I don't pretend to be a faithful and consistent witness of our Lord Jesus Christ. But I do testify and speak for Him not only as a Christian minister but also as His disciple.
As Christians, we represent Jesus Christ in this world. We bear His name. We are identified with Him having been baptized according to His command, that is, to be baptized in the name of the triune God.
Jesus didn’t call us to be great debaters or brilliant orators or astute philosophers on this planet. It doesn't mean though that we do not need to learn and to excel in the art of Christian apologetics or public speaking.
But in the main, the Lord Jesus Christ has called us to be witnesses of His person and work as revealed in the Holy Scripture. He commissioned His church to go out and reach out to the nations of the earth with the good news of salvation that He accomplished in His death and resurrection.
The Lord assures us with His words, "I will be your God and you will be my people" (Gen. 17:8; Ex. 6:7; Lev. 26:7, 12; Jer. 30:22; 31:33; 32:38; Eze. 37:23; cf. Rev. 21:3). He also tells us, through Christ, "You will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8; cf. Isa. 43:11-12)!
As someone has pointed out albeit wittily, "God did not promise, 'I will be your God and you will be my theologians.'" Christians are called primarily to bear witness to the saving work of God in Christ.
The life of a witness may not be easy but his task is not that hard. He tells others what he has seen and heard about the person he testifies for. Like the man born blind whom Jesus healed, we may not be able to debate theology or philosophy, but we can say, “One thing I do know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25).
With all firmness and humility we can tell people, “I know that if you will repent of your sins and truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, He will forgive you. He did that for me. He will do that for you, too.”
Our mission is to proclaim Christ and the repentance for forgiveness of sins in His name to all the nations. It may cost our career. We may have to leave the comfort of home and the convenience of modern society. We may have to give up our possessions, even our lives.
Compared to the cost Christ had to pay for our redemption and the glory that awaits us, however, our obedience to this call does not cost us that much.
So, having been forgiven, cleansed of our sin by His blood, and adopted into the family of God, we say with Isaiah, "Here am I. Send me" (Isa. 6:8).
How do we fulfill it? Only by going and doing exactly what the Lord says by the power of the Holy Spirit: Be My witnesses; make disciples of Me, baptizing them in the name of the triune God, teaching them everything I have commanded you.
We do it by proclaiming faithfully the whole counsel of God, teaching everyone who is in Christ by faith to keep every command of our Lord Jesus (cf. Luke 24:45-49; Acts 1:8; Matt. 28:19-20). We can begin at home and from there to wherever the Lord sends us - at work, in school, across the street, around our neighborhood, overseas or across culture.
Amen.
"Our mission is to proclaim Christ and the repentance for forgiveness of sins in His name to all the nations. It may cost our career. We may have to leave the comfort of home and the convenience of modern society. We may have to give up our possessions, even our lives."