Watchman
Watchman in the scriptures means “the one who looks out” or “the one who watches.” Their job was to keep watch and warn those in the city of impending threats and intruders. When a watchman would fail to warn the people, lives would be lost and a city would be captured or destroyed. The calling upon a Christian is to be a watchman. There is immense responsibility upon the Christian who is called to watch and warn people of their impending demise.
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.” (Ezekiel 3:17-18)
Ezekiel Chapter 3 changed my life. Essentially what God was saying was that if I open my mouth and warn the people, I’ve done my job as a watchman, but if I don’t warn the people, their blood will be my responsibility.
Upon salvation, we’ve been given the greatest gift, the gift to be one with God now and for all of eternity. Outside of salvation, our final destination was the scorching flames of Hell where the worm does not die and will feast on our flesh for all of eternity without repentance.
“Would that God would make hell so real to us that we cannot rest; Heaven so real that we must have men there.” (Hudson Taylor)
This morning, I was walking out of McDonald’s and I felt the conviction to go back inside and give a 30 second witness. There are at least two things that happen when you submit to being a watchman:
You become more bold. The moment you step out in faith, your entire being is engaged and you transition into another realm because you’ve died to the world and to your reputation for the sake of saving the lost.
People receive a witness of Jesus which previously they never experienced which will give them an opportunity to repent and be saved.
There are only benefits to going public with the gospel. Your public declaration begins to build you up in this ministry that God has called every believer of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus never wasted a moment of his ministry. Everything he did was intentional, in order to model for us true discipleship. It’s not until you make up your mind to reconcile this verse with public preaching, you’ll be silenced by the spirits of this age that wants to keep us passive and tolerant to the culture. God has commissioned us to preach the gospel to all creation. The Biblical text is worth the wrestle.
Here are practical ways to be a public witness:
Prepare a 1 minute version of your Testimony/gospel. Commit to sharing the gospel at specific locations. For example, if you committed to preaching at gas stations, preach every time you go there to fill your gas without fail. Start with what you can do and won’t over exert yourself. Begin to build that muscle of a living a bold and fearless life.
Wear a T-shirt with the gospel message. If you can’t preach with your mouth, preach through apparel.
Share Tracts. Have some handy in your purse or in your pockets that you can hand out, say, “this totally changed my life.”
Cover your car with a large sticker with a poignant gospel message that will point people to Jesus. Invest in a LED sign for roof of your car. John G Lake who was a revivalist in the early 1900s would point people to Jesus and invite people to his healing meetings. Regardless of people’s opinions, God’s healing power is still available today for those who will believe.
Lay hands on the sick (Mark 16). Before I fully grasped the gospel, this was what I used to do. Since I couldn’t share the gospel well, I found something more simple, praying for people. This opened up many doors to share my testimony.
What if you’re rejected?
Even if people reject you, as a watchman you need to learn to “own your zone.” You are strengthened by your obedience not by their opinions. Owning your zone means to bless them and move on if they reject the gospel. The good news is that our job is to warn people so that later when they’re ready they can repent and be saved. Gods words are Spirit and life. Gods words will bother them until they finally find resolution in surrender. I would rather want people to be offended and go to heaven, than be comforted and go to Hell. Let love compel us to sound the alarm.