If there is someone during Jesus’ time who embodied that in the literal sense it is certainly Lazarus, Jesus’ friend and the brother of Martha and Mary. As Christians, our lives should be living testimonies of the grace and power of God at work in us. This is where we usually ask questions like “What does that even mean?”, and we say, “Well, I am not healing the sick, there are no blatant and obvious miracles in my life”, therefore we conclude, “my life is not and cannot be a living testimony”. To be a living testimony, in my understanding is to live a life that testifies about the power of God, the love of God, the greatness of God. It is to live a life full of the Spirit, a life that is not overcome by fear – timidity, fearfulness, cowardice – but one that is filled with power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7). A living testimony is a life that declares the excellencies of God (2 Peter 2:9). It seems like this is a task unattainable but since it is also a charge from the word of God to abide in Jesus, to imitate Jesus, I believe this is possible to do within the provision of Grace. As I was reading in the books of John and Acts this week, I thought it would be good to see how Jesus and the apostles’ lives were living testimonies. Often times, we just need to hear or read the same stories again and then the Holy Spirit will make those alive in us. That is my hope as we dive into those two books and I pray it encourages you to cultivate a life of living testimony.
A testimony, is a statement that attests the validity of something. In the court of law, it is often a statement that a witness will be making to attest to the truth of another statement or when asked a question by a counsel. For us to be living testimonies of Christ, it means our lives must attest to the truth of Christ, it must give evidence of His saving power as long as we are alive on this earth. I was often intrigued at the fact that Jesus himself needed a testimony. He elevated the ministry of John and said that John was the one who testified about him as if without John his own ministry would not have any validity. This is quite deep and I am not sure I understand it yet but I see the importance Jesus placed on testifying. In the book of John, when Jesus’ days on earth were getting close to the end, we are told of an event that happened and during which Jesus acted strangely. This is the story of Lazarus in chapter 11 where it was told Jesus by the sisters Martha and Mary that his friend and their brother Lazarus whom he loved was sick (verse 3), yet when Jesus received the news, he stayed where he was for another two days (verse 6). When his time had come, Jesus went to Bethany where Lazarus was and when he got there, Lazarus had already been put in the tomb for four days. However, this was not an issue for Jesus because he went to Bethany with a prior agenda of displaying the glory of God for the sake of the people who would be there to witness it. So, Jesus then asked to be shown where Lazarus had been put and he called out from the tomb, “Lazarus, come out!” (verse 43). “The dead man came out, his hands and feet rapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face”, then Jesus said to remove that grave cloth from him and let to let him go. This is a miracle that was not common but when Jesus came, he showed God’s glory by raising Lazarus from the dead as a statement to show that death is under God. What we humans fear the most is not a concern for God. I know by now, you are wondering in what way was this a living testimony? Jesus was a living testimony to the veracity of God’s power over death through that miracle. Moreover, Lazarus’ life became a living testimony of the power of God in the literal sense because many Jews would just be curious, wanting to see with their eyes the one that was raised from the dead and upon seeing Lazarus, many would believe. Just by being alive, Lazarus was now a living testimony to the salvific power of God. The gospel of Jesus Christ became visible in his life. This was to the point that the Pharisees actually sought to kill him because Lazarus was evidence that Jesus had performed a miracle (John 12:10-11), evidence that Jesus came from God and that, they were not ready to accept because it meant no more followers for them. When your life is built around people so much you become crippled by them and when someone else seems to attract the very people you have built your life around, you see it as betrayal and like the Pharisees you conclude that only one of you can remain alive. In the case of Lazarus, I want to point out that he did not have to do much to be a living testimony except to remain alive.
The second example I will draw is from the lives of the Apostles, particularly Paul and Silas during their missionary journey, just after Paul separated from Barnabas. In this scene, we see Paul and Silas going from town to town to deliver the message that the apostles had written to the Gentiles churches concerning circumcision. As, they were doing that, they also encouraged the churches. Part of their plan was to go to Asia but the Holy Spirit prevented them from going there and instead prompted them to go to Macedonia (Acts 16:6-10). Even in this brief example, we see Paul and Silas being obedient to the Spirit, their lives are living testimony of the authority of God. They are showing by their actions that they respond to God first and foremost, that they are not the ones with the final say, they are not the ones with the agenda or the itinerary, they are simply servants. This is one simple way we can let our lives be a living testimony of Christ. A life that declares “I am a servant and Christ is my master”. Let’s keep reading in the story of Acts 16, later on, we read that because of Paul and his companions’ obedience to go to Macedonia, a woman named Lydia believed with her household. Moreover, a servant girl who had a spirit of divination or fortune-telling was set free from that spirit although this did not pleased her masters because she used to earn them a great deal of money through that fortune-telling venture. In this instance, we see Paul being a living testimony of the power of Christ over evil spirits just as Jesus’ was during his life on earth. Furthermore, Paul here shows that he lived a life without fear, he simply was so troubled in his spirit that he could not keep having that servant girl speak about them in such a way (Acts 16:18). Do you see how it is in the day-to-day that the apostles were being a living testimony? They were not thinking beforehand about what miracle they wanted to perform, or what power they wanted to display, no, they were simply being obedient to whatever the Lord would tell them and while in a specific situation, they would seek to elevate Christ. This miracle Paul performed brought him and his companions trouble because they were put in prison by the owners of the slave girl and were beaten severely. In jail, their feet were fastened in stocks (in case you were like me and didn’t know what they were) and they were put in the inner cell. Their condition was absolutely horrifying, they were in pain and they did not seem to have hope. However, we are told that, instead of being dejected like we would assume, they were strengthening themselves in the Lord through prayer and singing hymns at midnight! This was loud enough that other prisoners could hear them. Paul and his companions’ lives were a living testimony of God’s sufficiency over their lives. They relied on God to comfort them, they relied on the love of God to carry them through, they relied on the faithfulness of God to see them through, they testified to the matchlessness of God by waiting on Him. And guess what? He showed up! What I find amazing in this event is how the power and the love of God was displayed in the salvation that was received by the jailer and his household. I cannot understand the love of God, how it had to take the suffering of Paul, Silas and Timothy to have the jailer and his household come to faith. This is beyond my understanding but I find it beautiful nevertheless. When we suffer for Christ, we are being a living testimony and the beauty is that our suffering is never in vain. God uses it for His good purposes.
I hope this gave you an idea of how you too can live a life of testimony in your day to day. You might not be called to do the miracles Paul and the apostles did but you will be called to stand for truth, you will be called to righteousness, in fact, you are called to justice, and love and power and self-control. I was very convicted this week by “self-control” as the spirit God gave us and whenever we live in that reality, making conscious decisions that show our self-control we are indeed being a living testimony to our Father. I pray, the Holy Spirit shows you how to be a living testimony in your own sphere as you rely on Him not by trying to imitate others or please others. Amen.
A Word Aptly Spoken 