March 26, 2024 • 45 mins
Witnessing for Christ isn't just a Sunday thing; it's a way of life that shines through every action and word—whether you're grabbing a bite at Chili's or greeting a newcomer at church. Sean Sloggett and I, Jonathan Rich, invite you on a genuine exploration of what it means to embody the Gospel in our everyday lives. We're peeling back the layers to reveal if our efforts to share God's love are truly rooted in compassion or if they're overshadowed by our affiliations with churches and denominations.
Throughout our heartfelt dialogue, we tackle the notion that creating a culture of comfort within our church walls goes a long way. Imagine stepping into a place where you're met with warmth and guided with kindness—that's the atmosphere we're advocating for, where the Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting, and our role is simply to be vessels of welcome and love. As we address this, we also recognize the importance of bringing this same nurturing spirit into our daily routines, letting the essence of our faith spill over into every encounter and setting.
Wrapping up our conversation, Sean and I share personal anecdotes that drive home the power of authentic actions in harmony with our spoken words. We highlight the need for consistency in our Christian walk—calling for a balance where what we do mirrors what we preach. So, tune in for an episode that promises to not only inspire your spirit but also equip you with practical ways to live out your faith in a manner that's as natural as breathing. Don't forget, our extensive collection of episodes offers even more wisdom and encouragement for your journey, just a click away on your favorite podcast platform.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everybody.
You're listening to theEveryday Christian Podcast where
we apply scriptural principlesto everyday Christian lives.
I'm John.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Rich and I'm Sean Sloggett, and today we are going
to be talking about how are youportrayed as a witness?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
You know it is our very first live podcast with
just Sean and I.
I think Gabe and I did maybeone or two, so we're not really
used to a lot of this, notreally custom to a lot of what's
going on.
You're probably going to seesome glitchy video hopefully not
as glitchy, but we will uploadthe podcast tomorrow for you to
(00:33):
listen to, if you can't listento it quite in this episode here
.
But we are coming to you livefirst time ever.
I wanted to tell you where youcan find us before we get into
the episode.
You can find us on Facebook,instagram, tiktok by searching
at podcast4him.
You'll see the ticker at thebottom of the screen.
That's at podcast, the number4him, and you can find us on the
(00:55):
podcast platform of your choice.
Again, this episode is going tobe available tomorrow by
searching the Everyday ChristianPodcast.
So, brother Sean, let's jumpright into the episode here
today, brother.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Sean, Before we jump in I will say you're probably
going to hear us mess up, laugh.
Cut a couple little jokes, youget the inside look of how the
podcast really is.
Yeah, Brother Sean, you knowyou guys may hear a 45-minute
podcast, but we're here for twohours.
There's a lot of editing thatgoes into this.
So if there are any mistakes oranything, just bear with us.
(01:25):
Enjoy it with us, I guess.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
And if you have any comments, questions, concern, we
can see them during the liveepisode here.
So please let us know, and ifwe can't get to them during the
episode, then we for sure willget to them after the episode.
Brother Sean, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
So we will be talking about how are you portrayed as
a witness.
A lot of times when you thinkof a witness, as far as you know
, from the outside side of it,you know you think of going
before a judge and a jury andyou've got somebody going up to
the stand.
A lot of times it's alwaysfocused on who's on trial, not
(02:06):
on the witness.
But today we're going to flipit around a little bit and we're
going to talk about the witness.
So a witness, you know, if youlook at the definition of it,
there's nouns, verbs, differenttypes of it, obviously, but the
verb definition of a witness isto see an event take place or
(02:27):
have knowledge of an event orchange from personal observation
and experience.
So actually being there andbeing a witness, it is something
that we should hopefully haveknowledge of.
You know that event or thatchange has been a salvation that
(02:53):
we've received in theexperience of Jesus Christ
coming into our heart and uswanting to share it with those
around us.
So again, I'm going to flip itaround a little bit.
We're not looking at who's ontrial Now, we're looking at us
as the witness.
It around a little bit.
We're not looking at who's ontrial.
Now we're looking at us as thewitness.
I'd like to start out with whoor what are you being a witness
about?
You know, the obvious answer tothis is Jesus Christ, the one
(03:22):
who died to save us from oursins.
But a lot of times I think wekind of get a little mixed up
with that, where it's more aboutour church, our pastor, our
denomination or something likethat, brother John, and we have
to be careful with these kind ofthings.
(03:43):
Are we being honest when we sayit's about Jesus Christ?
Yeah, if you love your pastor,that is amazing.
That is a very good thing.
It's great to have a wonderfulpastor, one who loves you, one
that you love, one that you canconfide in, one that you can go
talk to.
I'm all for it.
But are we trying to do it forour pastor?
(04:05):
Are we witnessing for JesusChrist?
You should again go to a churchwhere you love the congregation
, where they are doing outreach,where you can get in in the
services, where you can get helpspiritually, whether it's
shouting in the pews or justhearing a word from God,
whatever those cases may be.
(04:26):
But you need those kind ofchurches.
But again, when I look back orwhen we pull back a little bit.
Are you being a witness forJesus Christ?
Or are you being a witness tosay, hey, come to my church, my
church is such and such and youwould really enjoy it there.
You know when people invite you, I've invited people to my
(04:48):
church, but if they choose notto go to my church, I'm not
going to be heard about it.
Come visit my church and seeabout it, right.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
You know it is crazy too If you think about being a
witness and I'm glad you havethat in your notes, because I
have something very similar inmy notes um, about you know what
we think of when we think ofthe word witnessing and I I
think I wrote it in ourdescription, but it's literally
a buzzword that is used inchurches and, whether you
(05:21):
believe it or not, portray it ornot whatever witnessing is much
more than just inviting someoneto your church.
It's much more than justtelling someone about your
pastor.
When I think of witnessing, Ithink of someone who is going
out of their way to share thegospel with someone, someone who
is compelled to share the goodnews of what Jesus did for them
(05:45):
to someone who has never heardit before, maybe someone who
needs to hear it again.
But oftentimes, what we thinkof when we think of witnessing
we think of street preachers orevangelists, we think of
ministers or missionaries thatare going out to be a witness as
being the prime members who doit, and we think of that being
(06:08):
the who behind the witness.
And then, when we think of thehow behind the witness, we think
of you know, I was studying forthis and like putting this
together, thinking of like,different ways that we witness
or different things that we doto witness.
So when I think of like how dowe witness, oftentimes we think
of approaching someone that wedo to witness.
So when I think of like how dowe witness, oftentimes we think
of approaching someone that weknow, or maybe we don't know, to
(06:29):
share the gospel.
We think of passing out a trackto someone, we think of
preaching at church or on thestreets, but oftentimes we don't
think of witnessing, being as awitness as Christ's followers
in the Bible did it.
We think of witnessing as ourchurch culture of today sees it
(06:51):
and does it, or in most cases,brother Sean, doesn't do it.
Witnessing is more than just hey, you know, I go to a great
church.
We've got all these amazingthings.
Look, your church is wonderful.
Your church, you know, I'm gladyou go to a good church.
That's great.
Your church, your church iswonderful, I'm glad you go to a
good church, that's great.
Your church is not the gospel,where you attend Sunday school,
your youth pastor, your pastor,your associate pastor, the music
(07:15):
, all those things.
They are not the gospel ofJesus Christ.
And so to be a witness isnumber one, and you'll probably
go over this, but you alreadytouched up on it.
To be a witness means I havewitnessed something in my life,
I have experienced Jesus Christ,and to share that gospel or to
be a testimony of that, issomething that all of us
(07:38):
Christians should do or striveto do.
And what I think about you knowwhen it comes to being a
witness to do, and what I thinkabout you know when it comes to
being a witness testifying, etc.
I often think about when I wasfirst saved, brother Sean,
because when I was first saved Iwanted to tell everybody about
(07:58):
Jesus.
I want to tell everyone aboutthe good things that he did for
me.
But it seems like I've beensaved 17.
Someone asked me today how longhave you been saved?
I've been saved 17 years and itseems like the more and more
you know life goes on.
You know I'm married now, I'vegot kids now, I've got a job
that's full-time, I've got twoor three jobs that are
essentially full-time, and soI've got all these things going
(08:18):
on and it seems like the moreand more, the older I get, the
more life tries to pull me awayfrom that.
Central focus of my purpose inthis life is to tell someone
about the good news of JesusChrist.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I'm going to back up a little bit, go back to the
inviting them to the church part, and some of you guys will get
where I'm going with this andI'll catch back up to Jonathan
here in a second, invitingsomebody to come to your church.
Again, I want you to go to achurch where you feel like you
(08:58):
can invite a sinner to come.
There is a sinner needs to beable to come to a church and
feel comfortable.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Yeah, and this has come up here too many times and
we're going to get in a lot oftrouble already for saying that
again in this episode.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
That's okay, but I'm going to say it A sinner should
feel comfortable in the churchhouse, according to how we as
people think and feel.
If you cannot and this is partof what I mean here, because
I've seen this happen inchurches and if we're all
(09:39):
completely honest not just me,we've been part of the problem
before yeah, a sinner shouldfeel comfortable.
You should be able to go up tothem and say hey, my name is
Sean Sloggett, I'm a part ofthis church.
Thank you for coming today.
Oh, you have three kids.
(10:02):
How old are they?
Would they like to go to Sundayschool?
Let me show you go to Sundayschool.
Let me show you where theSunday school classes are.
If you feel comfortable themgoing in there, they are more
than welcome to stay.
If not, we understand theyshould feel comfortable.
(10:23):
A lot and some of these thingswe take for granted.
Somebody new comes into yourchurch.
They may not know where therestrooms are.
It's very basic, but they'venever stepped foot in this
building before.
We've all had a stranger comeinto our church and ask where
the restrooms are.
Hey, if you need it, they'reover here.
(10:43):
We should be able to make themfeel comfortable, right, and let
the Holy Ghost, convict them.
Yeah, that's where theuncomfortable part should come
in.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
And let me interject something real fast.
I know you're on a roll here,but that's exactly the episode
two episodes ago.
That's exactly what I wastalking about People freaked out
over.
Well, we shouldn't make peoplefeel comfortable because the
Christians of the Bible didn'tfeel comfortable.
Yada, yada, yada.
Listen, that is exactly whatI'm talking about.
It's not my job to make someonefeel convicted or uncomfortable
(11:16):
.
It's my job to shine the lightof Christ on them inside of
church and outside.
We're going to get to theoutside portion of it, but
inside of the church they shouldfeel comfortable, welcome,
loved, cared about.
They should have peace.
They shouldn't feel all eyeswatching them.
They shouldn't feel likethey're ridiculed.
They shouldn't feel like peopleare judging me with their eyes.
(11:40):
They should feel loved, cared,and I'm not saying accept their
sin, but accept them, brotherSean sorry I had to interject
something there.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That's absolutely right.
I mean, if we go into arestaurant, we expect whoever
works there to make sure we arecomfortable, taken care of.
Do you need a refill?
Let me get you a refill.
Let me get that plate out ofyour way.
Do you need a refill?
Let me get you a refill.
Let me get that plate out ofyour way.
Would you like an appetizer?
We expect them to make us feelcomfortable.
(12:12):
So why is it that when somebodynew comes into our church, we
can't make them feel comfortable?
Shame on me, shame on me, shameon us.
When we cannot make somebodyfeel comfortable for coming into
the house of God, right, weneed to make them feel
(12:36):
comfortable.
Yeah, now the Lord can use theHoly Ghost.
Can use somebody, right, or hecan speak through somebody to
convict them.
I'm not saying that it has to bethe Holy Ghost can use somebody
, or he can speak throughsomebody to convict them.
I'm not saying that it has tobe the Holy Ghost coming down
and dealing with them on apersonal level.
He can speak through somebody,but more often than not, we
(12:58):
probably miss it because we seethat they're covered in tattoos
or they've got multiplepiercings or whatever the case
may be that we automaticallyknow that they're lost.
Maybe they are, but maybe theygot saved last week also and
they don't know any better.
(13:18):
They showed up still with theirearrings in because they
haven't learned.
They showed up still with theirearrings in because they
haven't learned.
Maybe those tattoos are stillshowing because all they had
this week was the T-shirt thatthey're staying in the hotel.
I understand I've talked tothese kind of people before they
(13:43):
only have two changes ofclothes, and the shirt that they
wore this morning to Sundayschool is a lot better than the
one they could have picked out.
They need to be comfortable andlet the Holy Ghost deal with
them.
When it comes to thedenominations, I don't care as
(14:04):
much as most people do.
I don't either.
If we're genuinely honest, I'llsay it this way I have some
very big issues with a lot, andmost denominations yeah, but a
lot of them are sincere also.
(14:25):
You and I both.
If we sat down and studied, wecan find a flaw in every single
denomination, pentecostalholiness included.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I thought you were going to say especially All
right, sorry, I'm teasing.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
However I'm teasing, we're not perfect either.
Right, we want to act a lot oftimes like we are, and we're not
.
We get things wrong.
Also, I want to be a witnessabout Jesus Christ, not about my
pastor, not about my church andnot about my pastor, not about
(15:07):
my church and not about holiness.
Jesus Christ was the one thatdied for my sins.
He was the one that paid theprice.
He was the one that came tothis earth and suffered and died
.
He bled on the cross so that Imay be free.
Nobody else, nothing else.
(15:30):
It doesn't matter who it iswhat we think it is.
Is it Jesus Christ?
Who or what are we witnessingabout?
Our primary focus needs to beof Jesus Christ, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Brother John, you know, witnessing has to become
more of an act, more than justan act.
It has to become a lifestyle.
It has to become more than justa series of events.
It needs to become a way oflife.
It needs to become more thanjust a scheduled moment, not
just in the church.
It needs to be unscheduledevents.
(16:11):
And there's a reason for allthat.
There's a reason why we don'tdo a lot of that.
There's a reason why the onlytime that we witness is when we
are with church members or whenwe are a part of some outreach
program, and that reason is mostof the time.
You need time to get your gameface on.
You need time to prepareyourself to look and act like
(16:32):
someone who shares the gospel.
You need time and planning toput on a fake smile and to look
the part, brother Sean.
That's why it's easy to do itin the church house, and not
outside.
Yeah, you know when I think ofthis another buzz we're talking
about buzzwords, but another onethat we use thinking about this
is outreach.
It's a modern word that we useto portray that our church is a
(16:53):
witness for Christ and, by theway, the majority of the
outreach programs that you doare good.
Like I'm not taking anythingaway from that.
I don't want you to think thatwith this episode and most of
them are not all bad, some ofthem are very, very good the
problem is is that we useoutreach as our only means of
being a witness of Christ orpreaching the gospel of Christ
(17:15):
or sharing the gospel of Christ.
We use scheduled events as ouronly means of witnessing.
I know what some of you arethinking and I've heard this
excuse millions of times in thelast couple of years, but
specifically the last couple ofweeks.
Well, no one in my circle hastaught or preached that, or I've
never heard of that and maybenot, but you have witnessed it
(17:36):
and you have seen it with yourown eyes and you've done it with
your own life sure has lost thedesire to share the gospel so
badly that they use differentthings that they do for the
church to impress the pastor asa way of justifying it.
Well, if I help cook food forcamp service, then in a way I'm
sharing the gospel.
(17:57):
I'll make sure our camerastayed going.
Okay, it did.
We see the camera going off onour thing here.
It's good.
Well, if I cook food for campservice, then in a way I'm
sharing the gospel.
Well, if I serve drinks atSunday dinner, then I am being a
witness for Christ.
Look, doing that at your homechurch is great.
I don't want to take anythingaway from that.
(18:18):
Doing those things is neededfor the body of Christ and it's
helpful.
Doing those things can be asmall part of a greater work and
witness and praise God for it.
We need people in church to dothe small things.
We need people in church to dothe medium things.
We need people in church to dothe large things.
We all work together toaccomplish goals, but don't use
that as a cover, all reason, asan excuse for being a witness.
(18:41):
Witnessing is so much more thanjust that, brother Sean Witness
.
Witnessing is so much more thanjust that, brother Sean.
Witnessing is more than justthe little things that I can do
so that Pastor so-and-so sees meas a strong Christian, or well,
that brother over there reallyhelps a lot, or that sister over
there really does a lot overhere.
It's all great.
It's all grand, it's allwonderful.
(19:02):
What about sharing the gospelof Jesus Christ and doing it
correctly, brother Sean?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
My next point how are you witnessing?
There you go.
All of us, as Christians,should want to witness to those
around us.
We have all heard the termsfirst impressions and actions
speak louder than words.
So, as a Christian, what areyour first impressions leaving?
(19:30):
Yeah, what are your actions?
Speaking about you, I can claimto be a Christian all day long,
but how am I showing it?
How am I presenting it?
Yeah, just because we wear longsleeve shirts, just because we
wear skirts down to the floor,just because we do all these
(19:52):
things, does not mean we'reChristians.
If we're being fair, gypsieswear their skirts down to the
floor.
Yeah, it's just a look.
Yeah, it's just a look.
I'm not saying I'm not going toget into the modest, immodest
(20:13):
debate right now, but what areyou leaving with them?
Sure, look has a lot to do withit.
Are you well put together?
That is a first impression.
If you come in looking rough,it's probably not going to be a
good first impression.
I understand that side of it,but our presentation, along with
(20:39):
our actions, needs to be partof it.
I was at not just me, but therewas several of us.
It's been a few weeks back, butthere was a Chili's, a new
Chili's that had opened up SanSprings.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Oklahoma, in San Springs, oklahoma, the bomb the
best restaurant around, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
And we called them and asked them if they could
handle about 40 people comingfrom a service I think it was a
Friday night and they told usyeah, bring it on.
So we got there and there wastwo men that ended up working
for us they ended up beingbrothers Walked in, started
talking to him like man, I knowthis is a lot which we had
called ahead.
I was like, hey, we, you know,we called about this and he's no
(21:22):
problem, we'll get you takencare of Very, very great.
And he's no problem, we'll getyou taken care of Very, very
great.
But at the end of it, aseverybody was leaving, I went
over and just, hey, man, I knowwe probably messed your night up
with all 40 or whatever theexact number ended up being.
That was a lot.
And of course, he said, no, nobig deal, you guys weren't bad,
(21:45):
you were easy.
And he said let me ask you aquestion, shoot, man.
And he said I assume you're aChristian of some type.
And I was like absolutely yeah.
So I started talking to him alittle bit about it and he said
I used to work.
And he named another locationthat was maybe 30, 40 minutes
from here, and he said there wasa group of people that came in
(22:09):
that was a lot like you guys andhe said I'm almost always
impressed by you.
He said I think your holinessor something.
And I was like, yeah, I am.
He said most of the time, I'mvery impressed by you guys.
He said your kids are verywell-mannered, which I don't
(22:32):
know what he was looking at thatnight, but it wasn't my kids.
He said your kids are alwayswell-mannered, please, thank you
.
No, sir, yes, sir.
He said they're not getting uprunning all over the restaurant.
He said your group, you guys,again, your large group.
He said everybody was sorespectful.
(22:52):
I came over there.
He would come over there to getplates out of the way and most,
if not all, of us would have astack of plates in the middle,
Like we weren't just leavingeverything strung out.
And he said man, that just sayssomething about you guys.
And I'm like, yeah, I'm awitness, I didn't have to say
(23:15):
much.
But our small actions, yes,words were involved.
Our first impression, Ihonestly believe, was a great
first impression.
Yeah, we called ahead, walkedin.
Hey, you know, I understandthis is going to be trouble and
they.
Well, can you please give us 10minutes to put tables.
(23:36):
Absolutely, you know we'reinconveniencing you more than,
yeah, I know people and youprobably do too that would have
walked in there, got upset, madesome form of a scene and walked
out.
Right Now, when you claim to bea Christian and they see those
(24:02):
type of things and then you havethat kind of attitude, what
does that say to them?
You're right, yeah.
What kind of example are weputting out as a witness going
back, someone who saw or hasknowledge of an event?
Or change from personalobservation and experience?
(24:24):
Yeah, or change from personalobservation and experience?
I am saying that I, frompersonal experience, am a
changed man, and then I showhatred, disgust, irritation, and
we're all human.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
We mess up.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I'm not saying that we have to be perfect, we need
to strive towards it, but allthey see is just these degrading
things.
And then we think I'm beinghonest here If I saw something
like that, I'd be like man.
I don't want to have anythingto do with them.
Right, they look more miserablethan I am.
(25:01):
Yeah, I am a believer inshowing the love of Christ.
Yeah, yeah, being a witness alot of times, if not every time,
starts with that.
And I tell my youth group,every time we get in the van and
(25:21):
I think I've mentioned thisbefore to go somewhere, before
we get out, I say hey, everybody, I need you to listen.
You are representing me tonightbecause I have you in my van.
You are representing yourchurch, you are representing
your pastor, but most of all,you're representing Jesus Christ
(25:47):
.
And on more than one occasionhave I had people come up to me
and commend the youth group,saying I don't know what
denomination you are or I don'tknow anything about you, but
your group was amazing.
When somebody says that to me,I say let me tell you about my
(26:10):
youth group.
We're Christians.
Let me tell you a little bitabout my Jesus and what he does.
I watched.
I'll say this and I'll letBrother John take it.
I watched a video of a man andsome of you guys have probably
seen him before he goes aroundand he will ask people you know,
(26:31):
for $5, can you name a Bibleverse?
Or for $20, can you name aBible verse?
Or for $20, can you name aBible verse, or whatever.
And there was this one lady inparticular that looked nothing
like us.
From all indications she wasnot a Christian and she quoted
(26:53):
John 3.16 immediately and hesaid wow, you know, that's
amazing.
And she told him.
She said I used to go to achurch.
I went, but she had pulled awayfrom it.
(27:13):
And he started talking to her,not preaching at her, not
yelling at her.
He just encouraged her to goback and restudy it, go back and
(27:33):
look at some of these things.
And she, if I remember right,she told him I think I will
Instead of just for lack ofbetter terms attacking her for
not being a believer.
Now, he just spent a coupleminutes talking with her and I
believe it made all thedifference in the world to her.
(27:59):
And it may have a chance to saveher, because somebody went out
of their way to talk with her.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Yeah, brother Sean, for those listening, if you're a
first-time listener, youhaven't really heard the
episodes before.
We encourage you to listen tothe episodes.
I've got like I think this isour 83rd or 84th episode called
the Everyday Christian Podcast.
Find us on the podcast platformof your choice.
But I say that I had to put mylittle two cents in there.
(28:28):
But I say that because BrotherSean and I don't really compare
notes.
Like we sort of pick a topic,we get the general theme of the
topic and then we just sort ofprepare our own notes and come
in with.
You know, most of the timewe're on the same level and same
mindset, so this is really good.
(28:48):
I love that he shared thisbecause this is what I wrote.
It says witnessing is having aheart and mind that is willing
to share the gospel of Christ atany moment, while
simultaneously having alifestyle and portrayal of
someone who has received thegospel of Christ, and there's a
reason why those two things gohand in hand.
You know I talked about otherepisodes and we've covered a lot
(29:09):
on this episode, but there's anepisode called is, speaking in
tongues, greater than the fruitof the spirit.
Go back and listen to thatepisode, but I'll share a little
bit of that here, and that isthis your actions and words must
match.
I get we have slip ups.
I get we make mistakes.
I get we say things that weshouldn't say and act ways that
(29:29):
we shouldn't act.
I get that we cut people off onthe road.
I get that we get frustratedwith waiters and waitresses, but
it's interesting how quicklyour mode changes when the
scheduled time for witnessing isover.
I use PB&J as an example PeanutButter and Jesus.
Wonderful ministry that we have.
But in all actuality it's ascheduled event.
(29:49):
Great ministry, wonderful.
The way they do it is justright.
I think they've done it forlike I don't know three or four
years Every Saturday for likethree or four years.
It's an awesome ministry.
That's just here, though, Imean it's.
Yeah, it's just a local ministryhere, but just take that
ministry, for example, and let'sjust say there are several.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
There are several PB&Js.
The original one, I think, hasbeen going on.
Yeah, for like seven or eightyears maybe longer, I think
around eight or so.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
We'll see if Todd Sluggett's watching.
He's not.
But that group goes out everySaturday to feed those that are
hungry, pray for those that aresick, share the gospel to those
that need to hear it, and it's awonderful ministry.
But let's just say I, forexample, am wanting to help that
ministry one Saturday a month.
Let's just say I, for example,am wanting to help that ministry
one Saturday a month, so I goand help make sandwiches, pack
lunches, and then I go and takethem to impoverished
(30:38):
neighborhoods and feed thehungry, pray for the sick, etc.
I do it all within a time frameof four hours, four hours once
a month.
Is it a good thing?
Yes, is it a great thing?
Yes, but it's not my only meansof being a witness, preaching
the gospel or even testifying.
It goes much deeper than that,brother Sean, and something that
you touched on that is justcoinciding with my notes here is
(31:02):
your actions speak louder thanyour words.
You know one famous quote thatI always share.
I've probably shared it on herebefore.
It says your actions are soloud I can't even hear what
you're saying.
Don't tell me you love the lostbut then treat them like trash
when you aren't within youroutreach group.
(31:23):
Don't tell me that you love thelost when you have done nothing
to research and understandtheir cultures.
Jesus loves you.
In an angry voice, you're goingto hell in an angry voice.
That's not a proper andeffective way of sharing the
(31:44):
gospel.
Is it a way that some peoplebelieve you can share the gospel
?
Sure, is it always an effectiveway?
I don't believe that.
It is because of your attitudebehind it.
When you have an attitude thatbetrays, I hate the individual
I'm talking to, but my words sayI love them.
What are they going to listento?
They're not going to listen toyour words, they're going to
listen to your attitude.
(32:05):
Witnessing is having it hard inmind.
I'm going to say it again thatis willing to share the gospel
of Christ at any moment whilesimultaneously having a
lifestyle and portrayal ofsomeone who has received the
gospel of Christ.
And the issue with the churchSean, I know you're like a dog.
I'm holding on to him here.
(32:26):
Man, he's ready to let loose.
But the issue with the churchis that we either have one of
those things or none of thosethings.
Have one of those things ornone of those things, we either
don't do any type of witnessingor preaching the gospel, not
just from a corporate body butas individuals.
Or we do witness, but outsideof those moments of witnessing
we do not display a life that isChrist-like, or we display a
(32:47):
life that is Christ-like but wedo not do any sort of witnessing
or preaching of the gospel.
And it's a rarity to see allthree.
But it is a recipe for successin winning men and women to
Christ.
Brother Sean, Scroll back up alittle bit.
Yeah, you can't look at mynotes?
What are you doing here?
Read that line again.
Don't tell me you love the lostbut treat them like trash when
(33:10):
you aren't with your outreachgroup, but treat them like trash
when you aren't with youroutreach group.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
I have heard, and we've all heard, the comment
about Jesus flipping the tablesin the temple.
Yeah, so well, jesus was angry.
Jesus did these things.
Most of the time they'rekidding and I understand that.
We take it as a joke, but I seethat as an exception.
(33:38):
We use that as an excuse to getangry or to raise our voice or
all these different things, andsometimes I believe that our
voice does need we do need toraise our voice.
I have to do it to my kids toget their attention.
I can yell their names out or Ican call it hey, come here, hey
, come here, which they all havenicknames, and they won't
(34:00):
listen.
But once I get stern about it,then sometimes that's what it
takes to get their attention.
But that's the exception.
How often did Jesus say bringthe little ones to me, and he
loved them.
He wasn't yelling, he wasn'tbehind a pulpit, he wasn't in
the temple.
None of those things.
(34:22):
Yeah, you know the picture thatwe always see when they paint
that kind of picture he'ssitting on a rock.
Yeah, he's just out in nature.
What we would be inconveniencedby, yeah, that's where out in
nature.
What we would be inconveniencedby, that's where Jesus was
Right, right, the woman at thewell.
She was going to get some water.
(34:46):
For all intents and purposes,jesus and the disciples could
have been going to get somewater.
That was an inconvenient time.
I believe the Bible says that hesaid I must needs go through
Samaria, which was out of theway.
(35:07):
The Gentiles and the Jews didnot get along.
They were still separated atthat time.
He went out of his way for thatRight.
She had five husbands and if itwas us, we would have treated
that situation a lot different.
Yeah, jesus treated her withlove and compassion.
(35:30):
The woman that was caught inadultery, the leprous men.
Jesus didn't walk away fromthem.
He didn't treat them any lessthan he loved them.
He cared for them.
He took the time to talk tothem.
He witnessed Zacchaeus the taxcollector.
(35:58):
We would, christian, cuss himout for being a cheater, for
taking advantage of all thepeople, for stealing from our
paychecks.
Yeah, but what did Jesus do?
Speaker 1 (36:12):
he said but what?
Speaker 2 (36:16):
did Jesus do?
He said hey, I see you up therein the tree.
Let's go eat lunch, let's goeat dinner, whatever meal it was
.
He said I'm headed to yourhouse today and it changed him.
If it was us, would we havewalked by and yelled at him for
(36:41):
being a cheater, for being alowlife, for taking from us and
I hope you get saved so youdon't die in rotten hell, yeah?
Or would we have welcomed himand said, hey, let's talk a
little bit.
There are times for preaching,there is time for raising our
voices, but how many times do weneed to be bold?
(37:03):
We need to be bold, we need tobe brave, right, and we need to
be firm in our faith.
Yet we also need to love and behumble, yeah, yet we also need
to love and be humble.
Yelling at people that they'rea bunch of evil, wicked,
self-centered, spoiled Gen Zersand millennials and you're going
(37:24):
to die in rotten hell.
It's not working, right, mostof the time it's not going to
work.
I don't like scare tactics.
99% of the time this is mystatistical point on it Could be
(37:45):
more, could be less, but itjust results in hate being
spewed from both sides, right,and people leaving upset at the
others.
We've all seen it Video.
You can't do anything anymoreand it not be on video.
Yeah, it just causes division.
(38:05):
Yet you see those videos ofpeople sitting around talking
and it does get heated and theydo raise their voices at times,
but they're civil about it.
That's so much greater of awitness when you can be civil
and talk to them, listen to whatthey have to say outside of the
(38:30):
church.
When it inconveniences you,take time for them, brother John
.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Well, you know, if I tell someone that Jesus loves
them, that they must accept himas their savior, but then treat
others around them, or even them, like dirt, then I'm not going
to be successful in winning themto Christ around their circles.
(38:56):
And how you treat people aroundtheir circles says a lot about
you and will say a lot more tothat person that you're trying
to win to Christ than you think.
If I tell someone of the gospelof Christ but I appear to be
upset, moody, depressed, I'mgoing to have a difficulty
portraying the gospel correctly.
You know, I think about this isa very generic.
I wrote this down.
It's a very generic.
It's not obviously not.
(39:19):
I'm not telling you to be fake,but if you think of like
car-to-car salesmen ordoor-to-door salesmen,
car-to-car salesmen, car-to-carCar salesmen or door-to-door
salesmen, it's a mix-up.
See, there's our first blooper.
There We've actually donereally good.
We're almost done with theepisode.
I want a blooper Car salesman,door-to-door salesman, like you.
Think of those people and theyappear to be genuinely happy or
(39:46):
genuinely convinced, and they'reso convinced that they convince
you to accept whatever it is.
And I'm not saying be fake, I'mnot saying being disingenuine,
but I am saying if you're trulysaved and you're truly convinced
of the power and theeffectiveness of the gospel of
(40:09):
Jesus Christ, then you should beconvincing to others as well.
Your lifestyle should beconvincing to those that are
around you that Jesus Christ isthe way, the truth and the life.
But if you do other things, ifyou have a portrayal of someone
who's lost and then try to winsomeone to Christ, it's not
going to work.
(40:30):
Stop treating witnessing likeit's a one-time or scheduled
occurrence.
Treat it as a way and a part ofand a way of your life and
everything that you do.
Even when you're not saying thewords Jesus loves you to
everyone Even when you're nottelling everyone and their
mother about the gospel of Jesus, your life should portray
(40:52):
someone who has been changed,someone who has been helped,
someone who has been delivered.
That's how you should portrayyourself in everything that you
do.
I've seen a lot of Christiansout there that portray
themselves very, very poorly.
Unbelievers act better thanbelievers, and shame on us for
it.
Shame on you for it.
(41:13):
You should portray your life insuch a way that it shows
everyone your actions arespeaking even louder than your
words are.
Brother Sean, look foropportunities to shine your
light everywhere, not justduring scheduled events.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Going back to the witness the definition.
I'll read it one more time.
Going back to the witness, thedefinition, I'll read it one
more time having knowledge of anevent or change from personal
observation and experience.
So when we go out, whether it'sinconvenient or not, we need to
(41:52):
show the love of Christ we havethe personal experience.
We need to show the love ofChrist, right, we have the
personal experience.
Jesus Christ changed our lives,yeah, and we need to be able to
show it to the world.
Yeah, and portray the love ofJesus Christ that he gave to us.
Yeah, he did it for us eventhough he didn't have to.
(42:17):
We've got the love of Christ inour heart and it's time now, as
Christians, that we portray itto the world.
Thank you all for listeningtoday.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
Yes, yes, we're within 45 minutes, so we're
right on time for our podcast.
I didn't think it was possibledoing a live podcast.
We want to thank you.
I've been kind of keeping upwith the different comments and
the viewers.
Thank you so much for watching.
Thank you for listening.
We pray that it's helped you.
Please, please, please, go backand listen to those other
episodes.
We've got a plethora Is thatthe right word?
(42:46):
We've got a ton of episodes Ithink that was the right word.
We've got a ton of episodes inour library discussing different
things that you can do as aChristian to help in your
Christian walk.
But we do have several episodesabout witnessing, how to
portray the fruit of the spirit,et cetera.
Please go back and listen tothose episodes.
You can find them on thepodcast platform of your choice
(43:06):
by searching the Every in DayChristian podcast.
Every in Day are two separatewords, and also we've got a
little ticker at the bottom ofthe screen here.
You can find us on Facebook,twitter or yeah, you can find us
on Twitter, tiktok, all the T's, I think Instagram, twitch, by
searching at podcast4him.
That's at podcast4him, and Godbless, and we hope to see you
(43:28):
again soon, thank you, thank you.
Hey everybody.
You're listening to theEveryday Christian Podcast where
we apply scriptural principlesto everyday Christian lives.
I'm John.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Rich and I'm Sean Sloggett, and today we are going
to be talking about how are youportrayed as a witness?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
You know it is our very first live podcast with
just Sean and I.
I think Gabe and I did maybeone or two, so we're not really
used to a lot of this, notreally custom to a lot of what's
going on.
You're probably going to seesome glitchy video hopefully not
as glitchy, but we will uploadthe podcast tomorrow for you to
(00:33):
listen to, if you can't listento it quite in this episode here
.
But we are coming to you livefirst time ever.
I wanted to tell you where youcan find us before we get into
the episode.
You can find us on Facebook,instagram, tiktok by searching
at podcast4him.
You'll see the ticker at thebottom of the screen.
That's at podcast, the number4him, and you can find us on the
(00:55):
podcast platform of your choice.
Again, this episode is going tobe available tomorrow by
searching the Everyday ChristianPodcast.
So, brother Sean, let's jumpright into the episode here
today, brother.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Sean, Before we jump in I will say you're probably
going to hear us mess up, laugh.
Cut a couple little jokes, youget the inside look of how the
podcast really is.
Yeah, Brother Sean, you knowyou guys may hear a 45-minute
podcast, but we're here for twohours.
There's a lot of editing thatgoes into this.
So if there are any mistakes oranything, just bear with us.
(01:25):
Enjoy it with us, I guess.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
And if you have any comments, questions, concern, we
can see them during the liveepisode here.
So please let us know, and ifwe can't get to them during the
episode, then we for sure willget to them after the episode.
Brother Sean, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
So we will be talking about how are you portrayed as
a witness.
A lot of times when you thinkof a witness, as far as you know
, from the outside side of it,you know you think of going
before a judge and a jury andyou've got somebody going up to
the stand.
A lot of times it's alwaysfocused on who's on trial, not
(02:06):
on the witness.
But today we're going to flipit around a little bit and we're
going to talk about the witness.
So a witness, you know, if youlook at the definition of it,
there's nouns, verbs, differenttypes of it, obviously, but the
verb definition of a witness isto see an event take place or
(02:27):
have knowledge of an event orchange from personal observation
and experience.
So actually being there andbeing a witness, it is something
that we should hopefully haveknowledge of.
You know that event or thatchange has been a salvation that
(02:53):
we've received in theexperience of Jesus Christ
coming into our heart and uswanting to share it with those
around us.
So again, I'm going to flip itaround a little bit.
We're not looking at who's ontrial Now, we're looking at us
as the witness.
It around a little bit.
We're not looking at who's ontrial.
Now we're looking at us as thewitness.
I'd like to start out with whoor what are you being a witness
about?
You know, the obvious answer tothis is Jesus Christ, the one
(03:22):
who died to save us from oursins.
But a lot of times I think wekind of get a little mixed up
with that, where it's more aboutour church, our pastor, our
denomination or something likethat, brother John, and we have
to be careful with these kind ofthings.
(03:43):
Are we being honest when we sayit's about Jesus Christ?
Yeah, if you love your pastor,that is amazing.
That is a very good thing.
It's great to have a wonderfulpastor, one who loves you, one
that you love, one that you canconfide in, one that you can go
talk to.
I'm all for it.
But are we trying to do it forour pastor?
(04:05):
Are we witnessing for JesusChrist?
You should again go to a churchwhere you love the congregation
, where they are doing outreach,where you can get in in the
services, where you can get helpspiritually, whether it's
shouting in the pews or justhearing a word from God,
whatever those cases may be.
(04:26):
But you need those kind ofchurches.
But again, when I look back orwhen we pull back a little bit.
Are you being a witness forJesus Christ?
Or are you being a witness tosay, hey, come to my church, my
church is such and such and youwould really enjoy it there.
You know when people invite you, I've invited people to my
(04:48):
church, but if they choose notto go to my church, I'm not
going to be heard about it.
Come visit my church and seeabout it, right.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
You know it is crazy too If you think about being a
witness and I'm glad you havethat in your notes, because I
have something very similar inmy notes um, about you know what
we think of when we think ofthe word witnessing and I I
think I wrote it in ourdescription, but it's literally
a buzzword that is used inchurches and, whether you
(05:21):
believe it or not, portray it ornot whatever witnessing is much
more than just inviting someoneto your church.
It's much more than justtelling someone about your
pastor.
When I think of witnessing, Ithink of someone who is going
out of their way to share thegospel with someone, someone who
is compelled to share the goodnews of what Jesus did for them
(05:45):
to someone who has never heardit before, maybe someone who
needs to hear it again.
But oftentimes, what we thinkof when we think of witnessing
we think of street preachers orevangelists, we think of
ministers or missionaries thatare going out to be a witness as
being the prime members who doit, and we think of that being
(06:08):
the who behind the witness.
And then, when we think of thehow behind the witness, we think
of you know, I was studying forthis and like putting this
together, thinking of like,different ways that we witness
or different things that we doto witness.
So when I think of like how dowe witness, oftentimes we think
of approaching someone that wedo to witness.
So when I think of like how dowe witness, oftentimes we think
of approaching someone that weknow, or maybe we don't know, to
(06:29):
share the gospel.
We think of passing out a trackto someone, we think of
preaching at church or on thestreets, but oftentimes we don't
think of witnessing, being as awitness as Christ's followers
in the Bible did it.
We think of witnessing as ourchurch culture of today sees it
(06:51):
and does it, or in most cases,brother Sean, doesn't do it.
Witnessing is more than just hey, you know, I go to a great
church.
We've got all these amazingthings.
Look, your church is wonderful.
Your church, you know, I'm gladyou go to a good church.
That's great.
Your church, your church iswonderful, I'm glad you go to a
good church, that's great.
Your church is not the gospel,where you attend Sunday school,
your youth pastor, your pastor,your associate pastor, the music
(07:15):
, all those things.
They are not the gospel ofJesus Christ.
And so to be a witness isnumber one, and you'll probably
go over this, but you alreadytouched up on it.
To be a witness means I havewitnessed something in my life,
I have experienced Jesus Christ,and to share that gospel or to
be a testimony of that, issomething that all of us
(07:38):
Christians should do or striveto do.
And what I think about you knowwhen it comes to being a
witness to do, and what I thinkabout you know when it comes to
being a witness testifying, etc.
I often think about when I wasfirst saved, brother Sean,
because when I was first saved Iwanted to tell everybody about
(07:58):
Jesus.
I want to tell everyone aboutthe good things that he did for
me.
But it seems like I've beensaved 17.
Someone asked me today how longhave you been saved?
I've been saved 17 years and itseems like the more and more
you know life goes on.
You know I'm married now, I'vegot kids now, I've got a job
that's full-time, I've got twoor three jobs that are
essentially full-time, and soI've got all these things going
(08:18):
on and it seems like the moreand more, the older I get, the
more life tries to pull me awayfrom that.
Central focus of my purpose inthis life is to tell someone
about the good news of JesusChrist.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I'm going to back up a little bit, go back to the
inviting them to the church part, and some of you guys will get
where I'm going with this andI'll catch back up to Jonathan
here in a second, invitingsomebody to come to your church.
Again, I want you to go to achurch where you feel like you
(08:58):
can invite a sinner to come.
There is a sinner needs to beable to come to a church and
feel comfortable.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Yeah, and this has come up here too many times and
we're going to get in a lot oftrouble already for saying that
again in this episode.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
That's okay, but I'm going to say it A sinner should
feel comfortable in the churchhouse, according to how we as
people think and feel.
If you cannot and this is partof what I mean here, because
I've seen this happen inchurches and if we're all
(09:39):
completely honest not just me,we've been part of the problem
before yeah, a sinner shouldfeel comfortable.
You should be able to go up tothem and say hey, my name is
Sean Sloggett, I'm a part ofthis church.
Thank you for coming today.
Oh, you have three kids.
(10:02):
How old are they?
Would they like to go to Sundayschool?
Let me show you go to Sundayschool.
Let me show you where theSunday school classes are.
If you feel comfortable themgoing in there, they are more
than welcome to stay.
If not, we understand theyshould feel comfortable.
(10:23):
A lot and some of these thingswe take for granted.
Somebody new comes into yourchurch.
They may not know where therestrooms are.
It's very basic, but they'venever stepped foot in this
building before.
We've all had a stranger comeinto our church and ask where
the restrooms are.
Hey, if you need it, they'reover here.
(10:43):
We should be able to make themfeel comfortable, right, and let
the Holy Ghost, convict them.
Yeah, that's where theuncomfortable part should come
in.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
And let me interject something real fast.
I know you're on a roll here,but that's exactly the episode
two episodes ago.
That's exactly what I wastalking about People freaked out
over.
Well, we shouldn't make peoplefeel comfortable because the
Christians of the Bible didn'tfeel comfortable.
Yada, yada, yada.
Listen, that is exactly whatI'm talking about.
It's not my job to make someonefeel convicted or uncomfortable
(11:16):
.
It's my job to shine the lightof Christ on them inside of
church and outside.
We're going to get to theoutside portion of it, but
inside of the church they shouldfeel comfortable, welcome,
loved, cared about.
They should have peace.
They shouldn't feel all eyeswatching them.
They shouldn't feel likethey're ridiculed.
They shouldn't feel like peopleare judging me with their eyes.
(11:40):
They should feel loved, cared,and I'm not saying accept their
sin, but accept them, brotherSean sorry I had to interject
something there.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That's absolutely right.
I mean, if we go into arestaurant, we expect whoever
works there to make sure we arecomfortable, taken care of.
Do you need a refill?
Let me get you a refill.
Let me get that plate out ofyour way.
Do you need a refill?
Let me get you a refill.
Let me get that plate out ofyour way.
Would you like an appetizer?
We expect them to make us feelcomfortable.
(12:12):
So why is it that when somebodynew comes into our church, we
can't make them feel comfortable?
Shame on me, shame on me, shameon us.
When we cannot make somebodyfeel comfortable for coming into
the house of God, right, weneed to make them feel
(12:36):
comfortable.
Yeah, now the Lord can use theHoly Ghost.
Can use somebody, right, or hecan speak through somebody to
convict them.
I'm not saying that it has to bethe Holy Ghost can use somebody
, or he can speak throughsomebody to convict them.
I'm not saying that it has tobe the Holy Ghost coming down
and dealing with them on apersonal level.
He can speak through somebody,but more often than not, we
(12:58):
probably miss it because we seethat they're covered in tattoos
or they've got multiplepiercings or whatever the case
may be that we automaticallyknow that they're lost.
Maybe they are, but maybe theygot saved last week also and
they don't know any better.
(13:18):
They showed up still with theirearrings in because they
haven't learned.
They showed up still with theirearrings in because they
haven't learned.
Maybe those tattoos are stillshowing because all they had
this week was the T-shirt thatthey're staying in the hotel.
I understand I've talked tothese kind of people before they
(13:43):
only have two changes ofclothes, and the shirt that they
wore this morning to Sundayschool is a lot better than the
one they could have picked out.
They need to be comfortable andlet the Holy Ghost deal with
them.
When it comes to thedenominations, I don't care as
(14:04):
much as most people do.
I don't either.
If we're genuinely honest, I'llsay it this way I have some
very big issues with a lot, andmost denominations yeah, but a
lot of them are sincere also.
(14:25):
You and I both.
If we sat down and studied, wecan find a flaw in every single
denomination, pentecostalholiness included.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I thought you were going to say especially All
right, sorry, I'm teasing.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
However I'm teasing, we're not perfect either.
Right, we want to act a lot oftimes like we are, and we're not
.
We get things wrong.
Also, I want to be a witnessabout Jesus Christ, not about my
pastor, not about my church andnot about my pastor, not about
(15:07):
my church and not about holiness.
Jesus Christ was the one thatdied for my sins.
He was the one that paid theprice.
He was the one that came tothis earth and suffered and died
.
He bled on the cross so that Imay be free.
Nobody else, nothing else.
(15:30):
It doesn't matter who it iswhat we think it is.
Is it Jesus Christ?
Who or what are we witnessingabout?
Our primary focus needs to beof Jesus Christ, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Brother John, you know, witnessing has to become
more of an act, more than justan act.
It has to become a lifestyle.
It has to become more than justa series of events.
It needs to become a way oflife.
It needs to become more thanjust a scheduled moment, not
just in the church.
It needs to be unscheduledevents.
(16:11):
And there's a reason for allthat.
There's a reason why we don'tdo a lot of that.
There's a reason why the onlytime that we witness is when we
are with church members or whenwe are a part of some outreach
program, and that reason is mostof the time.
You need time to get your gameface on.
You need time to prepareyourself to look and act like
(16:32):
someone who shares the gospel.
You need time and planning toput on a fake smile and to look
the part, brother Sean.
That's why it's easy to do itin the church house, and not
outside.
Yeah, you know when I think ofthis another buzz we're talking
about buzzwords, but another onethat we use thinking about this
is outreach.
It's a modern word that we useto portray that our church is a
(16:53):
witness for Christ and, by theway, the majority of the
outreach programs that you doare good.
Like I'm not taking anythingaway from that.
I don't want you to think thatwith this episode and most of
them are not all bad, some ofthem are very, very good the
problem is is that we useoutreach as our only means of
being a witness of Christ orpreaching the gospel of Christ
(17:15):
or sharing the gospel of Christ.
We use scheduled events as ouronly means of witnessing.
I know what some of you arethinking and I've heard this
excuse millions of times in thelast couple of years, but
specifically the last couple ofweeks.
Well, no one in my circle hastaught or preached that, or I've
never heard of that and maybenot, but you have witnessed it
(17:36):
and you have seen it with yourown eyes and you've done it with
your own life sure has lost thedesire to share the gospel so
badly that they use differentthings that they do for the
church to impress the pastor asa way of justifying it.
Well, if I help cook food forcamp service, then in a way I'm
sharing the gospel.
(17:57):
I'll make sure our camerastayed going.
Okay, it did.
We see the camera going off onour thing here.
It's good.
Well, if I cook food for campservice, then in a way I'm
sharing the gospel.
Well, if I serve drinks atSunday dinner, then I am being a
witness for Christ.
Look, doing that at your homechurch is great.
I don't want to take anythingaway from that.
(18:18):
Doing those things is neededfor the body of Christ and it's
helpful.
Doing those things can be asmall part of a greater work and
witness and praise God for it.
We need people in church to dothe small things.
We need people in church to dothe medium things.
We need people in church to dothe large things.
We all work together toaccomplish goals, but don't use
that as a cover, all reason, asan excuse for being a witness.
(18:41):
Witnessing is so much more thanjust that, brother Sean Witness
.
Witnessing is so much more thanjust that, brother Sean.
Witnessing is more than justthe little things that I can do
so that Pastor so-and-so sees meas a strong Christian, or well,
that brother over there reallyhelps a lot, or that sister over
there really does a lot overhere.
It's all great.
It's all grand, it's allwonderful.
(19:02):
What about sharing the gospelof Jesus Christ and doing it
correctly, brother Sean?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
My next point how are you witnessing?
There you go.
All of us, as Christians,should want to witness to those
around us.
We have all heard the termsfirst impressions and actions
speak louder than words.
So, as a Christian, what areyour first impressions leaving?
(19:30):
Yeah, what are your actions?
Speaking about you, I can claimto be a Christian all day long,
but how am I showing it?
How am I presenting it?
Yeah, just because we wear longsleeve shirts, just because we
wear skirts down to the floor,just because we do all these
(19:52):
things, does not mean we'reChristians.
If we're being fair, gypsieswear their skirts down to the
floor.
Yeah, it's just a look.
Yeah, it's just a look.
I'm not saying I'm not going toget into the modest, immodest
(20:13):
debate right now, but what areyou leaving with them?
Sure, look has a lot to do withit.
Are you well put together?
That is a first impression.
If you come in looking rough,it's probably not going to be a
good first impression.
I understand that side of it,but our presentation, along with
(20:39):
our actions, needs to be partof it.
I was at not just me, but therewas several of us.
It's been a few weeks back, butthere was a Chili's, a new
Chili's that had opened up SanSprings.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Oklahoma, in San Springs, oklahoma, the bomb the
best restaurant around, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
And we called them and asked them if they could
handle about 40 people comingfrom a service I think it was a
Friday night and they told usyeah, bring it on.
So we got there and there wastwo men that ended up working
for us they ended up beingbrothers Walked in, started
talking to him like man, I knowthis is a lot which we had
called ahead.
I was like, hey, we, you know,we called about this and he's no
(21:22):
problem, we'll get you takencare of Very, very great.
And he's no problem, we'll getyou taken care of Very, very
great.
But at the end of it, aseverybody was leaving, I went
over and just, hey, man, I knowwe probably messed your night up
with all 40 or whatever theexact number ended up being.
That was a lot.
And of course, he said, no, nobig deal, you guys weren't bad,
(21:45):
you were easy.
And he said let me ask you aquestion, shoot, man.
And he said I assume you're aChristian of some type.
And I was like absolutely yeah.
So I started talking to him alittle bit about it and he said
I used to work.
And he named another locationthat was maybe 30, 40 minutes
from here, and he said there wasa group of people that came in
(22:09):
that was a lot like you guys andhe said I'm almost always
impressed by you.
He said I think your holinessor something.
And I was like, yeah, I am.
He said most of the time, I'mvery impressed by you guys.
He said your kids are verywell-mannered, which I don't
(22:32):
know what he was looking at thatnight, but it wasn't my kids.
He said your kids are alwayswell-mannered, please, thank you
.
No, sir, yes, sir.
He said they're not getting uprunning all over the restaurant.
He said your group, you guys,again, your large group.
He said everybody was sorespectful.
(22:52):
I came over there.
He would come over there to getplates out of the way and most,
if not all, of us would have astack of plates in the middle,
Like we weren't just leavingeverything strung out.
And he said man, that just sayssomething about you guys.
And I'm like, yeah, I'm awitness, I didn't have to say
(23:15):
much.
But our small actions, yes,words were involved.
Our first impression, Ihonestly believe, was a great
first impression.
Yeah, we called ahead, walkedin.
Hey, you know, I understandthis is going to be trouble and
they.
Well, can you please give us 10minutes to put tables.
(23:36):
Absolutely, you know we'reinconveniencing you more than,
yeah, I know people and youprobably do too that would have
walked in there, got upset, madesome form of a scene and walked
out.
Right Now, when you claim to bea Christian and they see those
(24:02):
type of things and then you havethat kind of attitude, what
does that say to them?
You're right, yeah.
What kind of example are weputting out as a witness going
back, someone who saw or hasknowledge of an event?
Or change from personalobservation and experience?
(24:24):
Yeah, or change from personalobservation and experience?
I am saying that I, frompersonal experience, am a
changed man, and then I showhatred, disgust, irritation, and
we're all human.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
We mess up.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I'm not saying that we have to be perfect, we need
to strive towards it, but allthey see is just these degrading
things.
And then we think I'm beinghonest here If I saw something
like that, I'd be like man.
I don't want to have anythingto do with them.
Right, they look more miserablethan I am.
(25:01):
Yeah, I am a believer inshowing the love of Christ.
Yeah, yeah, being a witness alot of times, if not every time,
starts with that.
And I tell my youth group,every time we get in the van and
(25:21):
I think I've mentioned thisbefore to go somewhere, before
we get out, I say hey, everybody, I need you to listen.
You are representing me tonightbecause I have you in my van.
You are representing yourchurch, you are representing
your pastor, but most of all,you're representing Jesus Christ
(25:47):
.
And on more than one occasionhave I had people come up to me
and commend the youth group,saying I don't know what
denomination you are or I don'tknow anything about you, but
your group was amazing.
When somebody says that to me,I say let me tell you about my
(26:10):
youth group.
We're Christians.
Let me tell you a little bitabout my Jesus and what he does.
I watched.
I'll say this and I'll letBrother John take it.
I watched a video of a man andsome of you guys have probably
seen him before he goes aroundand he will ask people you know,
(26:31):
for $5, can you name a Bibleverse?
Or for $20, can you name aBible verse?
Or for $20, can you name aBible verse, or whatever.
And there was this one lady inparticular that looked nothing
like us.
From all indications she wasnot a Christian and she quoted
(26:53):
John 3.16 immediately and hesaid wow, you know, that's
amazing.
And she told him.
She said I used to go to achurch.
I went, but she had pulled awayfrom it.
(27:13):
And he started talking to her,not preaching at her, not
yelling at her.
He just encouraged her to goback and restudy it, go back and
(27:33):
look at some of these things.
And she, if I remember right,she told him I think I will
Instead of just for lack ofbetter terms attacking her for
not being a believer.
Now, he just spent a coupleminutes talking with her and I
believe it made all thedifference in the world to her.
(27:59):
And it may have a chance to saveher, because somebody went out
of their way to talk with her.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Yeah, brother Sean, for those listening, if you're a
first-time listener, youhaven't really heard the
episodes before.
We encourage you to listen tothe episodes.
I've got like I think this isour 83rd or 84th episode called
the Everyday Christian Podcast.
Find us on the podcast platformof your choice.
But I say that I had to put mylittle two cents in there.
(28:28):
But I say that because BrotherSean and I don't really compare
notes.
Like we sort of pick a topic,we get the general theme of the
topic and then we just sort ofprepare our own notes and come
in with.
You know, most of the timewe're on the same level and same
mindset, so this is really good.
(28:48):
I love that he shared thisbecause this is what I wrote.
It says witnessing is having aheart and mind that is willing
to share the gospel of Christ atany moment, while
simultaneously having alifestyle and portrayal of
someone who has received thegospel of Christ, and there's a
reason why those two things gohand in hand.
You know I talked about otherepisodes and we've covered a lot
(29:09):
on this episode, but there's anepisode called is, speaking in
tongues, greater than the fruitof the spirit.
Go back and listen to thatepisode, but I'll share a little
bit of that here, and that isthis your actions and words must
match.
I get we have slip ups.
I get we make mistakes.
I get we say things that weshouldn't say and act ways that
(29:29):
we shouldn't act.
I get that we cut people off onthe road.
I get that we get frustratedwith waiters and waitresses, but
it's interesting how quicklyour mode changes when the
scheduled time for witnessing isover.
I use PB&J as an example PeanutButter and Jesus.
Wonderful ministry that we have.
But in all actuality it's ascheduled event.
(29:49):
Great ministry, wonderful.
The way they do it is justright.
I think they've done it forlike I don't know three or four
years Every Saturday for likethree or four years.
It's an awesome ministry.
That's just here, though, Imean it's.
Yeah, it's just a local ministryhere, but just take that
ministry, for example, and let'sjust say there are several.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
There are several PB&Js.
The original one, I think, hasbeen going on.
Yeah, for like seven or eightyears maybe longer, I think
around eight or so.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
We'll see if Todd Sluggett's watching.
He's not.
But that group goes out everySaturday to feed those that are
hungry, pray for those that aresick, share the gospel to those
that need to hear it, and it's awonderful ministry.
But let's just say I, forexample, am wanting to help that
ministry one Saturday a month.
Let's just say I, for example,am wanting to help that ministry
one Saturday a month, so I goand help make sandwiches, pack
lunches, and then I go and takethem to impoverished
(30:38):
neighborhoods and feed thehungry, pray for the sick, etc.
I do it all within a time frameof four hours, four hours once
a month.
Is it a good thing?
Yes, is it a great thing?
Yes, but it's not my only meansof being a witness, preaching
the gospel or even testifying.
It goes much deeper than that,brother Sean, and something that
you touched on that is justcoinciding with my notes here is
(31:02):
your actions speak louder thanyour words.
You know one famous quote thatI always share.
I've probably shared it on herebefore.
It says your actions are soloud I can't even hear what
you're saying.
Don't tell me you love the lostbut then treat them like trash
when you aren't within youroutreach group.
(31:23):
Don't tell me that you love thelost when you have done nothing
to research and understandtheir cultures.
Jesus loves you.
In an angry voice, you're goingto hell in an angry voice.
That's not a proper andeffective way of sharing the
(31:44):
gospel.
Is it a way that some peoplebelieve you can share the gospel
?
Sure, is it always an effectiveway?
I don't believe that.
It is because of your attitudebehind it.
When you have an attitude thatbetrays, I hate the individual
I'm talking to, but my words sayI love them.
What are they going to listento?
They're not going to listen toyour words, they're going to
listen to your attitude.
(32:05):
Witnessing is having it hard inmind.
I'm going to say it again thatis willing to share the gospel
of Christ at any moment whilesimultaneously having a
lifestyle and portrayal ofsomeone who has received the
gospel of Christ.
And the issue with the churchSean, I know you're like a dog.
I'm holding on to him here.
(32:26):
Man, he's ready to let loose.
But the issue with the churchis that we either have one of
those things or none of thosethings.
Have one of those things ornone of those things, we either
don't do any type of witnessingor preaching the gospel, not
just from a corporate body butas individuals.
Or we do witness, but outsideof those moments of witnessing
we do not display a life that isChrist-like, or we display a
(32:47):
life that is Christ-like but wedo not do any sort of witnessing
or preaching of the gospel.
And it's a rarity to see allthree.
But it is a recipe for successin winning men and women to
Christ.
Brother Sean, Scroll back up alittle bit.
Yeah, you can't look at mynotes?
What are you doing here?
Read that line again.
Don't tell me you love the lostbut treat them like trash when
(33:10):
you aren't with your outreachgroup, but treat them like trash
when you aren't with youroutreach group.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
I have heard, and we've all heard, the comment
about Jesus flipping the tablesin the temple.
Yeah, so well, jesus was angry.
Jesus did these things.
Most of the time they'rekidding and I understand that.
We take it as a joke, but I seethat as an exception.
(33:38):
We use that as an excuse to getangry or to raise our voice or
all these different things, andsometimes I believe that our
voice does need we do need toraise our voice.
I have to do it to my kids toget their attention.
I can yell their names out or Ican call it hey, come here, hey
, come here, which they all havenicknames, and they won't
(34:00):
listen.
But once I get stern about it,then sometimes that's what it
takes to get their attention.
But that's the exception.
How often did Jesus say bringthe little ones to me, and he
loved them.
He wasn't yelling, he wasn'tbehind a pulpit, he wasn't in
the temple.
None of those things.
(34:22):
Yeah, you know the picture thatwe always see when they paint
that kind of picture he'ssitting on a rock.
Yeah, he's just out in nature.
What we would be inconveniencedby, yeah, that's where out in
nature.
What we would be inconveniencedby, that's where Jesus was
Right, right, the woman at thewell.
She was going to get some water.
(34:46):
For all intents and purposes,jesus and the disciples could
have been going to get somewater.
That was an inconvenient time.
I believe the Bible says that hesaid I must needs go through
Samaria, which was out of theway.
(35:07):
The Gentiles and the Jews didnot get along.
They were still separated atthat time.
He went out of his way for thatRight.
She had five husbands and if itwas us, we would have treated
that situation a lot different.
Yeah, jesus treated her withlove and compassion.
(35:30):
The woman that was caught inadultery, the leprous men.
Jesus didn't walk away fromthem.
He didn't treat them any lessthan he loved them.
He cared for them.
He took the time to talk tothem.
He witnessed Zacchaeus the taxcollector.
(35:58):
We would, christian, cuss himout for being a cheater, for
taking advantage of all thepeople, for stealing from our
paychecks.
Yeah, but what did Jesus do?
Speaker 1 (36:12):
he said but what?
Speaker 2 (36:16):
did Jesus do?
He said hey, I see you up therein the tree.
Let's go eat lunch, let's goeat dinner, whatever meal it was
.
He said I'm headed to yourhouse today and it changed him.
If it was us, would we havewalked by and yelled at him for
(36:41):
being a cheater, for being alowlife, for taking from us and
I hope you get saved so youdon't die in rotten hell, yeah?
Or would we have welcomed himand said, hey, let's talk a
little bit.
There are times for preaching,there is time for raising our
voices, but how many times do weneed to be bold?
(37:03):
We need to be bold, we need tobe brave, right, and we need to
be firm in our faith.
Yet we also need to love and behumble, yeah, yet we also need
to love and be humble.
Yelling at people that they'rea bunch of evil, wicked,
self-centered, spoiled Gen Zersand millennials and you're going
(37:24):
to die in rotten hell.
It's not working, right, mostof the time it's not going to
work.
I don't like scare tactics.
99% of the time this is mystatistical point on it Could be
(37:45):
more, could be less, but itjust results in hate being
spewed from both sides, right,and people leaving upset at the
others.
We've all seen it Video.
You can't do anything anymoreand it not be on video.
Yeah, it just causes division.
(38:05):
Yet you see those videos ofpeople sitting around talking
and it does get heated and theydo raise their voices at times,
but they're civil about it.
That's so much greater of awitness when you can be civil
and talk to them, listen to whatthey have to say outside of the
(38:30):
church.
When it inconveniences you,take time for them, brother John
.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Well, you know, if I tell someone that Jesus loves
them, that they must accept himas their savior, but then treat
others around them, or even them, like dirt, then I'm not going
to be successful in winning themto Christ around their circles.
(38:56):
And how you treat people aroundtheir circles says a lot about
you and will say a lot more tothat person that you're trying
to win to Christ than you think.
If I tell someone of the gospelof Christ but I appear to be
upset, moody, depressed, I'mgoing to have a difficulty
portraying the gospel correctly.
You know, I think about this isa very generic.
I wrote this down.
It's a very generic.
It's not obviously not.
(39:19):
I'm not telling you to be fake,but if you think of like
car-to-car salesmen ordoor-to-door salesmen,
car-to-car salesmen, car-to-carCar salesmen or door-to-door
salesmen, it's a mix-up.
See, there's our first blooper.
There We've actually donereally good.
We're almost done with theepisode.
I want a blooper Car salesman,door-to-door salesman, like you.
Think of those people and theyappear to be genuinely happy or
(39:46):
genuinely convinced, and they'reso convinced that they convince
you to accept whatever it is.
And I'm not saying be fake, I'mnot saying being disingenuine,
but I am saying if you're trulysaved and you're truly convinced
of the power and theeffectiveness of the gospel of
(40:09):
Jesus Christ, then you should beconvincing to others as well.
Your lifestyle should beconvincing to those that are
around you that Jesus Christ isthe way, the truth and the life.
But if you do other things, ifyou have a portrayal of someone
who's lost and then try to winsomeone to Christ, it's not
going to work.
(40:30):
Stop treating witnessing likeit's a one-time or scheduled
occurrence.
Treat it as a way and a part ofand a way of your life and
everything that you do.
Even when you're not saying thewords Jesus loves you to
everyone Even when you're nottelling everyone and their
mother about the gospel of Jesus, your life should portray
(40:52):
someone who has been changed,someone who has been helped,
someone who has been delivered.
That's how you should portrayyourself in everything that you
do.
I've seen a lot of Christiansout there that portray
themselves very, very poorly.
Unbelievers act better thanbelievers, and shame on us for
it.
Shame on you for it.
(41:13):
You should portray your life insuch a way that it shows
everyone your actions arespeaking even louder than your
words are.
Brother Sean, look foropportunities to shine your
light everywhere, not justduring scheduled events.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Going back to the witness the definition.
I'll read it one more time.
Going back to the witness, thedefinition, I'll read it one
more time having knowledge of anevent or change from personal
observation and experience.
So when we go out, whether it'sinconvenient or not, we need to
(41:52):
show the love of Christ we havethe personal experience.
We need to show the love ofChrist, right, we have the
personal experience.
Jesus Christ changed our lives,yeah, and we need to be able to
show it to the world.
Yeah, and portray the love ofJesus Christ that he gave to us.
Yeah, he did it for us eventhough he didn't have to.
(42:17):
We've got the love of Christ inour heart and it's time now, as
Christians, that we portray itto the world.
Thank you all for listeningtoday.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
Yes, yes, we're within 45 minutes, so we're
right on time for our podcast.
I didn't think it was possibledoing a live podcast.
We want to thank you.
I've been kind of keeping upwith the different comments and
the viewers.
Thank you so much for watching.
Thank you for listening.
We pray that it's helped you.
Please, please, please, go backand listen to those other
episodes.
We've got a plethora Is thatthe right word?
(42:46):
We've got a ton of episodes Ithink that was the right word.
We've got a ton of episodes inour library discussing different
things that you can do as aChristian to help in your
Christian walk.
But we do have several episodesabout witnessing, how to
portray the fruit of the spirit,et cetera.
Please go back and listen tothose episodes.
You can find them on thepodcast platform of your choice
(43:06):
by searching the Every in DayChristian podcast.
Every in Day are two separatewords, and also we've got a
little ticker at the bottom ofthe screen here.
You can find us on Facebook,twitter or yeah, you can find us
on Twitter, tiktok, all the T's, I think Instagram, twitch, by
searching at podcast4him.
That's at podcast4him, and Godbless, and we hope to see you
(43:28):
again soon, thank you, thank you.
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