Lynne Baab

Praying about the flow of time: Ordinary witnesses

Lynne Baab • Tuesday August 20 2024

As I discussed last week, evangelism and discipleship are two of the themes of Ordinary Time, the current season of the church year. I’m on board with discipleship, and I enjoy thinking and writing about how to grow closer to Jesus. But even after 50 years of walking with Jesus, the word “evangelism” arouses feelings of guilt and pressure. If you’re like me, keep reading.

Thirty years ago, a friend served on a jury. When she told me about her experience, I had a light bulb moment about my call to be a Christian witness.

My friend said the judge gave the witnesses strict instructions. Witnesses were to tell precisely what they had seen or heard or experienced. Witnesses should not describe what they thought other people were thinking or feeling. They shouldn’t talk about what might have happened or what they believed to be true. They were simply to report what they had seen or heard or experienced.

Up until that point, I had spent most of my Christian life feeling guilty that I was so uncomfortable with evangelism. I have known several people who are passionate about evangelism, and those people share several characteristics. They grieve deeply for people who don’t know Jesus. They are always praying for non-Christians to become Christians. They are comfortable striking up conversations with strangers in the hopes they would be able to talk about Jesus at some point in the conversation. When those opportunities to share their faith come, they are excited and energized by the experience.

I am so not like them, and I felt guilty about that. (My passion is to see Christians deepen in faith, and I’m not very comfortable talking with strangers about God, even after a lifetime of trying.) That moment when my friend served on a jury changed my life. I realized I don’t have to be an evangelist. I only have to be a witness. I only have to talk about what I have seen, heard, or experienced with God when opportunities arise in my everyday, ordinary life.

In the decades since that conversation, I have become more comfortable — not totally comfortable, but more comfortable — being a witness to family members, friends, and acquaintances who don’t know Jesus. I have become more comfortable describing what happened at church or saying things like: “You wonder why I made that decision, and it’s because I prayed about it, and God seemed to lead me in that direction.” Or, “The spring flowers are amazing this year. They speak to me of God’s creativity.”

As I have become more comfortable as a witness, I have found great encouragement in these words at the beginning of the first letter of John:

“We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us — we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us” (verses 1-3).

When opportunities arise, I am called to talk, simply and clearly, about what I’ve heard, what I’ve seen with my own eyes, what I’ve looked at “concerning the word of life.”

Some people have gifts in evangelism. We need to train them and empower them to use those gifts. One of my friends with gifts in evangelism was hired by her church for a few years to be an evangelist. They paid her for 15 hours a week and set her free to sit in coffee shops and talk to people. What a great idea! We need to help congregations identify the people with a passion for evangelism and gifts in evangelism. We need to train those people and empower them free use their gifts and passion.

All Christians are called to be witnesses. This perspective is, I believe, faithful to the biblical commands to use our unique spiritual gifts wisely and also to allow the Holy Spirit to empower us to be witnesses (John 15:27, Acts 1:8). When I refrain from being intimidated by people with gifts in evangelism, I can learn from them about how to pray passionately for people who do not have the joy and peace of knowing Jesus.

God of light, we are grateful for the places in our everyday lives that you have lit up with your guidance, empowerment, peace, and joy. Help us speak honestly to people around us, whether or not they know you, about the gifts you bring. As we think about friends and family members who don’t know you, please guide us as witnesses and people who pray.

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Next week: praying about Labor Day. Illustration by Dave Baab.

A related post and article:

• What I learned from Bishop Aiden of Lindisfarne
• Developing a missional approach: Being sent into the world as Jesus was sent

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Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is a teacher and writer. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christians spiritual practices. Read more »

Lynne is pleased to announce the release of her 2024 book, Friendship, Listening and Empathy: A Prayer Guide, illustrated with her husband Dave's beautiful watercolors. She is thrilled at how good the watercolors look in the printed book. Another recent book is Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian  Life,  available in paperback, audiobook, and for kindle. Lynne's 2018 book is Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care for the Twenty-First Century, and her best-selling book is Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle). You can see her many other book titles here, along with her Bible study guides.

You can listen to Lynne talk about these topics: empathy, bringing spiritual practices to life. Sabbath keeping for recent grads., and Sabbath keeping for families and children.

Lynne was interviewed for the podcast "As the Crow Flies". The first episode focuses on why listening matters and the second one on listening skills. 

Here are two talks Lynne gave on listening (recorded in audio form on YouTube): Listening for Mission and Ministry and Why Listening Matters for Mission and Ministry.

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