The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum means of evangelism

tj,

Gotribe spoke wisely and echoed what I intended in my own reply, i.e., one is to speak clearly about those things; the Gospel, found in the Scriptures and summarized by the article I wrote, it containing the minimum information we should convey. She also was very wise in stating that she would NOT relate her own personal experiences as a Christian, known so endearingly today among so many as "my testimony". Why? because it is fallacious to make what God may have done in your life as being paradigmatic. Let me illustrate it in this way:

There are two men who stand up and give their "testimony" before a group of people. The first stands and says,

Let me tell you what has happened to me since I asked Jesus into my heart. Before I made a decision for Christ, my life was in shambles. My business was going down the drain, my marriage was on the rocks, my children were disrespectful, I was involved in several sinful situations, etc. But afterward, my whole life was radically changed. My business suddenly took a turn for the better and it has been most profitable since that day. My wife and I have never been happier. My children are all now joyfully obedient and are excelling in school and I have totally cast off those sinful practices which formally dominated my life. I love Jesus!

The second man stands and says,

Let me tell you what has happened to me since God took pity upon me and by His grace brought me to the Lord Christ. For years I was skimming money from the very profitable business of my employer, my marriage relationship was way beyond average, my children were great and everything seemed to be going marvelously well. But after the Spirit of God convicted me of my sin and I sought forgiveness in Christ through repentance and faith in His name things radically changed. One of the things I had to do was confess my stealing money from my employer's business. Consequently, charges were laid and I was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison. While I was in prison my wife began seeing another man and although she hasn't divorced me, our relationship is the pits. My children began flirting with drugs and one was expelled from school for assaulting a teacher. And the day I was released from prison, as I was praising God while walking across the street, I was hit by a car and was paralyzed from the waist down due to the injuries I sustained from the accident. Praise the Lord... Jesus Christ is my heart's desire!

Now, the question is, which of these two testimonies would you choose to speak before a group of unconverted friends? Would you choose man #1 or man #2? If #1, why would you choose him? Is it because you think it would be far more effective in persuading your friends to become Christians because his testimony better represents what becoming a Christian is all about? In other words, does God promise those who turn to Christ in repentance and faith a life of immeasurable earthly joy and what happened to man #2 is is not representative of the grace of God toward His children? Of course, even a cursory read of Hebrews 11 should put such a notion to flight.

The point of all this is that what we should be testifying to is NOT the "gospel of the changed life", but rather "the Gospel that changes life"! We are not to speak necessarily about what has happened in our life but rather of the objective truths of what was accomplished in the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ's life which made possible reconciliation with God. And being justified by His blood, we can have peace with God and be delivered from the presence, power and penalty of sin.

In His Grace,