Do you witness to others about your faith in Jesus? The great commission in Matthew 28:16-20 is what most Christians use as a reason for evangelizing. How do you feel when someone rejects your message? Do you feel like a failure because you did not get a “decision for Christ”?
So often we get the impression it is all about numbers and how many people who were saved on the last meeting, or the last time we were out spreading the good news about Jesus. What if you were not the one responsible for obtaining a “decision for Christ”? Would that make it easier for you to witness to others if you knew it did not matter how they reacted?
In mainstream Christianity, we often hear how important it is to “get a decision for Christ.” To see people saved is essential, there is no getting around it, but nowhere in the Bible does it say we are the one saving people. The Bible clearly states in John 6:44 no one can come to the Father unless He calls them. So, according to the Bible, we can’t save anyone, and this should make it so much easier for us when we witness.
If we are not responsible for people’s salvation, a rejection of our Gospel message should not feel like a rejection. If we know we have obeyed Matt 28:16-20, we can rest assured we have done our job. What happens after we have obeyed Matt 28:16-20 is not up to us. If our Gospel message gets rejected, it is not because we did a lousy job at it. Why it got rejected we dont know, that is between them and Yehovah.
Knowing this should be so freeing for us when we witness to others about our faith in Yehoshua (Jesus/Yeshua). This should also help us to handle rejection; knowing rejection is not because of something we did, and our focus should never be to “get a decision for Christ.” Our focus should be what Yehoshua said in Matt 28:16-20, to teach others to obey the Torah.
Is it necessary to witness to people?
Yes, one of the last things Yehoshua told us before He ascended to the Father was to teach others to obey the Torah. So witnessing to people is essential and very important to our faith. But we can relax knowing that if someone rejects our testimony, we have not failed at our job because, in the end, we can not save anyone.