Witnessing as an End in Itself

    "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."  Philemon 1:6 NIV84

           I had previously done a blog on prayer as an end in itself discussing that needs come so it drives us to prayer and we look for results or answers. I discussed that maybe we focus too much on the answers and encouraging us to consider that maybe communication with God is the end in itself and answers were just the icing on the cake. We could also consider salvation in the same way. We say repent of your sins, come to Jesus, and you will get to spend eternity in Heaven. What if coming to Jesus was the end and Heaven is just the icing on the cake? You can see as Christianity is a relationship not a religion, we often tend to take our eyes off the relationship as the primary focus of our faith.

          This passage in Philemon, translated uniquely in the NIV84, gives us some insight into another Christian discipline that might have become out of focus - witnessing. Because of our command (great commission) and our compulsion ( the love of God and people compels us to give the good news) we look for people who are "lost" and introduce them to the good news that God has provided a way to have our sins forgiven and restore a relationship with our maker which is the very reason for our existence. We tend to be discouraged if the message is rejected which in some ways we should be just out of sadness that the person is missing out. But Paul says in Philemon that actually, the act of sharing, even in the absence of "results", has brought about different results inside of us. We have refamiliarized ourselves with the gospel everytime we share it which is almost like participating in the Lords Supper - it brings about a remembrance of his death burial and resurrection. It also gives us an experience of the power of the Spirit because He gives us the words to speak when we open our mouths. Lastly it has us participating in the work done by all the saints, including Jesus as we preach the coming of the Kingdom of God. It unites us with the body of Christ throughout history in a common mission.

         The feeling you get when you share the gospel is not diminished by the listener's response. Maybe the end of witnessing is witnessing itself?