Evangelism is the proclamation of the evangel, which means gospel or good news.
It is the good news of what God has done for the world through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is objective, universal truth, meaning that this good news applies to all people in all places at all times.
Personal testimonies are different.
Personal testimonies are subjective. That is, they are very personal, first-hand accounts of how God brought an individual to faith in Christ or how Christ healed or otherwise blessed that individual in a particular way.
They reflect one individual’s experience, an experience that may not be repeatable and may be difficult for others to identify with.
And personal testimonies cannot create faith in the heart of a hearer.
Only the evangel can do that.
The Apostle Paul has written, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17).
If someone becomes a Christian through a personal testimony, it is only because that testimony contained the life-giving word about Jesus Christ, which alone creates faith.
Some churches encourage members to write personal testimonies as part of an evangelism strategy.
Other churches, including my own, do not encourage that, although we believe strongly in evangelism.
We certainly have story to tell, but it is not our own story.
It is the Gospel story, the story of Jesus Christ.
That story applies to everyone, regardless of their experience.
By contrast, some testimonies I hear are hard for me to relate to.
They tend to focus not on struggle but on success, not “I’m on this journey” but more like “I have arrived.”
We are good at admitting our mistakes after we believe they are safely behind us.
Have you noticed that celebrities appear on talk shows opening up about their struggles only after they have overcome them? The Christian testimonies I hear sound a lot like that.
God certainly enables us to meet the challenges confronting us, but the challenges don’t go away, and to give the appearance that they do is less than full disclosure.
The Apostle Paul wrote about his weaknesses and sinfulness in the present tense, and that was all the more reason for him to glorify Jesus, who died for repeat offenders like himself.
To anyone who feels compelled to tell others of their personal experience with Jesus, consider the following.
First, don’t speak about your finding Jesus. He was never lost. You were lost. He found you; you did not find him.
Second, avoid talk about your accepting Jesus or giving your heart to Jesus. Scripture never speaks this way about conversion, so why should you?
Speak instead about the Lord opening your heart to believe the message (Acts 16:14).
Speak about what Christ did for you in your baptism (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Tell about how he gave you new birth through hearing the word of truth (James 1:18).
In short, if you share your testimony, speak less about what you did and more about what the Lord did, not just for you but for all people, including your hearers.
Follow the example of John the Baptist who, when questioned about his identity, spoke as little as possible about himself (John 1:19-21).
He pointed people to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
If you must talk about yourself, don’t speak about how bad you used to be. Like St. Paul, talk about how bad you still are and how you need Christ’s forgiveness every day (1 Timothy 1:15).
A transformed life is not a life free from sin, nor is it a life necessarily less sinful than before. A transformed life is a life characterized by daily struggle against the sin nature that remains in all Christians (Romans 7:14-25).
Mike Horton, theologian and nationally syndicated radio host, has written, “If the focus of our testimony is our changed life, we as well as our hearers are bound to be disappointed.”
The Christian life is lived by faith, faith not in our goodness, but in God’s.
We still fall short of God’s standard, but the good news is that God is faithful to his promises and we are forgiven and completely righteous in his sight through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:28).
An internet blogger said it best: “The point is not ‘See how good I have become!’ but ‘See what Jesus does!’”
That’s good news for all people, and it isn’t about you.
It’s about Jesus for you.
The Rev. John Armstrong is pastor of Grace Lutheran, Columbus, and may be reached at gracecolumbus.org.
