What Is "Witness and Outreach?"

While working on another project I realized that many of the resources that I was using for the topic never defined the topic. Instead, they jumped into discussing the topic as though it has been universally defined and understood (which, of course, it hasn't). This could result in much confusion and misunderstanding aw well as lead to many false assumptions. Rather than repeat that error in this blog, here is a brief discussion meant to clearly define what we mean by "witness and outreach":

     Witness and outreach is a joyful work in which we have the privilege of joining God in His mission to bring the saving work of Jesus to our dying world. Understanding that this work is first and foremost the work of God frees us to be the witnesses we are called to be and spares us from the results-oriented mentality that pervades our culture and has influenced many people’s understanding of witness and outreach. 

     Simply and briefly stated, witness and outreach is confessing Jesus Christ to the world. More specifically, it is confessing Jesus as God and Lord through Word and Sacrament to people who do not know Him with the desired outcome that they would also confess Him to be God and Lord. Not only is the outcome of witness and outreach solely the work of God, but even our faithful confession of Christ is only possible through the working of the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, evangelism in not a work of man and the results of our witness are never dependent on our techniques or abilities.

     As those who have received the gifts of God in Holy Baptism, including and especially the gift of the Holy Spirit, confessing Jesus Christ as His witnesses is an intrinsic part of our life in Christ. Jesus Himself expressed this when He commissioned His first disciples to make new disciples by Baptizing and teaching them “as they were going” (Matthew 28:18-20). He further underscored this by telling them that after they had received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that they would be, not might be or could be, His witnesses (Acts 1:8).

     Like Christ’s first disciples, all Christians are called to be “witnesses of” and “witnesses to.” We are witnesses of what we know to be true, namely the Word of God in both Law and Gospel. We are witnesses to the people in our lives with whom God has placed us in our vocations. But we are only truly witnesses when we share the truth that Jesus Christ, and He alone, is the way, the truth, and the life. Living out our Christian life in acts of kindness, morality, and mercy is desirable and may open doors for us to witness to people, but it is not in-and-of-itself witnessing.

     While man-centered techniques have no place in our witness and outreach, we can and should make use of the elements in our culture that enable us to more effectively communicate God’s Word to the people in our lives. As Christ’s witnesses who are in the world but not of the world, we are wise to make use of the cultural points of contact, significant events, issues in the public square, new technologies, etc. of the “Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria” of our contexts in order to bring the Good News of Jesus to the unbelieving people with whom we work, live, and play.

SDG,
@RevMAWood