Can I Get a Witness?

Mike Hosey, an Elder

We use the word “witness” in our modern language a lot. We usually define it as: “one who gives evidence; specifically, one who testifies in a cause, or before a judicial tribunal.” Sometimes, it is defined as, “something serving as evidence or proof.” So a witness is someone or something that supports the truth of something else. If you see a murder, and are asked to testify in court about what you saw, then you become a witness. If the police find a video tape of the murder, and use it in court, then that video tape becomes a witness to the horrible event. If you see Superman save the day, and the newspaper reporter asks you what you saw, and you describe the excitement of a man jumping over a building in a single bound, then you are a witness to the miraculous. If the police find a couple of burglars tied with a Bat Rope and tagged with a note to the light post at 34th and Archer, then that rope and note are a witness to the crime busting activities of the Dark Knight.

And this is exactly how the term is used in the Bible. For instance, Deuteronomy 17:6 commands how witnesses are used in a death penalty proceeding. In Isaiah 30:8, the famous prophet is commanded to write down the ways of rebellious Israel, so that there is a permanent written witness to their condition.

The Bible is serious about witnesses. So serious, in fact, that it forbids false witnesses. It prohibits witnessing about something that isn’t true (Exodus 20:16). And it describes such behavior as murderously harmful (Proverbs 25:18). It pulls no punches when it lists a false witness with murder, adultery, slander, stealing and sexual immorality (Matthew 25:19). God seriously hates it (Proverbs 6:16-19).

God directs his people to serve as a witness to his grace, mercy, power, and commands (Matthew 28:19-20). And it is his expectation that his direction be carried out far and wide (Acts 1:8).
So ask yourself this question: “What is my life witnessing to the world?” Then examine your life to see what it is witnessing. Do your behaviors, your allegiances, your friendships, and your words witness to the truths of the one good King of all? Or do they bear a false witness about the ways of the world?