Testimonies Worth Telling (Part 3)

This is part 2 of an ongoing series on Testimonies. For part 1 of this series click here. For part 2 click here.

What if I really do have a boring testimony?

Short answer: You don't. The problem that many of us actually have is arranging the parts of or stories in a way that is 1) honoring to God, 2) honest, and 3) relevant to our audience. All testimonies are worth telling, but not all testimonies need to be told in the same way. It is better that we follow a few principles rather than a formula by which these stories need to be told.

1) Honor God

        -Let us not forget that a testimony is to testify about something God has done. For many of us the story we want to tell is how we came to know Christ. This is a great place to start. There is, however, a way to tell the story of coming to know Christ that does not actually honor Him. A major testimony failure is to make you the hero of your own story rather than Jesus. Was it when you had enough of the partying lifestyle and found it unfulfilling, or was it when Christ convicted you of your sin and convinced you of your need for a savior? Could those things coincide? Absolutely, but the way you tell it is important. The hearers of your story need to hear that Jesus saves us from our sins-- not, once you are good enough, strong enough, and tired of doing the "big" sins, then you can go to Jesus.

2) Be Honest

         -Every testimony requires some level of vulnerability. If you've ever heard a testimony that you would consider "bad" it was probably because the teller of the story seemed to be dishonest or phony in their struggles. You have probably heard, "I grew up in a Christian home, accepted Christ at the age of 10, and my life has been great since." First of all, that's not a testimony. Secondly, that is not honest. And third, that is dishonoring to God. The point of a testimony is not to prove how much better your life is because you're a Christian. The point is to prove how much better Christ is than the sin you want to live in. You first need to be honest with yourself. Is the Gospel that you are proclaiming good enough to save you from your deepest and darkest sins? I'm reminded of a passage- 1 Timothy 1:15 where Paul says, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." Your testimony must reflect Jesus as the savior and your deep need of this salvation.

3) Be Relevant to Your Audience

       -Not with a pop-culture reference, not by talking about tweeting, not even with skinny jeans! This is more on the practical level.  Relevance can be as simple as-- what does my audience need to hear, how can I say this in a way that engages that audience, and how can I be a good steward of the time allotted to me. There are hundreds of books you can read on public speaking, so I will not give advice on posture, time management, and vocal variation. For most of us, the applicable place for our testimony is going to be with a friend, co-worker, or random person you sit by on a plane. Do you have a testimony that is suited for casual, informal, and ordinary occurrences? Most of the time you are not prompted for your whole story. Can you put into words how God has delivered you from particular sins? What is it like to trust God daily? Do you still struggle with sin? The more you know scripture, and the better you understand the Gospel, the better vocabulary you will have to engage with someone on these topics when the situation arises. 

God gave us all stories to tell. He gave us hundreds, even thousands of stories that reveal our need for a savior and Let us honor him by sharing with others how He is always faithful, always loving, and always willing to give us the grace we need.

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Austin Hilmer

About the Author:
Austin serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Corporate Worship

Testimonies Worth Telling (Part 2)

This is part 2 of an ongoing series on Testimonies. For part 1 of this series click here

What if the biggest sin you have committed happened after you became a believer?

There are many Christians who were raised in church, professed belief in Christ at a young age, and were baptized. For a lot of these believers it was also the last time they told their testimony. The testimonies can be simpler when you are young. Much to the credit of believing parents or a strong church home, some children are shielded from many temptations to sin. Young faith testimonies may include theft of a few dollars worth, lies told to parents and friends, and cheating on a test or two at school. Is this every child’s experience? Absolutely not. But many believers have this experience and then the strong temptations and abilities to sin did not come until high school, college, or being a young adult. They may have never had the availability of drugs and alcohol to abuse, the intellect to manipulate and extort on larger scales, or the opportunities to experiment sexually. So what happens to these believers who committed their most heinous crimes against God years after they professed their belief? Does this void their faith? Will God forgive these sins? What happens when you tell other Christians of sins you committed while you knew that what you were doing was wrong? How can you justify those sins?

The short answer is: You can’t. You can’t justify the sins you’ve committed as a believer. But the great thing about that is—you were never supposed to! That’s Jesus’ job! Christians generally are comfortable saying that their salvation was not dependent upon their works, but it was Christ’s work that saves. (Rom. 5:1-11; Eph. 2:1-4) However, in the church we have also allowed this idea to infiltrate that says--God looked in the future at our faith and the works we did because of this faith and chose to save those who had that faith. The problem with that is if our salvation was dependent upon our future ability to follow God’s commands then it ceases to be grace.

Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works.” That is not just in past tense. It is all sin past, present, and future.

All of our testimonies, whether you were saved at 7 or 70, should include being adopted into God’s family. Ephesians 1:5 says, “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of His will”. Parents do not have the ability to see the future actions of their children before they decide to bring them into the family. As a parent, I know that my children will disappoint me, act to my displeasure, and directly disobey me. Nothing that my children could do could ever stop them from being my kids. Whether they are 7 or 70. Whether on accident or deliberate. They will always be mine. They forever have my DNA, my resemblance, and my love. This is true with God, but to an even greater degree! He knows all the actions we will do and lovingly chose to adopt us as sons and daughters despite it all.

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angles nor rulers, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38)

God’s ongoing grace in one’s life is just as important, if not even more, than the grace received at conversion. By sharing the stories of God’s ongoing grace and faithfulness we prove that God’s grace is not only amazing, but sufficient for whatever he brings us through in life.

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Austin Hilmer

About the Author:
Austin serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Corporate Worship

Testimonies Worth Telling (Part 1)

I have been doing a Bible study through the book of Romans with a friend of mine. We recently came across verse 3:8, "And why not do evil that good may come?" In this passage Paul is addressing objections to the righteous judgment of God against sin. Some are saying to Paul, "If my act of sin reveals God to be more glorious, then why am I being judged? Isn't it better that God be shown to be good by forgiving our sins?" I told my friend that I never found this verse to relate much to me. I don't know if I've felt in my own life that it would be better to continue in sin so I could experience God's grace more fully. Then my friend added some great nuance on the passage.

He told me this reminds him of hearing testimonies in the church. Have you ever heard one of those really good testimonies? I'll give an example- man is a drug addict, at his lowest point he would have to do shameful acts in order to pay for his drug addiction, he then hears the gospel, turns his life to Christ, and then he cleans up and never touches drugs again. That's a good testimony right? It is absolutely an account that reveals God's power, grace, and mercy towards sinners. However, because of our fallen nature and propensity towards sin, we may actually be tempted by hearing this story of good news. How does someone who grew up in church, accepted Christ at a young age, and never committed major crimes relate to that story? It can go to the extent that one would say their story of redemption isn't worth telling because they haven't been saved from much. At the very worst of this is a desire that your life had been lived in a more wild fashion so as to see God's mercy in a more "powerful" way. Either that, or there is this temptation to excuse sins in your life that you deem "not as bad" as the sins committed by the person in the testimony.

When we only highlight these "powerful" testimonies we could actually be guilty of desiring to do "evil that good may come". Sometimes churches bring up these stories because the "power" in them actually translates more easily to "entertainment". If we are looking to be entertained by a testimony, what we are hoping is that someone had done something so evil that we can see how good God is! Or, we actually resent our own salvation because God didn't save us from something more entertaining! Even though I may have never uttered the words found in Romans, my friend helped me realize that I have been guilty of desiring more evil in order to see God's goodness.

This passage comes at a point in Romans where Paul is saying how sin has entered the world and all are guilty. Furthermore, sin has polluted everything to the point that we indulge our depravity. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" and "the wages of sin is death". (Romans 3:23; 6:23) We are all guilty of sin and deserve death. God looked upon our helplessness and in his great mercy made us alive when we were dead.

There is no sin too small to condemn you; there is no sin too big that God's grace cannot cover. If you trust in Christ for salvation, that is a testimony worth telling.

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Austin Hilmer

About the Author:
Austin serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Corporate Worship