Called to be God's witnesses (Acts 1:8), but are we?

Thoughts collided Sunday morning as I drove to church. I had been aware of passing other churches to get to “my” church, but I wasn’t aware as to how many of them there actually were. I counted six with dedicated buildings for their church activities on the streets I traveled, but I wasn’t aware of how many that were just a block off those main streets nor how many occupied store-fronts … there were many. Acts 1:8 states, “What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses …" (The Message) Does the sheer number of churches constitute being God’s witnesses?

When First UMC in Hudson, FL was going through the process of planning to build a new sanctuary, the District Committee on Missions and Church Extension asked us to survey the community to see how many churches there were within a certain radius of our church. The number staggered us, especially in one particular category – there were 34 Baptist churches, only 2 where Southern Baptist and all of the rest were small independent congregations. With that information and other population data the District Committee felt that the community could sustain a larger sanctuary at our location. That congregation has since built their third sanctuary. You shall be my witnesses …

These two thoughts collided with the reality that Manatee Avenue, one of the main drags through Bradenton to the beaches, was filled with automobiles and trucks that gave forth with evidence that they were heading to the beach instead of church. Boats, jet skies, floats of various sizes, bikini clad women, shirtless guys, beach umbrellas and a large array of other beach paraphernalia was stuffed in the truck’s beds and trailers, as well as sticking out the automobile windows. It was obvious where they were heading and in the process of getting to their destination they would pass several churches. You shall be my witnesses?

I knew that the congregation that I was associated with would be like most of the congregations along the beach route, as well as those located in other parts of our fair city. Our sanctuary would be about 50% filled if we were lucky. How can we reach the population for Christ? How can we effectively be His witnesses?

Then discussion during last nights Bible Study Share Group turned to one of my passions namely, that each of us gets up on Sunday morning, have our cup of coffee, put on our “Sunday-go-to-meetin’” clothes, and drive off to worship without expecting anything to really happen when we get there. Oh, the music will inspire us, the sermon will touch us and it will be great to visit with our friends, but nothing will happen. No earth shaking changes, no mountain moving experiences, no heart strangely warmed type of events … just the same-old-same-old. We didn’t go with any real expectation that anything meaningful and lasting would happen and our “expectations” were met! How does this weekly reality relate to “You shall be my witnesses?”

If we are not changed then how can we change the world? John Wesley was an Anglican priest, he had come to America as a missionary, he had grown up learning to read by reading the Bible … religion and faith were part-and-parcel to his very DNA, his spiritual fiber … but it wasn’t until Aldersgate on a Wednesday evening while someone was reading Martin Luther’s, “Preface to the Book of Romans” that his heart was “strangely warmed” and his spiritual journey took off in a totally different direction. He discovered what it meant to be God’s witness in the world. He was set on fire for God. As he was fond of stating, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” Oh, that we should be so set on fire that people would not pass our church on their way to the beach, but would stop to watch us burn! Then we would truly be His witnesses …

Quote for today: It is easy to determine when something is aflame. It ignites other material. Any fire that does not spread will eventually go out. A church without evangelism is a contradiction in terms, just as a fire that does not burn is a contradiction. Christian Theology in Plain Language