Can a Hypocrite Witness for Jesus?

"With my mouth I will give thanks to the Lord;

I will praise him in the midst of the throng.

For he stands at the right hand of the needy one."

Ps. 109: 30-31

I have probably heard at least 1000 times the following statement made by a believer in Christ,

"I do not feel comfortable telling people about what I believe.  I prefer to let my life witness for me."

Have you ever heard this excuse/reasoning?  Have you ever given it?  I am sure that all of us have.  It has been making the rounds in Christian circles since the time of Jesus.  Let's take a fresh look at this often accepted thought.

On the face of it, I completely agree.  If our life does not match our witness, then we are by definition a hypocrite.  Our life should be a witness.

Yet, to what are we witnessing?  

My life should reflect good Christian morality.  My life should reflect my relationship with Christ.

While I think these two statements should equate, I do not think they mean the same thing.  I believe that by making them the same, we have made witnessing about Jesus something to which almost no believer feels comfortable.

Why?

What about when we wake up on the wrong side of the bed and we snap at my family, have a bad day at work, or spend our time and energy belittling ourselves?  What about the awful muttering that we do under our breath?  What about our struggles with our "hidden hang-ups and sins"?

How can we witness to truth when our life is not really right?

I believe almost all of us feel these tensions.  We know we do not have it all together.  We have so many struggles.  So we reason that witnessing must be for people who have their life together better than we do.  Is there any wonder why the average PCUSA member invites some to church with him once every 17 years?  (An old statistic, but I am sure it remains true!)

Furthermore, what if we do live "good Christian morality?"  (However we define it)  My guess is that our co-workers, family, and friends will think that we are a great person.  They will think that we really have it all together.  They will think that we are dependable, solid, loving, ... you fill in the blank to what you think you should witness to.

Here's the rub.  Where is Jesus to these people in which we are witnessing?  They like us, but why would we assume they will make the connection that Jesus is the one who made us this way?  If we are honest, which we rarely are, we are witnessing more to our morality, our uprightness. and our way of life than to Jesus who transforms us.  

Furthermore, such thought has another negative consequence.  Since we are examples of good morality, we have to labor hard to maintain our reputation.  Boy do we labor.  We know our secrets and our struggles with living our faith.  If others knew these issues, they would reject our witness.  They would reject us.  They would know that we really don't have it all together and that our reputation is better than our reality.

The problem with maintaining our reputation is that we know intellectually that only the deluded and foolish think they have it all together.  Yet, when we equate our morality with our witness, we prove by our struggle to maintain our reputation that we are hypocrites.  Lord have mercy.

What can be done about this?  To what should we witness?

How about cutting through the hypocrisy of witnessing to and through our great (or not so great) morality?  Instead, we undercut the charge of hypocrisy by confessing and telling how much we need Jesus and how much grace He gives us daily.  We all need Jesus.  What would happen if we merely confessed this truth?

Something wonderful happens when we bring up the name of Jesus.  When we confess our need for Him and how He is our only hope, the Holy Spirit shows up to confirm what we are saying.

In my life I have proven this to be true time and time again.  When I confess my weakness, people listen to me because they have the same issues and problems. Somehow the Holy Spirit works through the confession of Jesus as our only hope to bring Him all the glory.

In other words, without mentioning Jesus we are not really witnessing about Jesus.  

Our life should reflect our relationship to Jesus.  Does yours illustrate your dependence upon Him?  The greatest sign of dependence is living real repentance and faith.  Real repentance means confessing your issues not hiding them.  The good news is that such a lifestyle undercuts our pride, illustrates our need for Jesus, and brings the blessings of the Holy Spirit to empower our witness for Jesus.