Silent witnesses stymie the gospel

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP) — A recent USA TODAY article described the rate of solved murders throughout the United States as down because of the silence of witnesses.

Is there a valid comparison here with the church? Are salvations and baptisms down because of the silence of witnesses?

According to Jake Roudkovski, professor of evangelism at New Orleans Seminary, only 5 percent of believers ever lead one person to Christ. If this is the case, silence is killing our friends.

In the USA TODAY article, an FBI representative said criminals have created a climate of fear to silence witnesses. I wonder how many times I’ve heard the same phrase used as the reason Christians don’t witness. Fear is a powerful psychological tool.

A high school friend of mine was radically saved. The next Sunday he had a whole row of unbelieving friends at church. Several of them surrendered their lives to Christ.

Someone asked me why this young man was such an effective witness. My answer was simple. No one told him witnessing was hard.

A simple definition of witnessing is bragging on Jesus. We are to tell what He does. More specifically, you are to tell what He has done for you.

Tyler was the driver of the shuttle I took to a meeting at the North American Mission Board. He attends an Atlanta-area church, has a less than exemplary past, and a mother and stepfather who love him. More than that, he has a mother and stepfather who love Jesus.

During conversation, I found out Tyler had never surrendered his life to Christ. He was doing many things Christians do, but he was not a believer.

After sharing the gospel with him, Tyler said he didn’t think he was ready to take the step of commitment yet. I asked why. He said he didn’t know but he just wasn’t ready.

As we pulled up to the doors of NAMB, I asked one last question. “Tyler, do you think it was a coincidence that yesterday your mother and stepfather talked to you about the Lord and today you pick up two preachers on your first shuttle?”

Tyler decided it was God speaking to him. In the circular driveway in front of NAMB, Tyler surrendered his life to Christ.

The silence of witnesses does not just stymie the efforts of police. The silence of the church stymies the gospel.