Christian Community - The Witnessing Gifts

By Monty Hope --
If your strongest spiritual gifts are knowledge, teaching, faith, prophecy, exhortation, evangelism, healing, and/or the interpret of tongues, God has wired you for witnessing.  For those of us who may not be strong in each of these, it is still our obligation to witness. Here is why:

1. Obedience.  Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
2. Compassion.  We do not want anyone to suffer the eternal agony and damnation of Hell.  We all sympathize with and minister to the earthly troubles of our fellow man.  Let us consider their eternal fate to be of an even greater importance.

God has enabled each of us with special, spiritual gifts.  They all come from the same place  God.  The Holy Spirit works through us to use them.  No matter how you boil them down, they only have two real purposes.

1. The support of the existing Christian community.
2. The growth of the Christian community through witnessing

Here is a recap of the simple witnessing model Jimmy and I demonstrated.  You can study it in great depths is you go to the following website:  http://www.wayofthemaster.com/.  Jimmy and I did not rehearse.  In fact, I only asked for his help right before class started.  I hope it came across as well as I felt it did.  Thank you Jimmy for being a great sport!

• W:  Would you consider yourself a good person?

• D: Do you follow the 10 commandments?

• J: If God judged you against those commandments, would you be guilty?

• D: Knowing God’s judgment based on those commandments, what would be your eternal destiny? 

These leading questions should give you a great basis for sharing Jesus with others.  God bless and have a great week!

Do you have one of the Spiritual Gifts that can lead others in Witnessing? Do you have one of the Spiritual Gifts that can model Outreach, showing us what it looks like and leading by your own example. We need you; the Kingdom needs you. Here are the Spiritual Gifts that drive the Outreach of the Christian Community:

• Evangelism - The gift of evangelism is the gift of faith-sharing and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to those we meet.  Evangelism is primarily a one-to-one or small group experience, grounded in building relationships with others and inviting them to make a decision for Christ.  Gifted evangelists do not force their faith on others, but offer relationship with God as a gift, and are ready to tell the story of God and Christ in their own lives.
• Exhortation - The gift of exhortation is manifest in people who offer encouragement, wise counsel, unflagging support, and empowerment.  Those who exhort stay focused on helping people maximize their own potential and live from their own gifts and skills.  Exhorters help people feel good about themselves, build confidence, and not grow discouraged.  Often, those with the gift of exhortation make others feel good just by being present.
• Knowledge - The gift of knowledge allows people to automatically convert facts, data, and information into useful and important knowledge.  People possessing this gift can learn in a variety of ways, retain what they learn, and understand how learning can be applied in meaningful and productive ways.  Those gifted with knowledge have a voracious and insatiable desire to learn more, and they seek multiple avenues for deepening their understanding of God’s world, God’s will, and God’s people.
• Teaching - The gift of teaching allows people to transform data and information into life changing knowledge.  Teachers do not have to stand in front of a class to teach.  Often gifted teachers communicate best in informal, one-on-one settings.  Teachers have the uncanny knack of helping people learn effortlessly.  People internalize and retain the knowledge and learning they receive from gifted teachers.  Good teachers transform more than they inform.
• Faith - The gift of faith is more than belief in Jesus Christ, but an abiding foundation of confidence that God works all things together for good, and that they people of God can rise above any obstacle.  Faith is the bedrock upon which we build lives, congregations, and communities.  People with the gift of faith hold fast to the deep conviction that no matter what we see with our eyes, we can trust the promises and plan of God.
• Prophecy - The gift of prophecy is the ability to speak God’s word to others, or more appropriately to be open for God to speak God’s word through us.  Prophets do not predict the future, but offer insight and perspective on current conditions and how things might turn out if changes aren’t made.  Prophets are incisive, clear, and often controversial, communicators.  Prophets see things that others often don’t, and they have the courage to “tell it like it ought to be.”
• Healing - Servanthood is the gift of doing for others, sometimes to the exclusion of meeting personal needs.  Servants look for ways to do for others both within and beyond the congregation and community.  Servants do not choose to serve, but serve from a sense of identity and call.  Gifted servants never feel put-upon or taken advantage of, but see each opportunity to do for others as a way to be true to self.
• Tongues - The gift of tongues is a communication gift that allows people to speak foreign languages and convey concepts they never formally studied.  People with this gift “pick up” the ability to communicate across barriers of language, culture, age, or physical limitation (some people with the gift of tongues work with the deaf or blind).  The gift of tongues is not a “secret” prayer language, but a way to communicate the faith to people in a known language.

(Source: www.umc.org)