witness

What’s the most challenging aspect of living out your faith at work? Some of us work at home or with other Christians, so being salt and light, and talking about our faith, come naturally. But many of us work in places where talking about Jesus and faith are discouraged. And some workplaces are downright hostile to Christians, so speaking openly could mean the end of our employment.

Cultures flourish and deteriorate based on how they answer these questions: Why do people exist? Is there some greater meaning to life? What’s our purpose in the here and now?

Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.” If we’re honest, we all want to know the why.

What comes to mind when you hear “witness”?  I think of ABC’s Eyewitness News and the 1985 thriller Witness starring Harrison Ford about an Amish boy who witnesses a murder (yes, I’m dating myself). Recently, however, I’ve been challenged to step up as a witness. In fact, ALL believers are called to testify as witnesses.

Not in a court of law. But in our lives and through our work.

Remember the childhood game of “I Spy”? Someone chooses an object in the room and tells just the color: “I spy something red.” Then everyone else tries to guess the item by its color only.

The remarkable thing is that as soon as the color red is mentioned, all the red things in the room start grabbing your eye. You may have been in the room many times over multiple years and never noticed a single red object, but now dozens are so obvious. The point is, now you are looking for red where before you weren’t.

I am a romantic and an idealist at heart, and so it will come as no surprise that I love the TV show, This is Us. During this first season there has been unspoken tension between Kevin, a selfish 36-year-old actor, and his stepdad, Miguel. Every time that Miguel tries to help, affirm or encourage Kevin, Kevin rejects him and pushes him away.

“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David; such is my gospel” (2 Timothy 2:8).

 And so we arrive at the final installment of a study looking at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In part I and part II, I gave the following proofs or reasons why Christians believe in the literal and physical resurrection of Jesus Christ:

1. Jesus predicted his own resurrection.

2. The authors of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as the Apostle Paul in his letters, provide at least five different historic sources about the events.

3. The testimony of eyewitnesses.

4. The testimony of the earliest Christian writings.

5. The empty tomb.

6. The dramatic change that overcame the earliest disciples

7. The idea that Christianity is be founded on a momentous fraud concocted by the original Christians who, while preaching, teaching, and demonstrating love, kindness, goodness, etc., were some of the most wicked liars and deceivers in human history.

So now we come to another proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ: The astonishingly rapid growth of the Christian Church.

“[I]f Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead…. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost” (1 Corinthians 15:14-18, NIV 1984).

Once again we are examining the foundational cornerstone of Christianity: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Click here to read the first part of this study.) The resurrection of Jesus is central to all Christian belief, as one can see by the above words of the Apostle Paul. To deny the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is, quite simply, to not be a Christian.

So let us continue looking at reasons Christians have for believing in the literal, factual, and historic resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead:

“[I]f you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

On this Resurrection Sunday, it is important that we look at the foundational cornerstone of Christianity: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death and the grave..

The resurrection of Jesus is central to all Christian belief. The Apostle Paul even went as far as to say,

“[I]f Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead…. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost” (1 Corinthians 15:14-18, NIV 1984).

 

No-o-o! Did I just say "Christmas"? it's too early! Don't you hate it when stores put up their holiday displays before Halloween? Me, too. Ugh. But here’s the thing… If we actually get started when the stores do, we can have a calmer Christmas. And who doesn’t need one of those?