"I declare that I am personally acquainted with the facts in this statement. I declare these facts to be true of my personal knowledge under penalty of perjury."

These are the statements of a witness testifying by affidavit, or what we call in California, a "declaration." Such a statement may be used in many legal proceedings. The key is the witness’s personal knowledge of the facts.

If a witness gives live testimony in court, he or she is subject to the same requirement as to personal knowledge. Testimony that depends on something that was said or done when the witness wasn’t present is objectionable on the ground of hearsay because it is no more reliable than gossip. An effective witness has personal knowledge of the facts and communicates them in a truthful manner.

Common sense often tells us when someone is telling the truth. We call it the "smell test." A communication passes the smell test when the circumstances and knowledge coincide to make sense. Failing the smell test means that the facts, as communicated, defy logic or experience and are inconsistent with other evidence.

The Apostle Paul watched victorious legions returning to Rome and found a smell test for Christian witness. The armies paraded their human captives through the streets, along with animals and plunder from exotic lands at the frontiers of the Roman Empire. Some captives were destined for life as household slaves. Some would die for sport in the Coliseum. Their faces reflected this life–and–death saga, and the tension was palpable as they passed by the cheering citizens.

A passage from Paul is telling in this setting:

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.
(2 Cor. 2:14–17)

To draw this to a fine point, if one has never needed the grace of God, one cannot honestly testify to its efficacy.

Jesus spoke to Simon the Pharisee about a woman who dramatically expressed her gratitude about the forgiveness she had received from Jesus:

"Simon, I have something to say to you."

"Teacher," he replied, "Speak."

"A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which one of them will love him more?"

Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt."

Jesus said, "You have judged rightly."

Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

(Luke 7:40–47)

The openness of this response and the authenticity of the witness did not make its way from a theory that existed in my head to a reality in my heart through seventeen years of Christian education and an upbringing in a Christian home. It did not come alive for me in the first eleven years of service as an administrator and attorney for Christian institutions. When my own resources proved inadequate to the challenges of my life, I was confronted, devastated, and reborn through the grace I had thought was for others who didn’t have my spiritual "advantages."

Those advantages proved to be the elements of faith, but it took the personal application of the love of Christ to my needy, sinful soul to transform that faith from a parts inventory to a working model.

Witness comes to life in an experiential encounter with Christ. The last words Jesus spoke on earth to his followers announced this principle: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in all Judea and Samaria, and to all the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Before my own encounter, I thought Christianity was best transmitted from a pulpit or teacher’s desk. I was taught that it was important to learn "proof texts" from the Bible and tell them to nonbelievers wherever you found them. Best of all, I needed to get these people in the door of the church or the evangelistic meeting to hear the "truth."

Well, it does little good to possess answers to question that aren’t being asked or to try to reach people in places they don’t normally go. The effort is so unnatural, awkward, and downright painful that I—along with most of my "well–trained" Christian friends—just avoided it.

The religious establishment, on the other hand, berates us to do more. Pass out gospel tracts, hold Bible studies with your neighbors and coworkers, show them that our lifestyle is really better than theirs by not smoking, drinking, or running around with those who do, put bumper stickers on our cars, give liberal offerings to evangelistic ministries—do something!!! The whole thing is pitched as a slightly smarmy, personally intrusive, competitive enterprise called "soul–winning." In reaction, we fall into a graceless, lifeless existence. Knowing that we can never do enough, we attempt nothing at all. We leave the whole thing to the professionals.

It doesn’t have to be this way. What changed all of this for me was a personal encounter with Christ on a warm October afternoon in 1989. I saw, heard, and was convicted of the ultimate truth of Jesus Christ. This reality dominated my waking and thinking. Everything was different. I could testify about my own personal knowledge of the fact of Christ. To my considerable shock, this mere testimony has persuasive power. Personal experience made me a witness. Persons of my acquaintance began to seek out Jesus on my "word of mouth" recommendation.

Effective Christian witness demands the authenticity of a personal experience with the cross of Jesus Christ and the life of his resurrection. It requires a partaking of life blessed and broken. The difference is so intense that it can be "smelled."

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