“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,

Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

Acts 1:4 ¶ And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;

Acts 1:5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Ascension

Acts 1:6 ¶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Acts 1:7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (English Standard Version)

Recently, while preparing for a small group Bible study group meeting, I suddenly noticed the obvious. Jesus does not tell his disciples that they will witness. Rather, Jesus tells them that will be witnesses.

Now you might ask, “What is the difference?” I am so glad that I am writing this post, because I can anticipate questions that you may not even be asking. I HAVE THE POWER!

Of course, there may not actually be a difference. After all, a witness is a person who witnesses. Right?

Well, yes, but being a witness is more than simply something we do. Being a witness is something we are.

Think about it for a minute. Let’s say that you witness a crime. Does it matter the sort of person you are? You bet it does! If you are a person who is prone to exaggeration or who has any number of other problems or issues, that might get in the way of being a good witness. If a blind man says to the police, “I saw the whole thing, officer,” his testimony might not be very persuasive in a court of law.

Fundamentally, a witness must be an honest person, a careful observer, and not have a vested interest in giving a particular testimony about the matter at hand. Character matters. I think that many of us who name the name of Christ have forgotten that. I have often forgotten this myself. The saying that comes to mind is “Your life is screaming so loud that I can’t hear a word you’re saying.”

I have occasionally known people who didn’t need to say much about Jesus because they were consistently Christ-like. I haven’t known many folks like that. I have seldom been that person. But some people do exist.

Being Christ-like—also known as being witnesses to Christ—is not something we can do by our own willpower. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come upon the original disciples to give them the power to be his witnesses. I don’t think this promise was merely for them. Their experience of divine filling is a template and an exemplar for every generation and every person. To be witnesses we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we’ll be witnessing without being witnesses. And this would mean that we are not doing Jesus any favors. As a friend of mine said many decades ago, “The Christian life is awfully hard to live without God.”