Called to Share: Witnessing as Our Sacred Duty

God has saved us. He has blessed our lives, given us companions, and relieved us of the burden of sin. These are not small things. They are the defining realities of the Christian life. But with these blessings comes an obligation, a sacred duty that has been carried forward from the Day of Pentecost to the present hour: the duty to share this great gift with others.

As William Booth once warned, “Unless we send 10,000 missionaries to the Orient in my generation, we will send a million bayonets during the next.” The urgency of the Great Commission has never diminished. If anything, it has intensified.

The Gift Received

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”, Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

Salvation is a gift from God, not a reward for good behavior, not a wage for religious service, but a gift. It cannot be earned, and therefore it cannot be boasted in. It can only be received with humility and cherished with gratitude.

Paul declares the same truth from a different angle: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23, KJV). And he can barely contain his wonder at the scope of it: “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15, KJV).

We are, as Peter writes, “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9, KJV). We have been called out for a purpose, and that purpose includes declaration.

Empowered to Witness

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”, Acts 1:8 (KJV)

The Holy Spirit empowers us to be effective witnesses. This is not a suggestion but a promise, and a commission. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead now lives within every believer, equipping us to carry the gospel with boldness and clarity.

Paul himself modeled this: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16, KJV). And he testified that his ministry was not built on eloquence but on divine power: “My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4, KJV).

Consider the legacy of John Scudder, the first American medical missionary to go overseas. In 1819, he and his wife sailed for Ceylon, and from that single act of obedience, a family legacy was born. Nine of his ten children became foreign missionaries. By 1919, thirty-one descendants had served in India alone, and the combined missionary service of the Scudder family spans over 1,100 years across four generations. One family, empowered by the Spirit, changed a continent.

The Great Commission: Our Mission

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”, Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV)

As recipients of God’s ultimate gift, our mission is to make disciples. This is not optional. It is not a calling reserved for pastors and missionaries. It is the responsibility of every believer.

Mark records the same charge with even greater directness: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15, KJV). And Jesus Himself connects our mission to His own: “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21, KJV).

When someone once asked a missionary in Africa if he liked his work, the man replied with bracing honesty: “Do I like this work? No. My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonably refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into vile huts through goat refuse. But is a man to do nothing for Christ he does not like? God pity him, if not. Liking or disliking has nothing to do with it. We have orders to go, and we go. Love constrains us.”

That is the spirit of the Great Commission. It is not about comfort. It is about obedience.

The Call to Action

Today, I challenge each of you to identify at least one person you can witness to in the coming week. Not with clever arguments or rehearsed speeches, but with the simple testimony of what God has done in your life. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and it needs only to be spoken.

We have received a gift that is beyond measure. Let us not hoard it. Let us share it, boldly, faithfully, and without apology, until the uttermost parts of the earth have heard the name of Jesus Christ.

“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.”, Luke 24:47-48 (KJV)