“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
What do you think of when you hear or read this verse? I don’t know about you, but I’ve always read it with a very communal feel. In other words, Christ’s church will be His witnesses in all these places. I’ve heard sermons and read devotionals on how this verse covers it all. Jerusalem stands for the place where you live and work. Your home. Judea and Samaria stands for a larger area where you live. For us, that would be America. Then we’ve got the ends of the earth. So if this is talking about us as the church, I can feel very comfortable sending money to those whom God has called to go to these places and be bold enough to tell others about Jesus. But if that’s not your calling, then sending money or praying for them is fine, right? I’m sorry to say that I don’t see that exemption in this verse, or anywhere else in the Bible, for that matter. We are all called to witness for Christ.
You want to know what shook me up when I started looking into this verse? The Greek word that is translated “witnesses” is martys. Does it remind you of a word we all know? In fact, spell check keeps trying to change it to martyr. Maybe you even thought there was a misspelling in the title. A martyr is someone who dies for their faith, right? Well, sort of. It’s someone who gives their life for God. That may include dying for Him, but those same martyrs had given their lives to God before their death. In other words, they lived for Him long before they died for Him. So to witness for Christ means to live for Him so completely that we would be willing to die for Him if necessary.
I know it sounds like I’m changing subjects but stick with me. I’ve noticed something interesting in my morning commute. I take a 4-lane road and I try to set my cruise control at the speed limit. I’ve been surprised at how often I get a vehicle behind me, rather close to my bumper. And they stay there rather than passing me in the left lane. Eventually, I move into the left lane to make a left turn. When I do that, invariably the vehicle tailing me speeds up and takes off. If they want to go faster, why don’t they just pass me? I can’t answer that questions, but I think it gives us a good picture of part of the role of Christians in our world. I think that more people than we realize are following us, imitating our lives at least a little bit, maybe trying to catch some of the peace and joy we have. If we were to move out of their lives, separate ourselves from society, they would be left with no one to guide them to the Father, even if they don’t know they’re being guided. In order to be a good guide, we need to make sure we’re already living our lives for Christ. Only then will we be able to be a martys wherever we may be in the world.