If we are to be ‘fruitful on our frontlines’ (a phrase used by LICC in their ‘Imagine Church’ project), we need to see that our whole lives count for God and are to be used in our everyday witness.
Model godly character
God is interested in who we are, not just what we do! We need the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives: ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’ (Gal 5:22-23) Spiritual growth is essential to our witness, but this work is often unseen by us as God works deep within the roots of our lives.
Make good work
. Paul tells the Colossians ‘whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’ (Col 3:17)The quality of our work and our attitudes towards work are all part of our everyday witness.
Minister grace and love
God seeks us to receive His undeserved grace and favour and love and then pass it on! We are called to show grace and love to everyone, to reject the world’s ‘dog-eat-dog’ philosophy and to be merciful to others (see Matt 5:46-47). This makes an impression on people, who are unused to grace and mercy.
Mould culture
If we are serious about praying ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt 6:10), we will find we cannot go along with so much in our culture which shuns God’s ways of doing things and His values. Instead of simply saying ‘that’s the way we do things round here’, we find ourselves saying ‘what would Jesus do?’ and reacting accordingly.
Be a Mouthpiece for Truth and Justice
Moulding our culture often means taking a stand for what is right against all the many things that are wrong. God is a God of truth and justice; He is ‘a faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.’ (Deut 32:4) Moses told the people ‘Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.’ (Ex 23:2) Micah made it very clear that the requirements of God are ‘to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8) As we speak out for the underdog and become a mouthpiece for truth and justice, opportunities to explain why we say what we say and believe what we believe will come about.
Be A Messenger for the Gospel
We ask God for opportunities to explain the reason for the hope we have (1 Pet 3:15) and accept our God-calling as His ambassadors (see 2 Cor 5:17-21). We do so confident that God wants people to be saved (see 2 Pet 3:9) and that angels rejoice when they are! We can be utterly confident that God wants us to be messengers of the gospel. This is His plan for us all. Equally, however, we must be very aware that it is God who saves people, not us. The wonder of everyday evangelism is that He wants us to have a part in His great saving work. He allows us to become partners with Him: ‘as though God were making his appeal through us,’ Paul says. (2 Cor 5:20)