Witnessing

The Family has a highly evangelical focus. In fact, there is such an importance given to evangelisation that the minimum number of hours required for each member to go witnessing is written into the Family’s governing Charter. Witnessing is one of the ‘raisons d’etre’, one of the reasons that the Family exists at all. We could say that the Family exists as an organisation to accomplish a number of stated goals:

To preach the Gospel.
To preach the Family’s unique message to the world.
To be an example of ‘Family-Christian’ communal living.
To read, believe and practise the Family’s unique doctrines.
To educate and train Family children in order that they may grow up to serve the Lord within the Family.

Each of these goals are addressed repeatedly in Family publications, programs and ‘pushes’. Thus, witnessing is a pivotal Family practice, although not the sole focus. Any member who does not wish to put his or her energies into accomplishing all these goals will find him or herself strongly encouraged to change his or her attitude or face the prospect of leaving the Family entirely. There are, of course, practical exceptions and qualifications written into the Family’s Charter, which depend on the member’s age, ministry, location, marital status, membership level etc. However, all members are expected to wholeheartedly believe all these goals as well as any others put forth by Family leadership.

This page will address a number of biblical concerns that exist with the Family’s methodology of witnessing, but it is necessary to clarify one point about the purpose of this page, and indeed of this entire web site before we begin.

This page is not an attempt to prevent witnessing or to dissuade anyone, be they church Christian or Family Christian, from preaching the true Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. Witnessing the true faith in Jesus Christ is the duty of every Christian. Preaching the Gospel is not confined to the Family; the Family is not the most prolific witnessing group, it does not put in the most hours per member of any group, it does not have the highest statistics, it does not practise the greatest number of ‘good works’ to facilitate the Gospel being preached. The Family does have a high level of missionary zeal that is comparable to although not above the missionary zeal that is present in many evangelical Christian organisations. We have been commanded by our Lord to preach the Gospel and it is commendable that there is present within the Family the enthusiasm to accomplish this purpose.

It is important, therefore, not to confuse missionary zeal with missionary methodology. In other words, it is a good thing to go witnessing, but if our witnessing does not bring people to Jesus Christ then it may no longer be classed as witnessing but rather as gathering members, fundraising, community service, advertising etc. Witnessing is drawing people to God through Jesus Christ. Spreading the unique Family doctrines is not witnessing. Witnessing can only be defined (for the purposes of this web page) as preaching the Gospel that is found in the Bible in order to bring people to God through Jesus Christ. This is something that any church and every Christian organisation is under obligation to do, specifically including the Family.

This brings us to the crucial question:

Does the Family’s witnessing bring people to Christ?

The Family tends to oversimplify or brush off questions like these by saying, “Well of course we bring people to Jesus! Show me your stats and we’ll compare how much we do!”

The concerns that exist over the Family’s witnessing practices have nothing to do with statistics. Discussing the number of hours spent witnessing or the number of ‘souls won’ is often used as a distraction from the vital questions that exist over what the Family preaches and how it goes about the job.

The importance of this question cannot be overstated. If, in fact, the Family is not bringing people to Christ, then they probably should no longer call themselves a Christian group, but it would seem that they exist solely as a network of communal-living home-schoolers, or a minor international sales group similar to but on a much smaller scale than Amway, for example.

It would be fair to say that for the most part, the Family defines salvation when witnessing as ‘receiving Jesus into our heart’. If we convince someone to pray the Family’s ‘salvation prayer’ we count that person as a ‘soul saved’ and believe that that person will go to heaven when they die. This brings us to the topic of what salvation actually is, and this is examined in detail on this web site in the class titled ‘Salvation’. We may summarise, however, by saying that salvation is the conversion that God effects in people when He calls them to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ, with their repentance being the declaration that they have turned from their sins, accepted Jesus’ death on the cross as the atonement for their sins, and have received new life through the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not tell people to ask Him into their heart. While we may also ask Jesus into our heart if we choose, this does not define salvation. In fact we may say that it is certainly possible to get saved without specifically asking Jesus into our heart (by repenting of our sins and accepting Jesus’ death as atonement thus being born again) and it is also possible to ask Jesus into our heart, and yet remain unsaved (because we have not repented of our sin or allowed Jesus to cleanse us from sin thus bringing us into fellowship with God the Father). It is this second possibility that concerns us now.

In general, the Family has reduced witnessing to a push for people to accept Jesus as their friend, to ask Him into their heart, to invite Him into their life. These are good things but in themselves they do not comprise salvation. Here is a great danger. The Family assumes they are doing a great work, bringing people to God, and yet if they do not preach biblical salvation, this negates much of what they do. In other words if a Family member witnesses to someone and convinces him to ask Jesus into his heart, yet that person is told nothing about repenting from his sins in order to receive God’s cleansing, the person may remain unsaved, and the Family member is not preaching the Gospel at all. For more details, see the study on salvation.

Preaching the Gospel means bringing people to Christ. It means explaining salvation the way the Bible says it. Our own explanations or the Family explanations may be well and good but if they are not Bible explanations they are useless.

Unfortunately, this could mean that a large proportion of all the Family’s witnessing statistics are unuseable. This is an important point to make because the Family uses its statistics to justify the methods it uses and its doctrines. This is unscriptural for at least two reasons. Firstly we are actually unable to judge whether someone is really saved or not. We just can’t tell, as salvation occurs solely between God and each person’s heart. Salvation does not operate according to a formula, ‘Say this prayer and you will be saved’ and deciding whether or not a person is saved or not is not a matter for us at all. That’s why Jesus told us not to judge in Matthew 7:1. We must not judge because we cannot. Therefore all such statistical records of ‘souls saved’ are meaningless. Secondly, even if we did record how many souls were saved, the Family’s numbers in particular are meaningless due to the high emphasis on non-biblical salvation, that is praying a ‘salvation prayer’ that does not actually lead to true salvation.

C.H. Spurgeon once commented upon the gathering of soul-winning statistics:

I am weary of this public bragging, this counting of unhatched chickens, this exhibition of doubtful spoils. Lay aside such numberings of the people, such idle pretence of certifying in half a minute that which will need the testing of a lifetime.

(The Best of C.H.Spurgeon)

Preaching an adulterated message that does not contain true salvation cannot be counted as witnessing worth mentioning at all. Preaching the Family’s doctrines may well draw people closer to the Family, but if they are not drawn towards Christ then this cannot count as witnessing. Drawing people to the Family or to any church for that matter is not drawing people to God. We can summarise by saying that if we do not give the Bible message of repentance from sin and Jesus’ atonement through His death on the cross, then we are not really witnessing at all and cannot claim it as ‘good fruit of the Family’.

How to witness.

Christians are commanded to preach the Gospel in Mark 16:15. This is an echo of a similar commission given to Israel, about 700 years earlier.

Isaiah 43:10-12

10 “You are My witnesses,” says the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me.

11 I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no saviour.

12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; therefore you are My witnesses,” says the LORD, “that I am God.

In this passage we see firstly that it is the Lord Who chooses His witnesses. It is not up to us to choose witnessing, as if it was a career option. God chooses people to witness for Him, which means that it is His responsibility to bring the fruit. Secondly we see that the primary beneficiaries of the witnessing in this case are the witnesses themselves, who gain a greater understanding of God their Saviour. Instead of witnessing benefiting those to whom we witness, it may actually help us more. This is because each person who gets saved is drawn towards God by the Spirit of God Himself. We cannot pull or push anyone closer to God. We may be able to draw them closer to ourselves personally or to the Family but only God can pull anyone to Him.

John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

We may say all the right words or even the wrong words, but it is God Who brings the increase, it is God Who tugs on each heart. We don’t get any credit for the soul saved, only for our obedience in preaching the Bible message that God wanted us to preach. The Bible does say that we’ll shine as we encourage people to turn away from sin, but only God can save a soul so only He can get the credit for that.

Dan 12:3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

We shine with Jesus’ light, as He is the light of the world, but only God can actually bring a soul to Him.

1 Cor 3:7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

There is not a single Christian who can take the credit for his or her own decision to follow God. God takes that credit. He calls us, He chooses us, He brings the fruit in us.

John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

We might say, “Well, don’t I at least get some credit for responding to God’s call?” Possibly this is true, but on the other hand this is like saying, “God offered me eternal life, He paid for my sins with the death of His Son, He called me and gave me a message to preach but shouldn’t I get some credit for not trampling on His offer? Won’t I get a blessing because I didn’t spit on His gift?”

The Bible says that there is no one who actually looks for God.

Rom 3:10-12

10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;

11 There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.

12 They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.”

We are described as being lost in sin, but Jesus is the Good Shepherd Who comes to look for us.

Matt 18:12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?

When we go witnessing, therefore, we would do well to remember that it is God alone Who can bear any lasting fruit. If someone we are witnessing to actually does come to the Lord, then it was not because of anything we said to him, but because the Holy Spirit pulled that person towards Himself.

Witnessing in the Bible is not presented as the high pressure sales pitch that the Family practises. On the contrary, Bible witnessing is a work of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about me with great effect. (TLB)

It is the Holy Spirit that witnesses to people. We may be the messenger that God uses, but He is the One Who really does the witnessing, not us.

Acts 5:32 “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

The only effective fruit that can come from witnessing will come when it is the Holy Spirit tugging on people’s hearts, not us trying to convince their minds or attempting to sway their emotions. We cannot fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit, as if He were a kind of spiritual petrol for our witnessing machine, because the Holy Spirit is God Himself, and we cannot force God to do anything. He is Sovereign Lord and we are His servants. We may yield and pray and listen and obey but we may not command. So, what can we do to make people accept the Lord? Actually, there is nothing we can do, as God has said that that is His job. We can indeed make it difficult for people by preaching an adulterated message like the quick-results easy-believism get-a-new-friend salvation that is prevalent in the Family, but only God can bring the fruit.

What to witness.

Jesus was sent to preach the kingdom of God. He was direct and to the point. He did not tell people to ask Him into their heart, but He did preach the kingdom of God, and He told the people to repent.

Luke 4:43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

Matt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Christians have been commissioned to preach the kingdom of God, to preach salvation, repentance and forgiveness of sin in Jesus.

Acts 10:42-43

42 “And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.

43 “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”

Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations.

Matt 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Note that making a disciple has nothing to do with whether someone joins the Family or not. Family members are termed ‘disciples’, but the Bible term ‘disciple’ means one who follows Jesus, regardless of whether they ever join a church or group or not. One can be a disciple without joining a church or the Family, and one can certainly be a member of a church or of the Family without ever being a disciple of Jesus.

Throughout the Book of Acts, the first Christians preached the Gospel with great power, God confirming with signs and miracles that these early believers had the right message. Did they preach that we should ask Jesus into our heart?

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Acts 5:31 “Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 17:30 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,

Acts 26:20 “but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

We find that the early Christians witnessed a Gospel of repentance and forgiveness, not a “Jesus is your friend” message. If we are not comfortable preaching the Gospel of repentance when witnessing, we must ask ourselves why we are witnessing at all. Is it to lift up Jesus, or lift up the Family or some other church? Is it to bring glory to God or to ourselves? Are we faithful to give the Bible message or are we more concerned with our own reputation? Disciples in the book of Acts witnessed with love and concern for the souls of their audience, but they certainly did not water down the message to make it sound more ‘nice’.

Motives for witnessing.

There is nothing in the Bible to support the idea of witnessing for the sake of statistics. Nowhere did anyone say, “Oh no, our stats are down, let’s go witnessing!” Rather, the early disciples went witnessing because they were empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so. The Holy Spirit moved them out the door, prodded them in the right direction, put the words in their mouths and did the whole work. They did not have to memorise witnessing techniques or put charts on their walls so they could feel good about their stats. The Holy Spirit Himself was in charge. The credit for the souls saved also goes to the Holy Spirit Who drew each and every person individually to God.

The idea in the Family is that our statistics give an indication of our ‘spiritual temperature’. If we can boast of large numbers of people witnessed to and large numbers of souls saved, then surely we must be doing well. On the other hand, if we’re not witnessing much or not winning many souls then we feel that something must be wrong with us spiritually.

The problem with this kind of thinking is that the only motivation it gives us is to increase our statistics. Low numbers do not inspire us to get right with God, they only inspire us to get higher numbers. High numbers do not necessarily mean that we are close to God, they only mean that we have high numbers! If our numbers are down and we sincerely want to bring them up, then we run around trying to convince as many people as possible to ‘pray with us’ so that we can add them to our list.

The Family’s salvation prayer seems to be designed to be as non-confronting as is possible without actually removing the name of Jesus. Preaching the love of God is a nice message, not many people would object to that. Preaching that Jesus wants to give us free place in heaven is also unobjectionable. On the other hand, people do start to object when we tell them that coming to God means leaving their lives of sin, abandoning their idolatry and allowing God to cleanse them. The Gospel of repentance for forgiveness of sin is a lot more confronting, and a lot less people will readily accept it. The Family abandoned that approach long ago in favour of the nice, readily-accepted message of God’s love and friendship. The result of this approach is that Family ‘souls’ statistics are consistently high but there is absolutely no indication whether any of those people actually did get born again. Operating like that means we are deceiving ourselves with false numbers.

The Family often quotes the passage in Matthew chapter seven where Jesus warns us to examine the fruits born by an individual or organisation to determine if the group is of God or not.

Matt 7:20 “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

However, as we have seen, much of what the Family claims is ‘good fruit’ is little more than people who have been convinced to pray a nice, easy, non-confronting request for a place in heaven or a ‘please come into my heart’ formulaic salvation, which has little to do with the Bible story of repentance and forgiveness.

When God bears fruit, He does it right. He brings people all the way to Him. They are convicted of sin, the Holy Spirit pulls on them and draws them in to receive Jesus’ atonement. There is true repentance, and it is all a work of the Holy Spirit.

Our part is to remain yielded to the Lord that He may stay in control. The Holy Spirit is in us to bear fruit, we don’t have to worry about whether the Holy Spirit can do His job well enough or not. We cannot channel the Holy Spirit or help Him along in any direction. We do what the Holy Spirit is moving us to do, and that’s about it! We are not to sit at home if the Holy Spirit is moving us to witness to someone, we are not to hide the light of God under a bushel by smothering the impulses of the Holy Spirit, but thinking that we can help God along by convincing people to pray nice little prayers requesting a place in heaven is deceiving ourselves.

As far as our own spiritual health is concerned, that is also the work of the Holy Spirit. He speaks to our hearts and constantly pulls us towards the perfection of God. The sword of the Word of God cuts into our heart as we read the Bible, and we can yield to God allowing Him to change us or we can resist and refuse, moving away from God in the process.

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

This has nothing to do with statistics.

Witnessing as fundraising.

This is another highly questionable Family practice. Family members will freely admit that their witnessing is usually linked to their fundraising. In fact, official Family policy frowns on any fundraising techniques that are not explicitly linked to witnessing. The more witnessing that occurs while fundraising, the better it is. The ‘best’ witnessing would be when people pay us just to witness to them.

The most obvious concern about this practice is one that has been discussed in Family publications. A need for money is a temptation to compromise the message so that people will not be offended and therefore refuse to give. As we have above and in the study on salvation, the true Bible message of salvation is often compromised in the Family in the desire for numbers. It is also possible that many in the Family do not even know what the Bible says about salvation, apart from a handful of easy to interpret verses.

However there are other dangers involved in linking fundraising with preaching the Gospel.

Matt 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (NIV)

Jesus made it clear that we cannot mix our motivations. Any desire for money would inevitably pull us away from God. It appears that fundraising and witnessing pull in opposite directions. This does not mean that making money is wrong, but it does seem to mean that there cannot be any connection between the two.

When Jesus sent out His disciples to go witnessing, it was not a fundraising trip.

Matt 10:1,7-10

1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

8 “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

9 “Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts,

10 “nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.

The disciples did not bring any money with them, they ate what they were given, and they did not go out with the purpose of raising money.

Comments on Matthew 10.

II. The preaching work which he appointed them. He did not send them forth without an errand; no, As ye go, preach, v. 7. They were to be itinerant preachers: wherever they come they must proclaim the beginning of the gospel, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Not that they must say nothing else, but this must be their text; on this subject they must enlarge: let people know, that the kingdom of the Messiah, who is the Lord from heaven, is now to be set up according to the scriptures; from whence it follows, that men must repent of their sins and forsake them, that they might be admitted to the privileges of that kingdom. It is said in Mark 6:12 ‘So they went out and preached that people should repent’; which was the proper use and application of this doctrine, concerning the approach of the kingdom of heaven. They must, therefore, expect to hear more of this long-looked-for Messiah shortly, and must be ready to receive his doctrine, to believe in him, and to submit to his yoke. This proclaims salvation at hand, nigh them that fear God; mercy and truth meet together <Ps. 85:9-10>, that is, the kingdom of heaven at hand: not so much the personal presence of the king; that must not be doted upon; but a spiritual kingdom which is to be set up, when his bodily presence is removed, in the hearts of men.

2. [They are directed here] in doing good freely; Freely ye heave received, freely give. Those that had power to heal all diseases, had an opportunity to enrich themselves; who would not purchase such easy certain cures at any rate? Therefore they are cautioned not to make a gain of the power they had to work miracles: they must cure gratis, further to exemplify the nature and complexion of the gospel kingdom, which is made up, not only of grace, but of free grace. Gratia gratis data <Rom. 3:24>, freely by his grace, Buy medicines without money, and without price, <Isa. 55:1>. And the reason is, because freely you have received. Their power to heal the sick cost them nothing, and, therefore, they must not make any secular advantage to themselves of it. Simon Magus would not have offered money for the gifts of the Holy Ghost, if he had not hoped to get money by them; <Acts 8:18>. Note, The consideration of Christ’s freeness in doing good to us, should make us free in doing good to others.

(from Matthew Henry’s Commentary)

The Family looks down on those evangelists who seem to have a high focus on money, but their own practices have inextricably linked fundraising with witnessing.

The Word of God is not for sale. The Gospel is not available as a means of making money.

2 Cor 2:17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. (NIV)

Involving financial gain in witnessing causes deception. It preaches a false message.

Titus 1:11 whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.

2 Pet 2:3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

Witnessing in order to raise money corrupts the Gospel and hides the truth.

1Thes 2:5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed-- God is our witness. (NIV)

While Paul was witnessing to people, he made sure that he would not be a financial burden on them.

1Thes 2:9 Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. (NIV)

Not only does mixing fundraising with witnessing corrupt the message we preach to others, it also leads us into spiritual danger ourselves. The Bible says that using our knowledge of God as a means to make money is a practice that will draw us away from the Lord and cause us many sorrows.

1 Tim 6:5 and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. (NIV)

1 Tim 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (NIV)

In the Old Testament, there is a story of someone who thought he would make sure that witnessing paid. Note that this man asked for money long after the witnessing was finished. He didn’t dare to ask for a donation during the witnessing, but he didn’t think it was so bad to ask for a gift after it was all done.

II Ki 5:14-16,20-27

14 So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”

16 But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.”

21 So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?”

22 And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’”

23 So Naaman said, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his servants; and they carried them on ahead of him.

24 When he came to the citadel, he took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, and they departed.

25 Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant did not go anywhere.”

26 Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants?

27 “Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever.” And he went out from his presence leprous, as white as snow.

So we see that asking for money cannot be linked with preaching the Gospel. It corrupts the message, it corrupts the messenger, but doing so may also corrupt the person to whom we are witnessing. In the book of Acts, there is a story of someone who tried to offer a donation to Peter when he saw the mighty things Peter did. This man had the impression that giving money was somehow linked to the witnessing. This may have been due to the heathen practices common at that time, and he may have assumed that Peter’s religion worked in the same way.

Acts 8:18-22

18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!

21 “You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

22 “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

It is interesting to wonder how any of us would react if offered money in similar circumstances! Would we rebuke the giver as Peter did, or would we be tempted to tone down our correction in order that we might still receive the gift?

In summary…

Witnessing is a work of the Holy Spirit. He (the Holy Spirit) moves us and also moves the people to whom we talk. We may yield our bodies as instruments of God that He may use us, but there is nothing we can do to add to the witness that God wants to bring. In particular, we are not at liberty to tone down the message of salvation, corrupting it to a friendly, non-confronting message so that more people will receive it. We are deceiving ourselves if we do that, then pat ourselves on the back for our statistics.

Witnessing cannot be done for the sake of statistics or to somehow improve our own spiritual health or to prove to others that we are bearing fruit. Witnessing has nothing to do with how close we are to the Lord as it is always a work of the Holy Spirit. If our statistics are comprised of large numbers of people who have simply prayed to ask Jesus into their hearts, then those stats are invalid and are no sign of how obedient we are to the Lord.

Linking fundraising with witnessing is fraught with danger. It corrupts the message, it corrupts ourselves and it may even corrupt those to whom we are witnessing.

Witnessing is not to be done by trying to convince people to enter into a simple formulaic salvation. Witnessing is to be the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not an attempt to draw people closer to our particular church or to ourselves. It certainly has nothing to do with fundraising. True witnessing is letting the Holy Spirit draw people to Jesus without hindering their salvation by exalting the Family, asking for money or preaching the wrong message.

1 Cor 2:4-5, 12-13

4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Can we say that our own witnessing has been a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit, or has it been a futile exercise in collecting spiritual ‘scalps’ who may or may not be saved? When we’re done witnessing to someone, have we left their faith in the power of God or have we drawn them towards the Family, some other group, or towards ourselves? Do we leave them with the conviction that truth is in the Bible, or have we instead tried to attach them to the writings of the Family or some other group? Do we know the Bible ourselves? Have we experienced the power of God to re-create us into new creatures upon our repentance from sin? Have we ourselves been taught by the Holy Spirit of the true nature of salvation, or are floundering in childish illustrations that do not contain salvation at all? Are we relying on worthless statistics for the measure of our effectiveness as a witness or as a justification of our doctrines or practices? Having been given freely the wondrous gift of salvation, are we trying to make a profit through our witnessing?

Is it God witnessing, or is it just us?

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