I looked up "witnessing tools" the other day. I found "The Road to Emmaus - 15 Tips for Effective Witnessing" and Free Witnessing Tools and a free downloadable guide from Billy Graham's organization to equip you to witness. Just the beginning of the list. From Evangelism Explosion to the 4 Spiritual Laws, we've had a lot of help learning how to witness. One component that is critical is sharing your testimony. So The Gospel Coalition has "6 Principles for Sharing Your Testimony" and Cru (Don't get me started.) has an article on preparing your personal testimony. Nice.
Funny thing. It all seems so ... strange. You see, "witnessing" simply means telling what you've witnessed and your "testimony" is simply your written or spoken account of your experience with something. Now, obviously, when we "witness" in the Christianese version, we're sharing the gospel, but the biblical concept isn't very complicated. When Jesus told His disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8), He wasn't thinking, "Well, after you've done a proper Evangelism Explosion course." There was no hint of some specialized training. He planned on them ... you know ... following the Holy Spirit and telling what they knew about Christ. Simple. Their "testimony" was "This is what we've seen and this is what He did and said and this is what we've experienced." Not that hard.
I'm not complaining about the programs. I'm not blowing them off. They have some good stuff. I just think that it's possible to turn basic "witnessing" into something other than "telling what you know" and your "testimony" into an unnecessary production when the real, honest, "here it is" approach would be most genuine and, likely, most effective. So why do these programs thrive? Is it because we're scared to follow the Holy Spirit? Is it because Jesus just hasn't done that much for us? Is it that only the best spun tales will work, and ours just isn't that good? Is it because Jesus just isn't that good? Perhaps we're stalling? Or perhaps we're more concerned about others' opinions about us than Christ's view of us. Maybe we might want to reconsider the hoops we jump through trying to get "my testimony" and "witnessing" right. It's just telling what you know. It's not that hard.
5 comments:
I agree that witnessing doesn't need all of the bells and whistles that those courses might offer, but I do think that practicing what you would say if given the opportunity isn't a bad idea. To be able to be prepared is probably better than to not be prepared.
We’ve probably all heard that sharing the Gospel with others is akin to “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread”; other believers think of Christianity as a commodity that they must “sell” and therefore they need to perfect their “sales pitch.” I recall the “I Found It” campaign of the 1970s; the bumper stickers, pins, posters, etc., were “teasers” for the testimony, “I found new life in Jesus Christ.” (I also remember how the Jews countered that slogan with their “We never lost it” bumper stickers.)
It seems to me that if one’s faith is authentic and encompasses his/her whole life (as it should), one’s testimony will just naturally and continuously be presented. “Just telling what you know” and have experienced, as you say, and living what you believe. You’re right--witnessing this way is not complicated, but it’s real and it's impactful.
Stan, I wanted to ask about your parenthetical remark “(Don’t get me started.)” following your link to the Cru article on preparing your personal testimony. Would you mind clarifying if your remark was about the article specifically? or about Cru in general? (I checked out the article, and I personally have a problem with one of their “HELPFUL HINTS.” I also have a personal connection to that organization, from when they were still Campus Crusade for Christ.) I don’t want to make any assumptions about your meaning; thus this inquiry. Thanks!
Campus Crusade for Christ changed their name because it was offensive to some. It was, they said, because "crusade" was offensive to Moslems, so they dropped "Campus" and they dropped "Christ" and the only thing they kept was half of the offensive word. While Bill Bright (a personal friend of my parents) was in charge, it was an amazing organization, but it started to slip when he retired and it looked a lot like Campus Crusade became "Cru" not because of "crusade," but because the name of Christ was an offense.
I appreciate the clarification. How neat that your parents knew Bill Bright (and I presume that you met him, which probably makes it a personal disappointment to see how the ministry has changed). I have a bit of a “soft spot” for Campus Crusade for Christ because my husband became a Christian as a freshman at Trenton State College [in 1974, so coming up to 50 years ago--wow!] after a CCC member knocked on his dorm room door and shared the Four Spiritual Laws with him. My husband then attended many of their campus events (coincidentally, it was Campus Crusade for Christ who in 1976 organized the “I Found It” campaign that I mentioned above); we even supported a CCC staff member financially for a while early in our marriage. I understand that the organization has changed in recent decades, and I agree their new name is not great.
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