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Using Your Testimony in Evangelism

Reaching out to the Lost using your testimony

Here at LawGrace Radio, we believe that the law of God (that is, God's righteous requirements) can be used to expose a person's sinfulness to them, as a preparation for the presentation of the Gospel. There might be differing views among us here at LawGrace about the place of the 10 commandments in the life of the believer, but we are in agreement that the 10 commandments are useful in the aforementioned evangelistic technique.

I personally (not here presuming to speak for all members of the LawGrace team) do not believe that evangelism consists, at root, of any one way, technique or method, but rather it is the presentation of the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ by any means necessary and appropriate. Thus, when I go out on to the streets, or when I speak from the pulpit, or when I meet with a friend who isn't a Christian, or get into a conversation in my non-Christian home, I have in my 'arsenal' as it were, a number of scriptural means through which I can present the Gospel.

In this article, we're going to consider the place of one's personal testimony of salvation as a tool in evangelism. But before giving practical tips on this, I'm going to give a textual basis from the scriptures for this practice. Turn to John 9:6-25

"Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is he." Others said, "No, but he is like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." So they said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.""

These verses are from the account in John 9 of the healing of the blind man a the pool of Siloam. Jesus came to the man, who was born blind. His disciples ask, with the fallacious assumption that all human suffering is a result of personal and individual sin, "who sinned, him or his parents?" But Jesus teaches them that it was not the result of personal sin from either, but the sovereignty of God, who had prepared this in advance so that His glory might be seen in the blind man's healing.

But rather than step on the theological wasp's nest surrounding imputed sinfulness (the forum got flamey last time :P), I'm going to focus on how this man presents the miracle to the Pharisees.

Look particularly at verses 24 and 25, which read "So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.""

I think we find here a scriptural teaching regarding testifying to a work of God in our hearts and lives to others.

Notice these things:

1. This man was not an apologist.

I don't care how much you read, or how carefully you study, there will always be a question you don't know the answer to. The human mind has, in my experience, near-omnipotent ability to make all manner of stupid and foolish questions with which to try and make a humble saint stumble as they defend their faith, per 1 Pet. 3:15. The blind man did not come to the Pharisees and say, "So, what do you make of the congruence between Isaiah 53 and the life of Jesus of Nazareth?" He didn't know such things. I think the passage might even be suggesting that the blind man was in his early teens, due to the Pharisees going first to his parents, and then pointing out that he was of age (which is Jewish society of the day was 12 years old).

2. His answer can't be argued with

Oh, the Pharisees try alright, but they dismiss his validity to answer, rather than the answer itself. This is because no-one can argue with something it is obvious, individual and true. This man used to be blind; and now he was staring them right in the eyes, alert and intelligent.

So it is with us. You used to be blind. You could not see the things of God, nor the truth of the Gospel, and then Jesus commanded sight through the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:3-5) and now you see! People cannot argue with this, if it is evident in your life.

My own life is a wonderful testimony to God's grace. I used to be a convicted criminal, drug abuser, parent-hater, vandal. Now, I give much of my time to helping the aged, and sick, and poor, and teaching my brothers and sisters in the faith the scriptures, and sharing the message of Jesus Christ with the lost. The fact of the matter is, like it or not, there was no process of turning over a new leaf; I did not need a make over - I needed a resurrection, and I changed in 15 seconds flat; darkness to light, death to life, lie to truth, I was free. People can't argue with that! My mum, who much to my sorrow, cannot stand my Christian faith and hates the things of God still cannot deny that I was a brand new person over night. My behaviour changed completely, and I've kept growing. I work to serve them at home, and I give my time to babysitting whenever they need it, and I'm simply not who I used to be.

So, tips for using your testimony in evangelism.

Don't pretend to know all the answers. If there is a question you can't answer, and there's no-one else on your team with you who can provide one, don't lie - say honestly, "Look, I don't know the answer to that question. I'll go away and I'll study that and provide an answer for you if that's a genuine issue for you, but all I can tell you is this; I used to be different, and I used to hate God, and something changed me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, and I would love to share with you how that came to be in my heart.

Have a clear view of how Jesus changed you. Don't point to your ability to pray a prayer or keep yourself holy, or anything except the Cross of Jesus Christ! Purpose to know nothing with an unbeliever except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2) and share how that work of Christ has altered and changed your entire existence, and how it continues to.

So there's just a few things for you to chew over, from scripture and from my own experience.

God Bless you as you seek daily the lost to win.

In Christ Jesus and for His glory's sake,

Arron

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