outWORD by Matte Downey

When I was in Bible school, one of the required courses was Personal Evangelism. After weeks spent learning about the topic, we all clambered aboard a bus and travelled to a nearby city. Once there, we were split into teams of two and sent out on the cold streets to hand out tracts and talk to strangers about Jesus. It was awkward. I would rather poke myself with a fork than engage in forced, artificial encounters. So I told my partner that I was happy to do some silent praying in the background while he engaged people in conversation. Actually, "happy" is probably the wrong word there. More like distressed, anxious, even embarrassed. I felt sorry for the people we tried to engage and was very relieved when it was time to get back on the bus. Looking back, I realize that part of the problem with the evangelism course was that it focused almost exclusively on the act of witnessing and not on what it means to be a witness. In the Greek New Testament, the word  martus (wit...