Question:
Are we suppose to witness to everyone all the time, or do we live our lives according to God’s will, or Jesus’ example, and leave it to God to present the situations to us?
Answer:
Yes.
Okay, that wasn’t really an answer… it’s one of those kinda “yes” and kinda “no” things. Let me explain.
First, we, like the Apostle Paul, are to be “debtors” (Romans 1.14) to every lost person. Why? Because God forgave us and has saved us from hell. And so originating in a debt of love that we have to God for saving us, we are “in debt” to share what God has done to every person who does not know. Know what?
That God’s Law exposes them as a sinner; that God’s holiness requires the only appropriate penalty (death); and the Jesus Christ can save them from that penalty because He already paid it.
So in a sense, yes, we should strive to witness to “every one, all the time”. On the other hand, it is not practical, nor possible that we will be able to witness to “every one, all the time”. So we move to answer the question within the realm of reality….
But first, let me answer your last question, and then return to the point about witnessing to “every one, all the time”.
The answer to your last question is a resounding “YES!”… we should live a life of exemplary holiness and obvious obedience that glorifies God and draws people to Jesus. Our example should draw people to Christ even if words were absent (though a Christian that does not declare the Gospel message is like a Doctor who is silent about a cure for cancer).
While being a Godly example, we should pray that God will point us to, lead us to, and present us with, situations where we have the opportunity to witness the Gospel of Christ.
Now back to the other point (“every one, all the time”)… there is a reason I wanted to finish with it. It’s not that we should have a rigid performance-oriented standard of witnessing to “every one, all the time”… again, it’s not practical or possible.
BUT – – – neither should we use that as an excuse to be lazy about witnessing, to be cowardly about witnesssing or to be casual about witnessing.
The problem in the Church today is NOT, by a long shot, a problem of witnessing TOO MUCH. The problem today is that the overwhelming majority of Christians rarely, if ever, share their faith with anyone at all!
O to God, that we would have to say to Christians, “you’re witnessing too much!” (is that even possible?) But this is not the problem, and doesn’t appear it will be any time soon.
So where does that leave us? Simply this: if you pray and ask God, He will gladly present you with ALL the opportunities to witness that you can handle, and that will bring glory to Him. God will give you JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT of witnessing opportunities according to His plan. The actual number or percentage is irrelevant.
So don’t worry about “frequency” or “percentage”. Just be AVAILABLE and WILLING, and God will see to it that you have plenty of chances every day to share the Gospel! If you are willing, ready and able to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you’ve done your part. God will make sure the opportunities are there. That’s His part.