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2009-02-17 issue:

Waltner's assessment of the witness goal

by Sharon Waltner

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Is the Mennonite Church USA farther along in its goal of witness than it was six years ago, is it about the same, or has it backslid?

Witness is the essence of the Christian walk for all believers, and it’s one of four missional priorities Mennonite Church USA is committed to developing and nurturing between now and 2020. The missional paradigm moves us from a passive “sending” role to a position of empowerment as we are now “being sent” (Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America; edited by Darrell Guder).

We are making progress on this priority, even though it’s not something we can measure with numbers and charts. Congregations are embracing the idea that the church exists for the world rather than itself. People are learning that attending church is not about “What’s in it for me,” (WIIFM) but rather “How can I better learn to worship, witness, and serve others?” Our “missionaries” aren’t the only ones charged with witness. The rest of us in our jobs, relationships and church life are also called to be evidence of God’s kingdom here and now.

Congregations and conferences are increasingly committed to mending the gaps between evangelism and peace-justice—both of which are integral to our church’s collective witness. Some see these as opposing options, even pitted against each other for emphasis. The Executive Board feels this is a false dichotomy. These are not either/or choices but fully both/and opportunities.

Has the web of evangelism and peace-justice become seamless? I think we are making progress but I fear we still have a few areas needing generous applications of duct tape to hold this web together.

God so loved the world that he sent his only Son. This Son, our Savior, said, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21-22). Witness is not something we delegate to others. It doesn’t require educational degrees, theological training or technical skills. Witness is accepting the call to “being sent,” which is empowering. Our understanding and engagement with “being sent” should be as natural as breathing.

Several years ago, I noticed many people wearing WWJD accessories, begging the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” I now see fewer of them and notice thematic offshoots on stickers that question, “Who Would Jesus Bomb?” and “Who Would Jesus Kill?” Regardless of how one feels about the WWJD phenomenon, these letters pose a truly radical question at the core of our witness priority. What if we asked ourselves what Jesus might actually do in a given situation: Who would Jesus empower? How would Jesus evangelize? What action items would Jesus prioritize for our witness priority?

As a lay person, I affirm and celebrate the missional priority of witness. As a person in the pew engaged in denominational work, I invite and urge all to seek God’s guidance to be witnesses that live out and illuminate this witness priority, the most foundational of all our four priorities. We are not all called to be “missionaries” in the traditional sense of the word. We as Christians are, however, all “sent”. I cannot envision a greater example of radical and seamless witness.