I'm a witness!

Something random came into my mind while I was handing up one of the admin stuffs to the student government body at my campus yesterday. One of the objectives for the establishment of the CF was stated to be maintaining Christian witness in the campus and that kinda sound confusing to one of the people there. That got me thinking on the term "witness". I think that the term is a such a common usage among Christians that at times, many do not stop a while to ponder on what it actually meant.

In secular terms, the usage of 'witness' is associated very closely to law where it has two meanings. The first being a person who observes the signing of the legal document while the second is the person who is qualified to give evidence to a criminal case in court. The more popular usage is the second meaning, especially when it refers to people who have seen a crime in action. Well, the word 'witness' in the secular sense does not really carry a positive imagery and it usually attaches a neutral or negative feeling to it. Afterall, if you're called to court to be a witness, it ain't fun at all and it's far from striking a lottery ticket.

However, if one were to read the Bible to discover the meaning of witness in the Christian context, he will discover that the usage there is one of a positive imagery. The usage of the word witness can be found in Acts 1:8 where Jesus said to his disciples," But you will receiv power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." So, what is this Christian witness? What does it really mean to be a Christian witness? How would you explain the term to someone who doesn't hasn't heard of the term witness in the Christian context?

For me, a Christian witness is someone who has a personal encounter with Christ. Jesus' disciples at that time were of course the closest witnesses since they had seen and be with Jesus at that point of time. That included also people who had seen his miracles and were touched by it 2000 years ago. They were convinced and convicted by what they have seen. But that does not mean that people of this age cannot be a witness of Christ at this age simply because they didn't see him in person. In fact, each Christian himself/herself is a witness for Christ because they would see the presence of Christ manifesting in many different forms during their lifetime. Be it transformation of lives, healing or blessings, I'm sure that each Christian had been touched by the Lord in many ways. The word "testify" comes into play too because just as testify is related to 'witness' in the secular sense, it is the same in the Christian context. A Christian witness who has seen the goodness of the Lord manifesting in many ways with his own eyes would similarly be overflowed and be so amazed by what he has seen that he has to testify to the world of the things he had seen and experienced. A Christian witness will not be quiet because he is simply overjoyed and is excited to tell the world what Christ had done for him. I'm proud to say that I'm one such witness! :)