love to our family members who need to accept Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.