First, In verse 13, Jesus asks, “Who do men say that I the son of man am?” Peter answers (v. 16), “Thou art Christ, the son of the living God.” In verse 18, Jesus counters with, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” The Reformers concluded that Jesus was referring to the rock as the truth of Peter’s answer in verse 16 that “He is the Christ.” Other Scripture verses say the Church would be built upon apostles and prophets with Christ as the cornerstone and foundation (Psa. 118:22, Isa. 28:16, Mark 12:10, Acts 4:11, Eph. 2:19-20, 1 Peter 2:6-7)  and 1 Corinthians 3:9-11 names Jesus as the foundation and Christians as the building (Church).

Secondly, the Reformers cited verse 19 and also Matthew 18:18 where Jesus said (paraphrased) to all the disciples, ”Whatsoever you bind and loose” and not, “Whosoever you bind and loose” meaning that He was not referring to a person(s) that could be bound or loosedbut to the Word being bound or loosed. All the apostles, not just Peter, had the power to preach (loose) the Word or to withhold (bind) the Word from the world. All Christian, being successors to the apostles, are commanded to loose the Word or bind it.

For a deeper analysis of these and other issues, see page 82 of my book, “The Messiah and His Kingdom to Come: A Biblical Road  Map.”

Today we are going to look at “witnessing” and what God expects from Christians based on Scripture. I will provide Scripture verses where appropriate so please have pen and paper available as I will not be reading these verses.

It seems today that some Christians do not take seriously Jesus’ instructions to take His message of redemption to the world. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47). It is true that by living a good Christian life and doing Christian services, we can be passive witnesses. But is this enough? Don’t the previous verses suggest that God wants a more overt effort on our part? The fruits of one’s labor is proportional to the effort put forth in Christian love.

God promises, from His grace, that when we get to Heaven, He will bring with Him at His second coming added rewards for those based on their services during their time on earth (Matt. 6:20; 1 Cor. 3:13-14; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Peter. 5:4; Rev. 2:26; 22:12). I believe that witnessing through love is one of, if not the, most important ministries a Christian can be involved in, for it includes teaching and ministering, among others. Someone might counter with, “But salvation is from faith, not works as Paul says in Romans 3:28 and Galatians 2:16).” This is very true, but James tells of the importance of works in a Christian’s life and that faith precedes works, that works are the product of faith (James 2:14-17). James also says that faith without works is dead (James 2:17)—the Kingdom of God cannot be expanded when our witnessing is hidden. Paul was not ignoring the role of witnessing but recognized that a true Christian will willingly do good works (Acts 26:20). We can better understand these two viewpoints when we see that Paul witnessed to unbelievers while James witnessed to Christians (they were familiar with works). So we see, all Christians are “almost” surely required to confess Jesus to the world especially when the opportunity arrives. I say “almost” because a Christian will not lose their salvation because of a lack of overt witnessing but will lose some of their rewards and/or potential rewards (1 Cor. 3:13, 15).

God does not leave us on our own. He provides diverse gifts to each Christian for ministry in areas they will be effective (1 Cor. 12:4-10, 28; Eph. 4:11-12; 1 Peter 4:11). Notice that “witnessing” is not one of the listed gifts! That is because all Christians are to witness of God’s plan of redemption—some will witness more effectively than others based on their abilities. That does not mean that less effective Christians should shirk their duty to reach others. If one feels inadequate, they can simply plant seeds in hearts and let the Holy Spirit do the rest and/or direct individuals to more experienced witnesses. In my experiences, I have found that sometimes pre-Christians are more at ease with a simple introduction to salvation rather than being overwhelmed.

I said earlier that a Christian cannot lose their salvation because of a lack of witnessing effort. Why then should a Christian bother to witness? One should witness out of love, for this is the great command (Matt. 22:37-40), the ultimate reason. As I said earlier, witnessing is then a result of our faith in Jesus giving us a willingness to serve Him.

Some Christians especially the less assertive ones, might find the previous discussion intimidating. They may reason, “Why did God make me shy or nonassertive if he expects me to be so daring as to approach people about Jesus?” The answer is that God can use persons of all personalities to do His will. How is this done? Jesus, before His ascension, promised to send the Holy Spirit to help Christians spread the Gospel (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit works in various ways to help our witnessing efforts:

• Convict people of their sins and a need for forgiveness—preparing them for witnessing (John 16:7-8; Romans 1:19-20)
• Provide opportunities for witnessing by preparing sinners’ hearts (John 16:7-8; Romans 1:19-20)
• Guide the witness (Luke 12:11-12; John 16:13; Acts 1:8)

Let us put our complete faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit to lead us in our witnessing.

The reader must be careful to not misunderstand the target of the author’s satirical story–it is not the spirirual church that Jesus Christ established but the people in the name of the church who hold so strongly to tradition that they tend to offend and confuse those they wish to witness about their faith. Nick seems to imply that churches (often the mega ones) have lost the ability to get down to the level of the younger generation.

The hilarious stories of the lives of the characters must not be taken too seriously. We can all relate to the times in our lives that we questioned authority and tradition, not just in the church. Have compassion for these characters; they are just feeling their way through life.

Robert A. Makar
messiahroadmap.com

I had the good fortune to participate in one of his church’s cell groups when I recently visited the Pittsburgh area. It was an enlightening experience filled with Christian love among the members and a willingness to reach out in the community in witnessing, service, and sharing.

I recommend this book to any person(s) involved in a traditional church structure and those already involved in or pondering a cell based ministry. Individuals will be inspired to become disciples in ministry to others both inside and outside the church.

I must admit that I am a little uncomfortable yet with completely giving up church programs and study groups. I tend to follow closer to the middle-of-the-road on most issues. I believe the main problem toward saving souls is not with church structure but with individual commitment to the will of God–this is how I feel the cell-based concept will reach individuals.

Dr. Black’s view of the influence of power politics  on Christian purity is interesting and true when we try to combine the two. He very aptly stresses the lack of interest in a large portion of our churches to being fully active members in God’s Kingdom. Dr. Black discusses the importance of every-member participation in discipleship, a trend I hope continues in our churches. But I believe we cannot completely eliminate our clergy and hierarchy to achieve this goal. All have different gifts in teaching, leading, preaching, administering, etc. As individuals working as a team, we are more efficient in doing God’s will in the world.

Although most Christians are not in a position to lead such a philanthropical life as Dr. Black, we all can do better in what we are presently doing as he urges. I admire his idealistic dedication to his calling, an Anabaptist model I believe. His book may be controversial (radical by some standards) but his views are heart-felt. I feel people will be blessed in reading his book even if some may feel their toes being stepped on.