MAXIMIZE: Your Witness- Live it Out!

The Voyager Golden Record is a memory device that contains a collection of 116 images and sounds that were placed on the voyager satellite that was sent into space. These images and sounds are to represent the human race to the universe (that is in case intelligent life gets a hold of it somehow). You tell me if what is found on this disk would be an adequate witness to extraterrestrial life of the human race. There are spoken greetings in 55 different languages, the English greeting saying, “hello from the children of planet Earth.” There are music recordings as well. Beethoven’s 5^th symphony and excerpts from Bach sent from European countries and Chuck Berry’s “Johnny be Good” sent from the U.S. There are also several photographs. Here are just a few: the Taj Mahal, someone cooking fish, a dolphin, a family portrait, a gymnast, and a grape picker. Would these images reflect humanity in any or all of its parts? Does the Voyager Golden Record adequately testify to who we are?

I want to ask and answer a similar question today that pertains to our relationship to the gospel and the world that we live in.  If you were sent to this lost world as the only representation of Jesus Christ, would people have an adequate understanding of God and salvation? If not, heed these three parts of Paul’s encouragement to Timothy from 2 Timothy 2:14-19 as we learn how to maximize our witness before men.

I. THE INSTRUCTIONS-2:14-15

Everything said by Paul in this book to Timothy should be understood in the context of his predicament. Paul is in prison, awaiting death. Therefore, what Paul says to Timothy in this last written letter are his final acknowledgements, sentiments, and encouragements to a son in the faith, rendering this book highly significant and personal. With that said, Paul has just finished encouraging Timothy to be strong in the midst of the struggle that existed in his ministry. Why was strength necessary? Because the witness of many within the church was sub-par.

This is why Paul asks Timothy to remind the church of these instructions he gives at the beginning of 2:14. First, Paul calls for Timothy to remind the church not to wrangle about words. However, immediately after he asks Timothy to “remind” them of this charge, he recognizes that his word is too delicate and changes tone by emphasizing this challenge with, “solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words” (2:14). Timothy’s activity of reminding and charging the church with this challenge was to become his regular practice. No doubt, the bulk of Timothy’s preaching to a knowledgeable audience consisted of reminding them of what they already knew. The same is true in many churches today.  Timothy was commanded of Paul here to remind and teach against wrangling over words.

Ultimately, this is a clarion call to rise above petty trivialities. Whether it was a dispute over words, traditions, etc. petty quarrels are never welcome in any fellowship. But why was this so important to Paul?

Pettiness is not only unproductive (“useless”) it is destructive (“leads to the ruin of the hearers”). This is why it was to be prohibited at all costs. Though a war over words was of primary concern to Paul and Timothy with reference to the church in Ephesus, wars over worship, wardrobe, etc., unfortunately plague many places of worship today. Warring or “wrangling” over such things hurts the witness of the church family. If the family cannot get along with itself, why in the world would anyone else want to be adopted into it?

Therefore, in order for the church in Ephesus to Maximize its witness, they needed to remove petty arguments which were useless and destructive.

After beginning with a prohibition, Paul follows up with a contrasting encouragement to Timothy so that he might demonstrate the kind of behavior he hoped would be replicated in the church in Ephesus. Instead of falling into trivial bickering, Timothy was to “be diligent to present [himself] approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed.” There are several important characteristics that set these characteristics of a good witness over and against what contributes to an ineffective witness. First, while wrangling over words requires two parties and comparing someone’s position to another’s, an effective witness is primarily concerned with oneself (“present yourself”). Second, while winning an argument might help you gain approval before men, an effective witness results in standing approved before God. Third, while pettiness is useless and destructive, an effective witness is edifying and encouraging, “as a workman who does not need to be ashamed” (2:15). In other words, an ineffective witness requires no work, does no good, and yields the approval of the small. An effective witness requires diligence, does something, and gains the approval of the almighty God! However, how does one make sure their witness falls in the second category?

The approval of God and the success of the Ephesian church’s witness to the world were contingent on how they handled the “word of truth.” As the church leader, Timothy was to do his part to handle the Word of God appropriately in order that the both he and his church would understand how to live rightly. This is preacher’s highest and most weighty responsibility. Mishandling the word of God will result in an ineffective witness for the entire church. Accurately dividing the scriptures will result in a compelling testimony.

II. THE ILLUSTRATIONS-2:16-18

In the next part of this passage, Paul moves to illustrate the instructions he gave earlier. First, he reiterates what he has already stated by saying, “but avoid worldy and empty chatter” (2:16).

It is amazing how different the chatter can be depending on what context in which you find yourself. Having worked at a construction site, attended political events, and served in the church, it never ceases to amaze me how different the conversations will be or what words might even be used.  Different words and phrases are expected in certain areas. Unfortunately, the chatter that Paul heard coming out of the church in Ephesus was not becoming of a church. Instead of being righteous and edifying, it was “worldly” and “empty.” Such chatter should be avoided by the church like the plague.  

The symptoms of empty chatter spread like a disease and progress like a deadly illness. In fact, the Bible compares the side-effects of this kind of speech to gangrene. In ancient times, gangrene referred to a spreading ulcer. Today, it is more clearly described as the death of tissue due to loss of the vital blood supply to that part of the body. Often the most distal tip of an extremity, such as fingertips or toes, will turn black and surgeons will amputate the dead part to prevent extension and harm to more of the limb or to life itself. 

Either way (pussing ulcers or dead extremities), this is not the kind of thing Paul wanted festering in the church in Ephesus, nor is it anything we want going unchecked in our church today!

A bad witness in the church, like a bad infection, is only good for one thing, slowly killing the life of the fellowship.

Two extremities in the church body of Ephesus that deserved to be amputated were Hymenaues and Philetus. These two were like dead limbs hanging lifelessly onto the church and weighing it down, rendering it ineffective. Their witness made them infamous for all in the world to see. In fact, Paul had already “delivered them over to Satan” for chastisement in 1 Tim. 1:20!

Several specifics are given concerning the witness of these two men. It is obvious that their most egregious infraction was their mishandling of the truth found in God’s Word. In other words, they had deviated from the path and abandoned the truth. They went around testifying that the resurrection had already taken place (2:18). The heresy of Philetus and Hymenaeus probably involved the idea that resurrection was a purely spiritual affair which occurred at conversion or baptism. But bodily resurrection is the keystone of Christian doctrine, as Paul showed (1 Cor. 15). Without it, the entire edifice of the gospel collapses. Such a lack in perseverance in the truth reveals that these two were grossly mistaken at least or unsaved altogether.

Their misrepresentation of the resurrection upset many who clung to the hope of the resurrection of the body in the future as demonstrated by Jesus following the cross. In fact, Paul reveals that some even left the faith following heresies like this (1Tim. 1:19)!

Though ineffective or misinformed witnesses in the church may not show up informal heresies like this, even minor infractions steal focus away from the truth of God’s Word and can deter people from wanting Jesus. 

Never underestimate your witness before men and women both within these walls and beyond this campus. 

You may be the only representation of Christ that someone encounters in their life. When people see your witness are they turned onto Jesus or turned off? Do people appreciate you because of the grace of God in your life or do they avoid you like the plague? In order to maximize your witness, cut out the dead tissue, leaving only the glorious truth of the gospel.

III. THE IMPETUS-2:19

Paul completes his call for an effective witness by describing the impetus or motivation behind living rightly. Though the situation at Ephesus was difficult and problems were at hand, Paul encourages Timothy to remain steadfast on the firm foundation of God, the church. Though Timothy might have been tempted to compromise or abandon his witness altogether given the situation and circumstances he faced, Paul reminded him that the church will never be destroyed. Instead, it will prevail. The church of God, that is, all who are believers, will be triumphant as Jesus promised. “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt. 16:18).

The same confidence and steadfastness needs to be reiterated today. The victory that God has promised the church needs to infuse our witness with every hope of victory in the end. Though the world may laugh and people may undermine the work that God is doing both at Crystal Spring Baptist Church and elsewhere, we must remind ourselves that God and His church will be left standing at the end. Constantly reminding ourselves of this will result in a witness that can be used in powerful ways.

On the solid foundation of the church is written two eternal principles. First, “the Lord knows who are His.” Though this might seem like an inconsequential remark, consider what God does for who He knows.

Philippians 1:6-For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 40:31-Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary

2 Corinthians 9:8-And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed

Timothy could take comfort in the work that God had for Him because he knew that God knew Him. Because God knew Timothy, Timothy could enjoy the promises, protections, and provisions of God!

Does God know You?

Paul reveals how to figure out if God knows you be giving the second principle forever inscribed on the foundation of the church, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness” (2:19). Do you act like you know God? If we have been promised the same promises, protections, and provisions of God, why does our witness suffer? Those who know God and are known by God abstain from a life of wickedness. To “abstain” means to rebel. Though rebels are often understood in relationship to something good or noble, Paul is commanding the church to rebel against wickedness. In other words, those whom God knows are holy rebels, abstaining from wickedness and enjoying fellowship with God.

Unfortunately, many within the church are rebelling from the wrong things and thereby harming their witness. Some rebel from purity into lust, integrity into gossip, peace into discord, and the like. Their pattern of wickedness is unbecoming of the church and may reveal that they are do not even belong to the Lord in the first place. The worst witness of all is someone who names the name of the Lord and does not act like Him!

So What?

I end with the same question I began with, “If you were the only representation of Christ in this world, would the cause of Christ have any hope?” Though this question may seem like a hyperbolic hypothetical, it is not too far from the truth. In a world that grows darker and darker, the light of the gospel is becoming scarcer. Church doors are closing, morality is becoming relative, Christian TV and radio is going out of business, etc. In this world of wickedness, you may very well be the only representation of Jesus Christ that someone engages. Therefore, it is incumbent upon you and me to maximize, or make the most of, our witness for God! We do this by becoming approved workman who accurately handle the truth by living it out in such a way that we belong to God and not to this world. But how do we do this? We can’t! It is only through the incomparable grace of God that anyone can become anything good, let alone an effective witness to His truth! Allow the same God who saved you to inform your witness. He has called you and me to go into a dark world on His behalf. Are you making the most of this monumental task? Are you representing Christ well?