What is your testimony?
If you were to tell someone your story, especially as it relates to the work of God in your life, when would the story stop? As a pastor, all too often, I hear someone share their testimony, only to hear it end with their profession of faith or baptism. On other occasions, I hear people say “I don’t have a great testimony.” That comment is often made in comparison to someone who had a radically visible redemption story.
Can I share something frank with you? You don’t have a bad testimony. The test of your testimony is not how radically visible your redemption was or how well your testimony emotionally moves someone else. The test of your testimony is “have you described how God saved you from something for something?”
That’s what every testimony has in common. God saves us from something for something and God gets the glory for both!
What Jesus did on the cross made possible our redemption from the power of sin, death, and the grave. But, we aren’t just saved from something, only to wait until our life on earth ends and our life in heaven begins. Our testimony doesn’t end the moment our new life begins.
We are saved from something and for something! Our eternal life begins the moment we are redeemed, and it continues on through our death. In Ephesians 2, Paul writes,
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
This is the message we not only share with others; this is the message we preach to ourselves. In Isaiah 61, the prophet wrote,
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.”
Jesus read from this Isaiah 61 passage in Luke 4 when He visited the synagogue in His hometown. In reading these words, He announced His public ministry and claimed to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.
That message was good news then and it’s good news now. That good news is what we now have the opportunity to share with those around us.
So, how do we share our Redeemer with those around us?
1. See everyone through the lens of redemption.
We all have filters through which we see the world. Like a set of tinted sunglasses, we often don’t see the world as it is - we see the world as we are. In 2 Corinthians 5:16-17, the Apostle Paul invites us to see everyone through the lens of redemption.
“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
What if we stopped seeing people from a human point of view? What if we saw every person as a new creation or a potential new creation? We might share our Redeemer quite differently.
2. Share our testimony as a way to tell them about our Redeemer.
The language of the New Testament is “ambassadors.” Like a social media influencer we see sharing about how a product has impacted their lives, we have a platform every day to share about God’s work in our lives.
“So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
When we share our stories - how God saved us from something for something and how He is currently at work in our lives - we have an opportunity to share that God’s redemption power has transforming power.
3. Remind them that Jesus came to redeem them, not condemn them.
Many people believe God’s posture towards them is shame and condemnation. They think their past mistakes or present choices exclude them from God’s love and plans.
When you hear that kind of sentiment, remind them of the most famous verse in the Bible and the verse that follows it.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”
Many translations render the word “judge” as “condemn.” Jesus’ arrival into the world wasn’t an announcement of judgment, but an announcement of redemption, freedom, and comfort.
We have a redeemer and we get the privilege of declaring His praises to the world. In his song, "There is Freedom," Josh Baldwin does this, echoing the words of Scripture.
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom We'll be dancin' through the darkness 'cause we believe it Every stronghold has to break at the name of Jesus”
God did the work in our lives, but He never intended that work to stop with us. He saved us from something for something. We’ll spend the rest of our lives learning what that “for something” includes. The one thing we know today though, is we have a story to tell and we can look for God to lead us to people who need to hear it!
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona. Scott is married to Dani and they are the parents of three “little savages.” He loves helping hurting people forgive others through his Free to Forgive course and you can read more of his writing at scottsavagelive.com.
