But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

  - Acts 4.19, 20

You should never bear witness to what you have not personally witnessed.

  - The Rule of Ciarán, Irish, 7th or 8th century[1]

Personal Mission Field: Witness
Perhaps this is the explanation.

Over the years that I’ve been a Christian I have been troubled by the steady decline in personal witness-bearing on the part of believers.

Back in the late ‘60s, when I came to faith, and for well over a decade after that, it seems Susie and I were always around people who talked freely and often about their faith in Jesus. Local churches taught evangelism, and church members went out to visit neighbors, church visitors, and complete strangers for the purpose of making Christ’s Good News known.

But since the arrival en masse of the “seeker friendly” church, the outreach of church members has dried up.

It’s just too easy to let the church and its worship bands, theater lights and seats, drama teams, anecdotal preaching, and special-interest ministries do the outreach for us.

But the appearance of the seeker friendly church has also brought declines in doctrinal instruction, spiritual disciplines, and whole-life obedience to the Law of God. As a result, today’s Christians don’t seem to have the depth of faith or commitment to talk freely, intelligently, and seriously about Jesus.

And so maybe that’s the explanation.

The reason those who profess faith in Jesus Christ are not much involved in making Him known lies in the “seeker-friendly” culture of our evangelical churches. Maybe we’re just being faithful to the declaration of the apostles and the advice of Ciarán of Clonmacnoise: We don’t bear witness because we have nothing to bear witness to.

Put another way, our silence with respect to the Gospel may be nothing other than our most eloquent testimony of how much we have actually seen and heard and know of the Lord.

It’s not for me to say. I’m just musing. Each of us will have to consider this for himself.

Still, I think of those first believers – persecuted, deprived of homes and possessions, chased out of Jerusalem and fleeing to the uttermost parts of the earth. Everywhere they went, Luke tells us, they were “gossiping the Gospel” of Jesus Christ (Acts 8.4). Persecuted or not, they had seen Jesus; they knew the Good News of the Kingdom. And they could not be silent about it.

So perhaps our silence is stark testimony to what we have seen and heard?

Precisely, not much?

Which, if that’s the case, it’s easy enough to repair: Seek the Lord.

Psalm 9.1, 2, 17-20 (Diademata: “Crown Him with Many Crowns”
I will give thanks, O Lord, with all my heart to You!
I’ll tell the wonders of Your Word, so many and so true!
With joy to You I cry; Your glory I will raise;
Your matchless Name, O Lord on High, will I forever praise!

All who forget the Lord shall perish evermore.
Condemned by His blest holy Word, their punishment is sure.
The poor and troubled rest in God’s all-loving care;
While fear of Him, Whose Name is blest, grips nations everywhere.

Help me, Lord, to be a faithful witness to You. I know I know You, and I love You, but I need You to help me bear witness!

Merry Christmas!
Susie and I pray that you will have a most joyous and blessed Christmas, and that your New Year will launch with renewed vision and vigor to follow the Lord in your Kingdom calling.

Thanks to the many of you who have become supporting members of our ministry team. Your gifts, prompted by the Lord and given in obedience to Him, are helping us to grow this outreach in new and fruitful ways.

We hope many more of you will join us with your support, in prayer, by referring others, and by giving financially to our work. You can contribute to The Fellowship through PayPal with your credit card (click here to donate online) or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Dr., Essex Junction, VT 05452.

Thank you very much.

T. M. Moore, Principal
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All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.