As a young Christian I felt guilt about the unevenness of my participation in the matter of evangelism, the privilege and humble duty to witness Christ – principally to non-Christian persons with whom I related. This attitude was not that others did not respect Christ, even that they might call themselves Christian, but that they needed to believe that Christ provided redemption for their sins, and a definable faith life. It is more than being a good person. So I should aid in persuading persons to be contrite to God about their basic condition, in their nature (inherited in birth) and conduct (sometimes objectionable to God, even when inadvertent), and accept the redemption of Christ, achieved through his crucifixion and resurrection. That witness seemed to fit well the open and aggressive approach of the Apostles and others in the Church as recorded in the New Testament. It is central to the Great Commission of Christ. (Matthew 28:19-20)
There is another way, effective for the individual Christian in embellishing the direct approach of the Church, the presentation of the gospel by congregation and clergy in aggregate. The Apostle Peter here makes every Christian a witness of the gospel, but he does it in a refined way that overcomes reticence, representing Christ. The secret is found in personal life, in the practical and spiritual living out of the Christian experience. It is found in personal Christ-likeness. It is in Christian righteousness. The Apostle implies that the Christian lives a life that has some magnetism to it pointing to Christ. Righteousness has spiritual attraction to most persons.
Christ-likeness is found in the possession and practice of right conduct: compassion, service and love; of generosity and good will; of patience and hope; of counsel and prayer; of spiritual mindedness (righteousness) and the Holy Spirit; of truth and the Scriptures; of humility and submission; of strength and courage; of integrity and self-control; and, of presence and availability. This is even more vital in an age when mass media have circulated information abroad. A well-known concept, the gospel is world-wide in scope. It is often distorted, but it has been widely introduced to the world’s majority population. We deplore any distortions.
This means that the Christian must act from a position of integrity related to Christ. Becoming Christ-like is not easy to be and do, but is within the range of Christian believers. That growth is cumulative when genuine. When it is genuine the Christ-like Christian becomes something of a magnet. Some persons want to hear from that Christian. What is it that he or she believes? Why has it made the person we see? Is there something here that will feed my hunger, this mysterious hunger of my soul? The scholarly chairman of my doctoral committee at the University of Washington acknowledged to me as we discussed spiritual issues one day that his life was checked seriously in the observations he made of a friend. The man to whom he referred was a Christian gentleman in Yakima, Washington who reflected something special to others, causing them to ask about what made him the person he became. My chairman said: His life made me feel unclean and I wanted to be clean. He did not judge, but loved all. It was life changing for me. Even the shy Christian can engage this pattern for communicating faith, to so live as to be asked to be specific in oral witness. When the young ladies joining Mother Teresa’s order were asked what drew them, a major reason was that they wanted to be like Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa wanted to be like Christ. Christianity ought to be seen in Christians. It is a total meaning, the whole of one’s life, not separated features or factors. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020