Growing up as I did in the evangelical church, I heard a lot about witnessing, and it warped my understanding of what a witness does. From a young age I thought that witnessing meant “telling others about Jesus.” I was unaware at first that the broader culture rarely used “witness” as a verb, or that when people did, it meant “to observe” rather than “to tell.”

In fact, however, whenever anyone is identified as a witness, it means that they have first-hand knowledge of an event through personal observation and that they will give a truthful account of their knowledge to others, usually in a court of law. So being a witness involves both observing and telling.

Before his ascension, Jesus told his followers that they would be his witnesses in an ever-widening circle beginning in Jerusalem and expanding to the ends of the earth. Naturally, the disciples, who had spent three years in nearly constant company with Jesus, were his first witnesses. They told about what they had seen and heard¹ while with him. As the church grew, however, it acquired followers who had not known Jesus but who nevertheless had experiences with him that they told about. To be a witness for Jesus requires first-hand experience with him. This experience can only be gained if Jesus is a living presence in your life. If he is nothing more to you than a good teacher whose teachings have impacted you, you might still have some things to say about his life and teachings, but you could hardly be called his witness. All your knowledge of him is hearsay; it comes from others who have been his witnesses.

Observation is insufficient to make one a witness. Telling is also required. The disciples had observed Jesus’ life and heard his teachings, but they did not become his witnesses until the Holy Spirit came upon them². The Holy Spirit gave them the courage and power to tell what they had seen and heard. Without the Holy Spirit, the church would have died out before it began, for the disciples would not have had the power to do miracles nor the boldness to speak to the crowds that gathered because of the miracles. In a trial court, a witness may not need the Holy Spirit to testify, but they do need confidence in the truth of their own testimony and in the judicial process that allows them to speak without fear of intimidation. They have to be willing to be cross-examined and to have their own character called into question by opposing counsel. If any of these barriers seems too great, they may choose not to testify despite knowing important information about the case.

A witness has to tell the unvarnished truth. Naturally, every witness has their own perspective, and sometimes those perspectives do not agree. If you read the gospels, you can tell right away that each writer has their own purposes in writing, and sometimes they disagree about fairly significant details. For example, When Matthew, Mark, and Luke report the feeding of the 5,000, it is the disciples who instigate the action by telling Jesus to send the crowds away to buy food. He replies, “You give them something to eat.” When John reports the same story, Jesus instigates the action by asking Philip, “Where shall we buy food for all these people to eat?” John’s Jesus is never taken by surprise and always in control. The accounts differ, but they all attest to the same miracle, and none of them try to make the storyteller look good. A faithful witness tells the truth without embellishment and without trying to make themselves look good or trying to exert any influence apart from what the truth itself exerts.

When I find myself seldom testifying about what Jesus has done in my life, it is usually because of two conditions. Either I am not paying attention, or I am not spending time with Jesus. Not paying attention is the default for most of us now when we all have apps constantly vying for our attention—news you care about! stuff on sale! someone liked your post! you’ve got mail! It has become increasingly difficult to pay attention to things that are truly important—relationships, mental and spiritual health, what the Holy Spirit is saying. With our attention under siege, it is little wonder we spend so little time with Jesus. Who has time? We often can no longer distinguish between what is important because it has lasting value and what is urgent because someone is clamoring for something to be done.

In my youth I often felt frustrated by the admonition to tell others about Jesus or invite them to church. I didn’t want to be pegged as one of those Christians, but I also regarded the gospel as true and spreading it as a genuine mission from God. The biggest obstacle, however, was my own pride. The fact was, I looked down on others as “sinners” and considered myself better because I was “saved.” Having grown up in the church, my understanding of this distinction was so deeply ingrained that I was paradoxically unaware that it shaped my attitude toward unbelievers. Unbelievers were the Other, and I wanted nothing to do with them. Now I earnestly pray for those in my life who are far from God, and I do my best to show them his love. I still don’t often testify to what Jesus has done in my life, but I hope that others will get a glimpse of what he is like from how I treat them.

1. Peter and John were taken before the Jewish council in Jerusalem, which forbade them speaking about Jesus because they were telling people that the Jewish authorities had been instrumental in putting Jesus to death. Peter responded that they could not help telling about what they had seen and heard, so they refused to shut up about it. Later in Acts, when Paul is recounting his own conversion experience before the Jewish council, he also claims that Jesus called him to be a witness and to tell what he had seen and heard. Yet Paul had not been one of Jesus’ disciples and had not spent time with him. Paul’s experiences with Jesus came after Jesus was gone from the earth. ↩︎
2. Prior to the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the disciples of Jesus met together for prayer, but they did not preach or proclaim the gospel of Jesus to anyone. ↩︎