Leadership
ARE YOU PROPERLY PREPARED?
The importance of a proper testimony
Back in 1984, I received certification as a teacher trainer with Evangelism Explosion. Before we learned the outline and read the material, we had to first write out our testimony. You might think that this was easy, but it wasn’t because they asked us to first share briefly what our life was like before we became a Christian. The second question was “what difference has Christ made in my life?” That was difficult because it required that I do a lot of soul-searching to find out what evidence there was that a change had taken place. I believe every training in evangelism should begin with the testimony.
True evangelism must be solely the work of the Holy Spirit because only the Holy Spirit can produce a true Christian, and only the Holy Spirit at work in the soul winner gives him the wisdom and the words of which to speak. Proverbs 11:30 says “the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that is wise wins’ souls.” (My preferred translation)
What do we mean by “A Testimony?”
The testimony is simply an expression to others of what God has done on the inside of me. The work of God within gives me a reason to share with others. If the work of God is not true in my life, then my testimony will be ineffective and may be at times harmful to others. Most people can spot hypocrisy in others. If a Christian is not true and sincere in what he shares, it turns people off to religion altogether and may harden them against hearing the preaching of the true gospel.
1. What my life was like before I found Christ.
It is not necessary to go into a lot of detail. People need to know that something positive has taken place, but if we spend too much time talking about our past life of sin, that can prevent people from hearing the rest of your testimony. I had a lady I was disciplining, who had a very terrible life experience before she found the Lord. Her husband forced her to witness him murdering someone and that’s not something you want to think about or remember. The bad part of this is, that spending too much time on this causes others to think that they are not that bad so she e probably needed it more than they did. That took place in the hospital setting where we worked. Share things like my empty, meaningless life, that I found in the pleasures and sins of the world that gave me no satisfaction. This is a suggestion. Be creative but true to your own experience. Give specific examples.
2. What difference has Christ made in my life?
This is very important. For some, this part of the sharing is extremely difficult because it involves some soul-searching and maybe very little progress can be seen. This does not necessarily mean that one is not a Christian. It can mean that we had been misinformed in this matter of salvation and were not properly disciplined in how the gospel, or good news, changes my life. In doing this, one might discover that there are sins in his life that keep him from being a soul winner, or he may even discover that he was not a true Christian at all. This part of the testimony takes a lot of thinking and is difficult for many. When I had to do this, it was scary. But when I thought about the many things that God had done in my life and the many prayers He had answered, and the souls that have found Christ through my life, it became easier.
Once you have completed this work, we would like you to share it with the group. There are some of you who may need some help and as fellow leaders, we are here to help you sift through the difficulties. Do not be discouraged if it does not come easily. Once you have been able to see and discover God’s working, you will be encouraged to continue to grow and in time be more effective in sharing Christ. It is necessary that your testimony is not forced or show any expression of not being real to your own personality and life. Pray for the opportunity to share and the more that you do, the easier it will become. As I said before, you can’t fake the testimony but when you make it easy to communicate you’ll find many opportunities to share it with others and it will be effective. Very often the personal testimony is the most effective way to witness. I would not think of witnessing without my true-to-life experience of God’s working in me. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11)
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