Jesus’ final words before his ascension – “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) – make it clear that his followers were commissioned to serve as witnesses of his life, death, and resurrection, and the significance of these events for all of humankind.
But while it is not wrong to share the gospel with others in whatever setting we may find ourselves, it is usually better that it is not done indiscriminately. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time to be silent and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3:7), and that certainly applies to Christian witness. Jesus talked about the principle of not giving sacred or spiritual things to those who are obviously going to reject them (Matthew 7:6), and it is clear that he often did not preach to people when he had opportunity to do so (Matthew 5:1; Luke 5:16; John 11:53–54; etc.). It is better to choose the time, place, and opportunity to share the gospel carefully rather than to feel that if we are simply around people, we should be witnessing to them.
A related principle to keep in mind is that it is preferable, whenever possible, to use a natural conversational opportunity to talk to others about Christ rather than to suddenly accost them with religious statements or questions. Extreme examples of this (such as “Repent or you will go to hell” or “Have you given your heart to the Lord?”) frequently arouse hostility in people and doom the effort to introduce them to the gospel. The apostle Peter doubtless had this fact in mind when he wrote: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter
3:15). Here, Peter places the emphasis on letting the unconverted person be the initiator of the discussion, and while that is not always necessary, it is certainly an ideal situation. And, of course, answering with respect – as Peter urges us – precludes berating people about sin or the kind of “in your face” presentation of the truth of salvation that many well-intentioned believers participate in.
Reading how Jesus guided his conversations with people such as the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4:4–26) can teach us a great deal about how we should present the truth to others. We can also lead conversations toward the point where others will ask questions. In any case, a great many natural opportunities arise in everyday conversation. For example, to a coworker offering condolences when they heard we had lost a relative, we can say “Thank you, but as a Christian I believe that just as Jesus was resurrected, so my relative will be – so I do not grieve as many people do who do not have this hope.” That kind of statement gives a totally natural opening for a conversation about the gospel if the other person seems interested. In the same way we can bring up some aspect of our beliefs when discussing books, activities, or in dozens of other ways.
Yet we should not feel under any kind of pressure to try to bring people to Christ quickly. The book of Acts gives us a good example of that fact when it records an important conversation between Paul and the Jewish king, Agrippa, who asked Paul:
“Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am” (Acts 26:28 –29)
In saying this, Paul showed that he felt no unreasonable urgency to bring Agrippa and others to Christ – just a desire for that outcome, however long it might take. Ultimately, we cannot convert people – only God can do that. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul tells us:
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Nevertheless, despite the pervasive spiritual blindness, God frequently chooses to empower our efforts when we desire to help others to come to the light. We are all called to share what we have been given, and the truth of the gospel is certainly the most valuable gift that we can ever share.
* This post is extracted from our free eBook Getting Christianity Right. Read the whole chapter and the book by downloading it here.
The New Testament has much to say about the importance of knowledge for the Christian (Philippians 1:9; etc.). But what exactly is “knowledge” – is it understanding of important Christian doctrines or of the Christian way of life? The second epistle of the apostle Peter answers this question for us.
Peter begins his letter with the greeting: “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:1), and if we did not notice what the knowledge is that Peter had in mind, he continues by saying that through his divine power God “has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us” (2 Peter 1:2–3). In the same way, Peter closes his letter with the command: “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
So Peter bookends everything he has to say in his second letter to fellow believers by stressing the importance of knowledge, and between these two statements Peter repeatedly returns to the same point (2 Peter 2:20; etc.). In every instance he makes it clear that the knowledge we need and need to seek is not simply doctrinal or practical Christian knowledge, but knowledge about God and Jesus Christ.
What Peter means by this is that Christian growth is not somehow guaranteed by what we do. It does not automatically come as a result of attending church enough – any more than just sitting in a gym is going to make us stronger, or of studying our Bibles enough – any more than reading a book about cars is going to make us auto mechanics. It is only as we come to know God and Jesus Christ through a relationship with them that we really grow toward them and become more like them.
When Peter writes “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18), the two are related – we grow in the grace of Christ by growing in the knowledge of Christ. This affects every aspect of our Christian lives. The more we grow in that kind of knowledge the more we grow in obedience and love (1 John 4:7–8). As Peter says: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge … For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter1:5,8).
It is not just Peter who tells us these things. The Old Testament tells us that God desires “the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6), and Jesus himself prayed “this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). The apostle Paul frequently refers to this truth, telling the believers at Ephesus, for example: “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him” (Ephesians 1:17 CSB), and those in Corinth “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9–10).
As Christians we need to produce the fruit of good works in our lives (Matthew 7:16–20; Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:7; Colossians 1:10; etc.), but we must never forget that the growth of those fruits comes not from study alone or from some kind of religious exercise, but from becoming more like God through the work of the Holy Spirit as we grow in our knowledge of the Father and the Son of God.
Most readers of the Bible are familiar with the list of armor that the apostle Paul tells us we should put on each day (Ephesians 6:10-18). It’s a much-loved and memorized list of qualities that is fundamental to our survival in everyday Christian life – but it is only half of the story that we need to know. Paul gives “the rest of the story” elsewhere in his writings and we will look at that further teaching in this article.
First, however, think for a moment about what the ‘armor of God’ is that we should put on. Paul’s analogy makes it clear that the various spiritual qualities he lists – the breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, etc. – are defensive. “Put on the full armor of God” he writes, “so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (vs. 11). The qualities he describes don’t primarily affect our relationship with others; they are all necessary for our own personal spiritual survival – somewhat like the body armor police officers wear under their uniforms.
But just as a police officer would not go on-duty wearing only his or her body armor, so we need more than the armor of God to function as Christians. Paul tells us what else we need to wear each day in the less-known, but equally important, list of clothing he gives in his letter to the Colossians:
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12–14).
If the armor of God Paul lists in Ephesians 6 consists of our protective under-armor, his list in Colossians 3 of qualities with which we should be clothed are our outer garments – the ‘clothing’ the world sees, and that we need in our interactions with others.
Lists of spiritual qualities, actions, and attitudes that the New Testament gives are rarely randomly arranged, but almost invariably proceed in a specific order – from the least to the greatest, or from the greatest to the least. For example, Paul’s short list of faith, hope, and love tells us “the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13); and we find the same progression in 2 Peter 1:5–7. But in Galatians 5:22–23 the order is reversed.
This helps us understand what Paul says in Colossians 3 regarding the qualities we should ‘wear’ each day. The seven qualities are: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. The presence of love at the end of the list shows that although all the qualities are important, Paul was ranking them in increasing order of importance. He himself says “over all these virtues put on love.” Knowing the increasing value of the listed qualities helps us in reflecting on them, and perhaps in seeing the relative importance of them in our own lives.
But all the virtues Paul lists are important. The gospels show every one of them in the life of Jesus – for example, compassion, Luke 7:13; kindness, Luke 6:35; humility, Matthew 11:29; gentleness, Matthew 19:14; patience, John 14:9; forgiveness, Luke 23:34; love, John 13:34. Just as Paul reminds us to “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14), we can profit from studying these and the many other examples the gospels contain.
We can also profit from thinking deeply about how each one of the virtues that Paul lists is expressed in our own lives. It is possible to show kindness, yet not be humble; to have patience, but not forgiveness; and only we can examine our personal spiritual ‘wardrobe’ to see what shape each item of ‘clothing’ is in, and to make sure we have everything we need to properly appear before others and help them as much as possible. Even with the underlying spiritual ‘armor’ that we are given to protect us, we still need to be outwardly clothed with the qualities with which Christ himself was clothed, and that show us to be his followers. It is not so much the armor we wear that helps others see Christ, but what clothes us. What are you wearing today?
One of the most basic facts about the Christian faith is that it focuses on our interactions with others – both with people in general, and also with other believers. But it is sometimes all too easy to keep this fact in our minds under the heading of simply “love one another.” Of course, love in its fullest sense is the fulfilling of the law of God as Jesus himself stressed (Matthew 22:34-40) and as the apostle Paul confirmed – giving several of the ten commandments as examples (Romans 13:8-10). But if we are to really apply love in every aspect of life, it can be helpful to break down the principle into smaller areas – specific ways in which we can and should apply love.
The Scriptures actually do this for us in a way that we may sometimes miss or read over. One way they do this is in the New Testament’s frequent use of the Greek pronoun allelon (pronounced al-lay-lone) which means “one another.” The word is used about one hundred times in the New Testament and almost a full third of its occurrences are direct injunctions that are given to us to follow.
In fact, we can get a surprisingly full and clear view of much of what it means to be a Christian by simply looking at, remembering, and obeying (to the best of our ability, and with God’s help) these very commands. The principles themselves hardly need comment – they are all clear and speak for themselves – so here they are in order of their first appearance:
Be at peace with one another – Mark 9:50
Wash one another’s feet – John 13:14
Do not grumble with one another – John 6:43 BLB
Love one another – John 13:34
Comfort one another – 1 Thessalonians 4:18
Serve one another – Galatians 5:13
Encourage One Another – 2 Corinthians 13:11
Be patient with one another – Ephesians 4:2 NLT
Forgive one another – Colossians 3:13
Build up one another – Romans 14:19 NLT
Help one another – Galatians 6:2 CSB:
Be kind to one another – Ephesians 4:32 ESV
Be devoted to one another – Romans 12:10
Honor one another – Romans 12:10
Live in harmony with one another – Romans 12:16
Don’t judge one another – Romans 14:13
Accept one another – Romans 15:7
Greet one another – Romans 16:16
Don’t defraud one another – 1 Corinthians 7:5
Care for one another – 1 Corinthians 12:25
Wait for one another – 1 Corinthians 11:33
Don’t destroy one another – Galatians 5:15
Submit to one another – Ephesians 5:21
Do good to one another – Thessalonians 5:15
Don’t speak evil of one another – James 4:11
Confess to one another – James 5:16
Pray for one another – James 5:16
Show hospitality to one another – 1 Peter 4:9
That these are important injunctions is seen in the fact that many of them are repeated in the New Testament and sometimes by different writers (For example, “submit to one another” is found in Ephesians 5:21 and 1 Peter 5:5). Their importance is also seen even more directly in the way a number of the “one another” verses add a comment such as we find in Galatians 6:2 – “in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” As Christians, we owe it to each other to study, meditate on, and strive to keep every one of these principles because, as the apostle Paul stresses, we are “one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Romans 12:5 NKJV).
Last Man Standing is the name of an older and fairly violent action movie starring Bruce Willis as an amoral gunfighter in the days of Prohibition. More recently, it was the name of an American television sitcom starring Tim Allen. But the expression “last man standing” or “last person standing” usually refers to the sole survivor of a battle or other destructive event when everybody else has fallen.
The Bible has many stories of such last men standing – individuals who survived dire events and alone accomplished great things in God’s service. Noah, of course, is the first person who comes to mind as the “last man standing” in the story of the great flood (Genesis 6), but as we continue through the Old Testament we read of Joshua and Caleb as being the last men left of the spies who entered the promised land – and even of that whole generation (Numbers 26:65). And we read of the believer Rahab with her house and family – all that literally remained standing after the fall of Jericho (Joshua 6:17).
Later, we read the prophet Elijah was the only man left standing for the true God against the prophets of Baal who had taken control of ancient Israel’s religion. With God’s help Elijah scored a great victory in the climactic showdown with those false prophets (1 Kings 18), but then Elijah was forced to flee to save himself by hiding in a remote cave.
At this point, Elijah was very conscious of being the last man standing. The prophet complained to God: “The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too” (I Kings 19:10). God’s answer to Elijah probably surprised the prophet: “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel – all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal” (1 Kings 19:18).
Elijah was obviously depressed as he looked at his circumstance, but God spoke to the prophet to assure him that although he might feel like, and appear to be, the last man standing he really was not. There were many not worshiping Baal, and some would continue Elijah’s work (1 Kings 19:16). The same was true of Noah – whose son Shem became the ancestor of Abraham (Genesis 11:10–31), and of Joshua and Caleb who were followed by other strong warriors (Judges 2:16; etc.), and of every Old Testament servant of God who seemed to be the last person standing when circumstances were difficult or dire.
The same was true in the New Testament. At the crucifixion of Jesus, the young apostle John was the only disciple standing at the cross when all the other disciples had fled or were standing far away, at a safe distance (Mark 14:50; John 19:26). John must certainly have felt like the last man standing, but he was not really alone, and soon the other disciples returned and eventually found the courage to do the work they had been given to do.
The truth is, every follower of God feels like the last person standing at times. Perhaps we are the only person in our family, our class, or our workplace, who has come to the truth. Many who are converted to Christianity in cultures where other religions are predominant and antagonistic to the Christian faith feel like the last person or the only person they personally know who is a follower of Christ.
But in all these cases, we are not really the last or the only Christians remaining, of course – and God urges two things of us. First, as with Elijah, God encourages his followers to be aware of his people around the world and to interact with them as much as we can (Hebrews 10:24-25). Beyond this, when we feel like the last ones standing, God simply encourages us to continue to stand. The apostle Paul had much to say about this. “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” he wrote to the Christians at Philippi, “Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm”(Philippians 1:27). To those in Corinth he wrote “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith” (1 Corinthians 16:13), and to those in Ephesus: “put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13).
Being the last person standing is not just a trait of biblical heroes – it is a goal that, with God’s help, we can all achieve. Jesus himself encouraged us in this when he said “the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). We do not have to be the last person standing – we just need to keep standing.
* For more on the topic of encouragement, download our free e-book Some Days We Soar here.
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