All the World...

"And now why do you delay? Get up.."
Acts 22:16

Reading
Mk 16:15-18; Acts 22:3-16

Today's reading calls Christians to become witness of Jesus Christ in this World. In Acts 22, we hear Paul witnessing to his conversion. How to become a Christian witness? even before answering that question, we need to know, Who is a Christian? and What to witness?

In order to answer the first question, what makes a Christian a Christian? A Christian is one who is "called by God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit." This Call is an Invitation and a Demand to take on a particular inward and outward lifestyle of Love for God and our Neighbors. Then, a Christian is the one who is obedient to this command. Now, What to Witness? Here, witness is not a self-talk about how we received God's grace in our life but pointing to God. Characters in the Bible do not talk about themselves but talk about God's grace. We hide our ego and spend our-selves (self), that is true witnessing. A distinct and unique mark in a Christian witness is that there is a self-giving of Christ to a Christian and Christian to Christ.

Witnessing is going to all the World (Mk 16:15). Christians are co-workers with God for making history, that is Salvation history for the World. We participate in history of this world along with God, in renewing and fulfilling his covenant with all his creation (Mt 16:15).

Therefore a Christian is one who points at God and work along with God in the salvation history of the World. This salvation history is renewing and fulfilling of God's covenant with all creation.

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*I have based this article on
Terry J. Wright "Witnessing Christians from Karl Barth's Perspective", Evangelical Quaterly (2003), 239-255.