Be a Proactive Witness . . . Make a Strategy

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8 NKJ)

When it comes to witnessing of Christ, believers have three strategies from which to choose: inactive, reactive, proactive.

Inactive means I read the Lord's statement and think fondly of Christ, but the only witnessing I do is the telepathic kind. Reactive means I wait until someone asks me about Christ and quickly share my faith before rushing on to the next thing. Proactive means I make a list of unbelieving friends, family members, and co-workers. Then I pray for those on my list and look for opportunities to share the Gospel with them and with others.

The more I think about Christ's Witness Initiative, the more I think that something is missing . . . in me not in his initiative. I want to win more people to Christ. How to go about it? Peter told the congregation at the home of Cornelius, "Jesus of Nazareth was anointed of God with the Holy Spirit and with power and went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil . . ." (Acts 10:38).

I certainly want God's anointing. I want the Holy Spirit and power. I want to do good everywhere I go. I want to heal those who are oppressed by the devil. Perhaps the problem is my understanding of the whole concept of Holy Spirit anointing and power.

We Christians tend to approach it from the view that the Pentecostal experience is a once-and-for-all occurrence. Yet, we see in the early Church they were constantly being filled and re-filled. Christians are like computers and cell phones. As we tell our stories and minister grace to others, our spiritual batteries are drained of power and need to be recharged.

As our example, Christ constantly left the crowds and his disciples and went into seclusion with God. But when he came from the presence of God, his spiritual battery was powered-up and ready to face whatever need came to him.

Strategy? God only has one. He is proactive. In fact, he proactively came, proactively died, proactively resurrected, and forever after our world will never be the same . . . and Christ will return because that is the next proactive stage in God's strategy.

Dear Father, thank you for being proactive in reaching down to us in our helpless, sinful estate. Empower me to be a proactive witness to your gospel. I pray this in the name of Jesus. AMEN

Take the initiative today!