The First Form of
Evangelization Is Witness
42.
People today put more trust in witnesses than in teachers,69 in
experience than in teaching, and in life and action than in theories. The
witness of a Christian life is the first and irreplaceable form of mission:
Christ, whose mission we continue, is the "witness" par excellence
(Rv 1:5; 3:14) and the model of all
Christian witness. The Holy Spirit accompanies the Church along her way and
associates her with the witness he gives to Christ (cf. Jn 15:26-27).
The first form of witness
is the very life of the missionary, of the Christian family, and of
the ecclesial community, which reveal a new way of living. The missionary
who, despite all his or her human limitations and defects, lives a simple life,
taking Christ as the model, is a sign of God and of transcendent realities. But
everyone in the Church, striving to imitate the Divine Master, can and must
bear this kind of witness;70 in many cases it is the only possible way
of being a missionary.
The evangelical witness
which the world finds most appealing is that of concern for people, and of
charity toward the poor, the weak and those who suffer. The complete generosity
underlying this attitude and these actions stands in marked contrast to human
selfishness. It raises precise questions which lead to God and to the Gospel. A
commitment to peace, justice, human rights and human promotion is also a
witness to the Gospel when it is a sign of concern for persons and is directed
toward integral human development.71
43.
Christians and Christian communities are very much a part of the life of their
respective nations and can be a sign of the Gospel in their fidelity to their
native land, people and national culture, while always preserving the freedom
brought by Christ. Christianity is open to universal brotherhood, for all men
and women are sons and daughters of the same Father and brothers and sisters in
Christ.
The Church is called to
bear witness to Christ by taking courageous and prophetic stands in the face of
the corruption of political or economic power; by not seeking her own glory and
material wealth; by using her resources to serve the poorest of the poor and by
imitating Christ's own simplicity of life. The Church and her missionaries must
also bear the witness of humility, above all with regard to themselves - a
humility which allows them to make a personal and communal examination of
conscience in order to correct in their behavior whatever is contrary to the
Gospel and disfigures the face of Christ.
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