Reaching our Jerusalem

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Acts 1:8 [KJV]

Hawthorn berries

“What are you doing to reach your Jerusalem?”

I remember hearing this question about five years ago. Our church was letterboxing tracts for Easter or Christmas. Above the table stacked with bundles of tracts and invites, hung a large map of the surrounding suburbs. The organiser pointed to the map and explained that ‘our Jerusalem’ was the area immediately around the church, ‘our Judea’ included the suburbs just beyond those, ‘our Samaria’ was the rest of the city, and ‘the uttermost part of the earth’ was well, everywhere else! We were to begin by letterboxing the streets around the church and then expand outwards from there.

This concept comes from Acts 1:8, where Jesus said to His disciples, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Since they were in the literal city of Jerusalem, He was telling them to begin witnessing where they were. That’s exactly what they did. Scripture and history record that the Gospel was preached in Jerusalem, then spread outwards, and continues to reach to the uttermost part of the earth today.

This pattern reminds us that the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) isn’t just an instruction given to churches or missionaries. Supporting missions prayerfully and financially is Biblical (Ephesians 6:19; Philippians 4:16), and the church is the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15), but we also have an individual responsibility to witness. Each of us has a ‘Jerusalem’ – the people and places God has put in our lives. 

Today I want to share the true story of a woman named Charlotte, and consider what her example teaches us about our Jerusalem, how to reach people there and what to share.

Charlotte found her Jerusalem in 1836. She was 42 years old, single and living with her brother Henry, an evangelical Church of England minister. She supported her brother’s efforts to establish a school where poor children could be educated and won for the Lord, and saw her local geographical area and church as her mission field.

Like Charlotte, we too need eyes to see that the mission field around us is “white already to harvest” (John 4:35). Some men and women have specific callings to cross-cultural or overseas mission fields, but we’re all commanded to be witnesses in our families, workplaces, neighbourhoods and community. Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Mothers with unsaved children, and those with unsaved siblings have a mission field within their own homes and families. Eunice was a “Jewess, and believed” (Acts 16:1). Her “unfeigned faith” had a profound impact on her son Timothy, who learnt Scripture from childhood (2 Timothy 3:15) and came to his own position of unfeigned faith (2 Timothy 1:5). This was despite Timothy’s father being “a Greek” – and by implication, an unbeliever (Acts 16:1). If, like me, you have no direct children of your own, what about witnessing to nieces, nephews, friends’ children, and young people in your church? Every child, every person, regardless or how godly or ungodly their upbringing, must personally come in repentance and faith to Christ to be saved. How about your unsaved relatives, contacts, work colleagues and neighbours? Are they people we tolerate, or are they people we pray for? What about the people who live near your church?

To reach the people in our Jerusalem, we need real interactions – through relationships, conversations, simple opportunities and active outreach. Our lives must reflect Christ: “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that … they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). Philippians 2:14-15 says, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world”. We must never use wrong, fleshly methods to reach people because the world’s methods are not of the Father (1 John 2:16) and oppose every Christian’s goal of doing all things for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). We need great wisdom, something God promises to supply liberally to all who ask (James 1:5) to know when and where and how to interact with unbelievers while guarding ourselves against ungodly influences. A godly lifestyle is important, but at some point, we must also go and speak.

Charlotte recognised this. She was desperate to share with people in person. And yet she was bedridden. For twenty years, she had hardly left the house. One afternoon, after her brother had left for an event to raise funds for the school project, Charlotte wept bitter, frustrated tears into her pillow. Eventually, she reached for her Bible, and then for pen and paper. Rather than remain in self-pity, she decided she would write something, perhaps a poem, to reach people for the Gospel. But what should she say?

What do I say? It’s a question I often ask myself, in a state of near panic, when an opportunity to speak arises. Instead of becoming flustered, we need to remember that there are two things we’re told to share.

Firstly, we share Scripture, particularly the Gospel. Jesus commanded, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15b). Jesus shared Scripture with His disciples; “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. …Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:27,45). Remember, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16a) and “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17b).

Secondly, we share our testimonies. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”. Paul repeatedly shared his testimony (Acts 22, Acts 26), while the once-blind man declared these powerful words, “whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25e).

As Charlotte pondered what to say, she reflected on how she had been saved at the age of 32. At first angered by an evangelist’s challenge, she later wrote him a letter, asking: Did she have to try to make herself more worthy of Christ before she could be saved? Dr Malan replied, “No. Come to Him just as you are, a sinner, to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” Charlotte did, repenting of her sin and self-righteousness, and coming in faith to the Saviour. Now, over a decade later, as she sat there with pen in hand, Charlotte wondered how many others also struggled with self-righteousness and the concept of trying to earn salvation.

So she wrote these words:

“Just as I am, without one plea

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,

 O Lamb of God, I come! I come!”

Charlotte Elliot wrote five stanzas – words that became the famous hymn, Just as I Am. Royalties from the hymn were used to fund her brother’s school, but the hymn – translated into dozens of languages, and still widely sung today – reached unto the uttermost part of the earth. As her brother Henry testified decades later, “In the course of a long ministry, I hope to have been permitted to see some fruit of my labours; but I feel more has been done by a single hymn of my sister’s.” 

Charlotte’s story reminds us that God can use anyone – independent of their human limitations – to reach their Jerusalem. And who knows, when we serve God faithfully in our Jerusalem, perhaps we may also see our witness spread unto the uttermost parts of the earth.