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| Photo Courtesy of Free Digital Photos |
Let’s assume that everyone reading this blog post is a
follower of Christ, a Christian, if you will.
Though many people bandy the term Christian about as though it were a hair
color or a political party affiliation, easily changed and or open for
line-item revisions of opinion. However,
for the purpose of this discussion I will use the term Christian in the strictest
of forms; a person who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and
has had a change of heart which reflects this decision.
That being squared away, let’s assume that you have, in
fact, witnessed the goodness, grace, mercy and love of Jesus Christ in your
life. Let’s assume that by receiving
Christ as your Savior you acknowledged that there was something missing and
something broken inside of you that prevented you from living the best life you
could. This brokenness may have shown up
in dysfunctional relationships (friends, family, romantic relationships),
addictions (alcohol, drugs, food, shopping, T.V., porn, technology, sex, etc.),
anger issues, people pleasing, unfriendliness, abandoning people and
situations, or any other unhealthy approach to your life and the people in it. In my case, I was angry, bitter, unfriendly,
addicted to food and was pretty much closed off to everyone around
me.
I chose my poison and you chose yours. Regardless of the type of mess we all chose,
we were all lost. That is
inarguable. At some point prior to now,
we were all faced with a decision; continue down this broken, dark path that
inevitably leads to destruction or accept the love and forgiveness of an ever
patient and merciful God. Some of us
might have been in the privacy of our bedrooms, at church on Sunday, at a
retreat or meeting a friend for coffee when we made that decision, but we all
made that life changing choice to turn it all around, by the grace of God.
The Cockroach Within
Christendom, though well intentioned, turned one of the most
beautiful scriptures into a cliché by writing it on poster boards and painting
it across their unkempt bellies at sporting events. Though considered cliché and possibly a verse
so often heard that it is ever imprinted on the landscape of our Christian
minds and unnecessary to review, I invite you to read it again.
"God loved the world so much that he gave his one
and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal
life. God did not send his Son into the
world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. People who believe in God's Son are not
judged guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty,
because they have not believed in God's one and only Son. They are judged by this fact: The Light has come into the world, but they
did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil
things. All who do evil hate the light
and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they
do. But those who follow the true way
come to the light, and it shows that the things they do were done through
God." John 3:16-21 (NCV)
In the message translation verses 19-21 can be read this
way.
“This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into
the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the
darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who
makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates
God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working
and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for
the God-work it is." John 3:19-21 (Message)
It is easy to dismiss an entire section of scripture because
we believe it to be elementary, but learning the things of God cannot be
compared to the American education system.
In kindergarten when we all learned the alphabet, that was it, there was
no deeper meaning. At the age of 34 I
don’t need to reconsider the ABC song and what it might mean to me today after
three decades of life experience. Such
is not the case for the Bible. There is
always more; more understanding, more wisdom, more revelation, more
illumination, more of God. God’s Word is
four dimensional (probably more, despite my feeble minds ability to conceive of
such things); though never changing, it is ever ascending higher, ever
descending deeper, ever expanding wider, and ever living and breathing and
moving.
Back to John 3. It
says that even when God’s light entered the world, “men and women everywhere
ran for the darkness.” I am one of those
women, my husband is one of those men, every Christian I know is one of those
people. When the Light of Christ hit my
life, I ran like a cockroach to the fringes, to the shadows. I stayed in my anger, my bitterness, my
sin. Had I been allowed to stay in that
darkness unchecked, I would have remained there until, of course, a deeper
darkness enveloped me. What changed?
Internally
Illuminated Advertisement
Though, ultimately, choosing God was always my choice, God
sent people to help. For some, it takes
very little illumination to convince them to escape the darkness of a life
without God. For others, like me, it required
a parade (visualize Disney’s Light Parade, pictured below).
A life filled with people illuminating my world with the love of
Christ. Sounds cheesy, but it’s
true. Though they did not constantly enter
my personal space confronting me with the literal “Jesus Loves You” love of
Christ, they did share their experiences with me.
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| Disney Light Parade |
They were honest enough to be broken, yet miraculously
whole. To hear of literal miracles,
inexplicable healing and provision has a way of chipping away at the darkest of
hearts. It is enough to draw our eye to
Him. When someone or something
exceptional enters a room, heads turn, it’s in our nature to be attracted to
goodness just as it’s in our nature to sin.
“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness,
forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you
to repentance?” Romans 2:4 (NKJV)
If we are designed to be drawn to God’s goodness, how can
that happen while we are camped out in the dark, away from His Light, His
goodness? The answer: Save those that are literally knocked on
their hind quarters by God Himself (see Acts 9), most of us have to be made
aware of God’s goodness and good intentions for our lives by other people.
Your Testimony is Key
Your testimony is important, not just for you, but for
others. It may seem small and pointless,
but what you have experienced is, potentially, the key to unlocking someone
else’s chains.
Though it would be much more convenient and less
embarrassing if we could just hand out “Jesus Loves You, No… He really does!”
cards to passers-by, it simply does not work like that. We’ve tried it, it doesn’t work. People want something real and since Jesus is
not here on this earth in the flesh, all He has to work with is you and me. Unless we are real and transparent (with wisdom,
of course) we are really quite useless.
Think about it, Jesus didn’t walk around telling everybody
He loved them all the while doing nothing for them. He was not this guy, regardless of how
friendly this guy seems. Jesus is not some cosmic bromantic comedy, leaving you smiling, unsure of the specifics and quickly empty.
God’s testimony of Jesus was found in the signs, wonders and
miracles performed in His life on earth (John 10:25). Jesus was sent with an arsenal to defeat
doubt and unbelief; He spoke words of wisdom and knowledge, He healed, He
multiplied provision, He calmed storms, He resurrected the dead, He showed
unwarranted compassion and so He does today.
He understood that people needed a perfect Savior and a real God then
and still do today. If people are not
made aware that God is real, then Christianity is simply a social group.
So, the question becomes, if Jesus is not walking the earth
today in the flesh, then how can people experience a real God. The answer is YOU! You are the miracle! We’ve all been brought back from death and
destruction. His testimony has not
changed. He is our redeemer, healer,
provider, storm calmer, in Him is found all Truth.
People did not follow Jesus because He was nice. Though they may not have fully understood it at the time, they followed Him because He was God and
could prove it. People will not commit their
lives and eternities to Christ because you are nice and follow a nice God. They will commit because He is real and YOU
can prove it.
Shame
If you are not a person who shares their testimony, I
challenge you today, share it! There is
power and freedom in it. That freedom is
two-fold, it is for you and for the hearer.
If there are elements of your testimony that are shameful, guess what,
that’s true for everyone! We’ve all done
things for which we are ashamed and yet we are forgiven. Shame is a weapon from the arsenal of the
enemy, it is not of God.
Conviction? Now, that’s a
different story. Let me illustrate this
to you.
There are two men in the Gospel accounts. One took the way of condemnation, shame and
eternal damnation, the other took the path of conviction, repentance and
eternal life. Some may look at Judas
Iscariot and see a man to despise and look down upon, but I do not. We have all been thieves, we’ve all been
liars, we’ve all betrayed our Savior. If
any of these fall on the list of unforgiveable sins, we’re all screwed.
Some may look at Peter’s denial of Jesus as
being a small bump in the road to sainthood, but I do not. Peter was at a crossroads where he could have
taken the potential shame of his denial and allowed it to upend the plans God
had for him. He chose to get back on plan A.
How powerful would Judas’ testimony have been had he not
fallen prey to the weight of his shame?
Do not become confused, I am in no way saying that if you don’t
share your testimony you’re going to hell.
What I am saying is that pretending that God took you from good to
better isn’t honest and it certainly doesn’t do Jesus’ work on the cross any justice. While exercising wisdom, we should all be
able to tell people how big our God is and give examples.
If you fear sharing your first hand account of the expanse of God's love and forgiveness, look to Paul. He was responsible for persecuting and killing Christians. He could have allowed that shame to limit his testimony, but he did not. He connected to people on any level he could while remaining always in Christ. People are broken without Christ. Often times, they can only relate to brokenness. If you were once broken like them and are now made whole, there is hope in that. If you portray a life where you were never that broken, there is no hope for the hopeless, there is no freedom, there is no goodness to draw them.
Actions Speak
We all know that actions speak louder than words in the world, it's practically an American proverb. Since God has not ceased acting on our behalf, then, perhaps, it stands to reason we’ve just ceased talking
about it. People need to hear about what God has done in your life.
As Scripture says, “Anyone who
believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no
difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly
blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom
they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to
them? And how can anyone preach unless
they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring
good news!” But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says,
“Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing
the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Romans 10:11-17 (NIV)
Sow some seeds of faith in someone else today. Tell them the truth. Tell them who you were and where you came from,
then live a life that illustrates that Jesus changes everything.
What is one word that would describe your testimony? Leave it in the comments below!
