The Power of Your Testimony

Despite what we often think, the most powerful tool for evangelism isn’t just bringing up the “Romans Road” as many of us have been taught. For those of you who don’t know, the “Romans Road” is basically five verses in Romans that make up our need for Christ, what He has done for us, and how we go about surrendering to Him (See Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9 and 5:1). Though knowing and being able to teach what it is to become a Christian is vastly important, it isn’t the most powerful tool for the job. It really is rather simple, but that is a blog for another time. From a teaching standpoint, there are two tools that are more powerful than the Romans Road. These are your testimony and reason. They come at it from two completely different angles, and they both have their positives and negatives. Realistically, the most powerful tool is a combination of the two but addressing them both individually will hopefully show how to use either one as a witness for Christ. Obviously, based on the title of this blog, I am addressing the former one. I will be doing a blog on the power of reason for evangelism in the next couple of weeks and will link to that on here. As nice as it is to have a simple method, like the Romans Road, to follow in evangelism, it really shouldn’t be the first thing that comes up in a conversation on God. You see, the Romans Road banks on five Scriptures convicting someone of their sin and showing them their need for Christ. The problem with only using Scripture to try to convince a nonbeliever of something is that they don’t believe in Scripture. They don’t think Scripture is true. At best, they think Scripture is just a “good book.” They might understand that we believe that Scripture is true, but that isn’t the same as actually believing that Scripture is true. So how do we convince someone that knowing Jesus is the best thing that could ever happen in their life if Scripture alone isn’t usually satisfactory? Well, one of the ways we can do this is to demonstrate to them the difference in our lives by telling our testimonies.

I am going to lay out what I mean by that, but first, we need to understand what a “testimony” is. There are basically two English meanings for the word “testimony,” and both fit the description of what it is that we are doing when we tell our testimony. The first is “a formal written or spoken statement, especially one given in the court of law.” This makes a lot of sense regarding what we are doing. We are writing, or speaking, the statement of our life before and after Christ while doing so by telling “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” It is important that our testimonies are not embellished in any way. Absolutely do not lie in your testimony! Nothing good can come from embellishing your testimony to make it sound better.

The second definition is “evidence or proof provided by the existence or appearance of something”. This also describes what we are doing to a T. We are simply providing evidence of the change when Christ comes into our lives. The first part of a testimony is describing why we need Christ. The second part is Christ (i.e., how we came to believe in Him), and the third part is demonstrating the difference between the first part and now. There is a whole lot more to our lives as Christians that is very important to know, but—as far as giving your testimony goes—a simple demonstration of evidence is better since the primary recipient of your testimony is usually going to be a nonbeliever.

So now that we know what it means to give a testimony, it is time to look at why it is so powerful. This is very simple. It is your story. No one can refute you (unless, of course, you embellished your story). Also, it should show the pivotal change in your life. There should be a distinct difference between who you were prior to Christ and who you are after Christ. This is a demonstration of being made into a “new creation” in Christ. Prior to Christ, we were transgressors. After Christ, we became children of the Most High. I would suggest not teaching about being a new creation in Christ unless your audience is Christian. Just demonstrate, through evidence, that you are a new creation.

The sad thing is that—despite its power for evangelism—Christians are usually very hesitant to give their testimony. Often Christians are barely willing to tell their testimony to other Christians, much less to nonbelievers. A major part of this problem is that Christians are expected (or think we are expected) to be perfect. Talking about our past, particularly the dark or dirty secrets is something that seems to be frowned on. Even when we do give our testimonies, we often make it sound like we had little wrong with us. What kind of testimony for Christ is that? It’s watered down, is what it is. I implore you to not water down your testimony. I also implore you to just simply tell your testimony. You don’t have to be crazy like me (I’ve published my testimony on Facebook, Twitter, and on my website for the whole world to see), but please stop hiding what Christ has done for you. The world needs to know. They need evidence that God is good, and you can provide that with your life story.

Perhaps you feel like you don’t have a good testimony. I have heard many Christians say this, and I myself said it when I was younger. If you feel like you don’t have a good testimony, then either you don’t understand what God has done for you, or you aren’t being honest about your testimony. When I was younger, I was involved in watching porn and masturbating, but I was too ashamed to talk about it. Therefore, I said, “I don’t feel like I have a good testimony.” And, to some extent, that was true since I was actively engaged in this sin, which means that I was not allowing God to work in my life. Therefore, my testimony—which should point to God—would not be pointing to Him.

Think about this: If you are a believer, you understand that you were a sinner before Christ. So even if the extent of your testimony is that you lied to your parents a few times and were jealous of something that a friend had then you have a good and valid testimony. In fact, your testimony can be one of the strongest pieces of evidence that what Scripture says is true. Because even though you had few and “small” sins, you understood that you needed Christ. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Do you know how many people operate on the idea that if they just do more good deeds than bad deeds they will get into heaven? That thinking is exactly why the lack of a “good” testimony can be so powerful. It demonstrates that no matter how good a person is, we have all fallen short in some regard. We all deserve to go to hell. Praise be to God that He sent Jesus to die in our place so that we could be saved and come back into a relationship with our Creator!

Additionally, I have a “good testimony” but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I was very much rebelling against God. I often wonder where I would be at in my walk with God if I didn’t have a “good” testimony.  Really, there is only one reason why my testimony could be considered better than a testimony that is traditionally considered “bad.” That is: You could see the difference in my life. To anyone who knew me well, it was obvious something drastic had happened. Other than that, though, my testimony is in no way better than anyone else’s. I am saddened by what I chose to do, but God has used my testimony to impact people which is why I have been so free with the telling of it. I am not that person anymore, therefore, there is no shame in using it as evidence that my God is real.

So how do you go about writing or speaking your testimony if you don’t think it is a “good testimony?” The goal, of course, is to show that you needed Christ and, now that you have Him, demonstrate how He has drastically changed your life. A question that I would suggest that you ask yourself when you begin to look for how to write your testimony is this: What was it about your life that made you realize that you needed a Savior? No one comes to Christ because they have it, or think they have it, all together. People come to Christ because they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they need Savior. Ponder the question, write down the answer, and share it with the world. The story of how you came to know Christ and how He changed your life, is a story that can make a massive impact on the lives of those around you.

I would be remiss if I didn’t address the main problem with using our testimonies as a means of bringing others to Christ. As I said above, one of the things that makes your testimony so strong is that it is your story. No one can refute it. While that is absolutely true, this is also where the primary problem comes in. The issue is that it can be brushed off fairly easily by saying something like, “That might be true for you,” or “I am glad that God has worked out for you, but it’s not for me.” This is why there ought to be another aspect available to us when we are trying to reach others for Christ. Which brings us to reasoning for the faith. I will link to that topic here when it is posted in a couple of weeks.

Here is a link to My Testimony if you wish to read it.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact me at ljandersonbooks@outlook.com and I will answer them to the best of my ability. Also, to stay up to date on any new blogs or news regarding other writing projects, follow me on Facebook or Twitter.