Introduction
Good morning! Is everybody awake? Is anybody awake? Good! Because we’re going to start with a little word association brain-stretcher.
Here’s what we’re going to do. I will say a word or phrase, and then you just tell the person sitting next to you the first thing that comes to mind. Your response can be anything… anything that comes to mind. But the key is to go quickly. You don’t give this a lot of thought. The idea is to capture what immediately comes to mind when prompted. Are you ready?
All right, here’s the first word …
Mona! …Any “Lisas” here today? Okay, so some of you are getting the hang of it. Are you ready for the next one? How about … FA Cup! … Ready for the next one? Holiday … And the next one; Diet … And the next one; Strictly … And the next one; Prime … And the last one; Born-again Christian …
Okay, let’s stop there for a moment. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could display everything that was said after “born-again Christian” appeared on the screen? Personally, I think the results would be fascinating.
And what do you think would happen if we showed the same screen to a hundred people who are not believers and have never set foot inside a church? If we said, “Do you know any born-again Christians? If so, what are they like? What are your general impressions of them?”
We might get quite a reaction, don’t you think? What if their perceptions included things like these:
“I’ve come across a few Christians, and the ones I know are … hmmm, how do I describe them … they’re … a bit intense … they need to loosen up a bit.”
Or “I don’t know any. They probably wouldn’t rub shoulders with the likes of me.”
Or what about … “I know one born-again Christian at work… No thanks!”
I hope those opinions are rare. But in just in case they are widely held views, why don’t we think of ways to reverse the trends and give the watching world something good to say about Christians.
I wish that whenever I asked someone to tell me what they think of the Christians they know, the first thought that would come to mind would be something like, “Christians? Can’t say it’s true for them all, but the ones I know are good, trustworthy people.”
Or “The Christians I’ve come across are just so kind!”
Or “Christians? They tell you the truth … they are always straight with you.”
Or “Christians? They have concern for the poor - no one cares for the disadvantaged like Christians do.”
And I wish that whenever Christians talked about their faith, they were clear and credible - and interesting. Am I alone in this or is this what you wish for too?
I hope your answer is yes. Because that is what we’re devoting our time to this week. Primarily, we want to answer two questions:
• How do we talk about God with clarity and passion?
• How can we share our personal faith stories in a way that’s both modest and engaging?
1) Stories Are Powerful
The power of story - and of words - is undeniable throughout the Bible. Let me remind you how supremely useful and supernaturally empowered, words can be.
Psalm 119:130 says that words can actually give light. They can give insight to those who don’t yet understand.
Proverbs 16:24 says that pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Isn’t that a beautiful image?
Ecclesiastes 10:12 says that although a fool is consumed by his own lips, the words from a wise person’s mouth are … gracious.
Deuteronomy 32:2 says words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.
Humble words. Healing words. Grace-filled words. Aren’t these the types of words you want to speak and be known for?
If your closest friends or the family members who live under your roof were polled anonymously about this, would they say that in the course of normal, everyday life, you can be counted on to speak words of encouragement and grace?
Think about the last thing you said before you left for church today for example. Do you remember who you were talking to? Do you remember what you said?
Were the words you spoke life-giving and grace-filled? Or were they, well … not?
Interesting, isn’t it, that God allows such power to inhabit our words - for good and for ill? I think there are two areas where effective words could massively improve the way people see Christians:
1. The first area is how we talk about God … explaining who he is and what he does.
2. The second is how we explain our personal experience of God … the main thing he’s done in our lives.
What is God’s story? What is your story? And how can you tell them well? (So well that your listeners walk away saying, “Now that I understand! That I enjoyed listening to! That I long for in my own life!”)
2) God Has a Story - Learn to Tell It Well
Last week, we discovered that it’s important to focus on developing a friendship instead of just using people as an evangelistic project. It’s really important to discover the other person’s story instead of imposing your own agenda. And it’s absolutely critical to listen for the Spirit’s promptings about suitable steps you might take to meet a need for the person you’re talking with.
I have a hunch … I have a hunch that once you commit yourself to engaging with people, living in 3D, the whole bit - God is going to blow open some doors, spiritually speaking. He is going to give you opportunities to speak about him or tell someone how your faith journey started.
For example, Deb Hird shared this with me this week and I quote this with her permission:
“I had a kind of Just Walk Across the Room experience last week. I was steered out of my comfort zone in a conversation that ended up about faith, with a bloke whose standing with God has been a mystery to me! What I found amazing was how he told me his story, where he's at with God and the church and why he feels the way he does! Not only has God put me into this situation but he has blessed me with a conversation that has now inspired me as to what to pray about for this man. It was amazing that once this person started talking and I just listened, giving him my whole attention, his story just 'poured out' in conversation. Praise God for that 10 minute encounter out of my circle of comfort last week. I'm keen for the next one now! Bring it on!”
God has a story. A powerful story. And part of your job - and mine - is to learn to tell it well.
Let’s just test your current comfort level for telling this story.
What would you say if someone you know were to come to you today and say this: “You know, Joe (assuming your name is Joe), we’ve been friends for a long time. And you’ve been really good not to force your God-thing on me, even though you probably think my life would change hugely for the better if I’d give it a chance. Well, anyway, you could say things have gone a bit pear shaped in my life, and … well, I was thinking about maybe trying out church … Basically, it’s my last resort. So I just wonder if you could sort of explain the whole God thing to me.”
That is what we call, in sophisticated theological terms, a wide-open door.
Can you feel a lump forming in your throat, your shoulders tightening, your palms getting sweaty and your heart starting to thump?
There are many ways you could set about explaining God’s story. One is called “The Bridge” - some of you may be familiar with it. It’s simple, really, but it is an effective and visually compelling way to illustrate precisely what Jesus has done.
If ever you find yourself in a conversation where the person you’re talking to really does want to understand more about your faith, grab a piece of scrap paper and ask their permission to sketch this out. Here’s how it goes.
All right, for starters, we have to establish two realities: people and God.
Between people and God is a great chasm - a division that exists because of people’s inclination to prefer their ways to God’s ways. The Bible calls this chasm “sin.” The dilemma we face is that whenever we want to get to God we can’t just leap over the chasm. It’s too big. That’s why people often say that God seems far away.
So people try to build bridges. They try to be as good as they can be, donating money to charity, giving up chocolate, visiting an elderly neighbour or lighting a candle in a church. There’s nothing wrong with those things – but they just can’t get you to God. The chasm is too wide.
All the effort in the world is not enough to build a bridge that gets us to the other side. But thankfully, God saw our dilemma and he did something about it. Because he loves us so much, he provided a way of getting close to him. His solution was to send his Son, Jesus, to be the bridge.
If you remember nothing else about this illustration, remember this: Christ came to earth to be our bridge, and whoever makes the decision to cross the bridge will live with God forever. John 5:24 puts it this way, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life”.
You may choose to use a different way to explain this, and that’s fine. But please find one, good explanation of who God is and what he has done, so that when someone asks you, you’re 100 percent ready to give a clear answer.
Whatever illustration you use, keep in mind the types of words we looked at earlier. Humble words. Healing words. Grace-filled words. Let your speech be well-seasoned with these things.
You are not responsible for transforming a human heart … that is the role of the Holy Spirit. But you are responsible, when prompted to do so, to open your mouth and give a loving, clear, and humble account of who God is, and what he’s done for the world in Christ. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.
1 Peter 3.15 puts it this way: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
3) You Have a Story – Learn to Tell It Well
Not only does God have a story, but you have a powerful story as well. And your job is to learn to tell it well!
Do you believe what I just said … that you have a powerful story to tell as well?
You do. If you have come into relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then you have a wonderful, inspirational story to tell. Here’s why that’s true … Regardless how old you were when you came to faith, hopefully grace and mercy and love have made a difference to your life.
Take the man from Luke 5 who once had leprosy. It says that “one day in one of the villages there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus he fell down before him in prayer and said, ‘If you want to, you can cleanse me.’ Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I want to. Be clean.’” Then and there his skin was smooth, the leprosy gone.
Can you visualize what that must have looked like? What do you think he told every single person who would listen from that point forward? “I was a leper, an outcast. But then I met Jesus! And now I’m totally and completely new.” How did he feel in the hours following his healing?
“This is unbelievable! Just this morning, my skin was so flaking off in lumps. But now look at it! It’s clean. It’s smooth. It’s healed! Everything about me was rotting, mouldy, diseased … but I’ve been recreated. It’s as if I were never sick! This is unreal. Where did my despair go? It’s vanished. Jesus fixed all of that. I want to live! I finally feel … alive.”
Do you see a before-and-after here?
I was sick. But now I’m well.
I was diseased. But now I’m healthy.
I was an outcast. But now I’m accepted.
I was defiled. But now I’m good as new.
I was tarnished. But now I’m clean.
I was left for dead. But now I have … a future.
But here’s the point: for the vast majority us here today, we also have a before and an after.
What were you like before you came to Christ? What was the experience of embracing faith in Jesus like? And what you are like now?
“I was striving … but now I’m grateful.”
“I was self-destructive … but now I’m healthy.”
“Guilty, but now liberated.”
“Fear-stricken, but now confident.”
“Despairing, and now hopeful!”
Your own before-and-after story doesn’t have to be more complicated than that. It just has to be clear, easy to understand and most of all… real.
1 Corinthians 14:9 says, “If you speak in a way no can one understand, what’s the point of opening your mouth?” I like the way God says it as it is.
So testimonies go wrong for several reasons. Firstly, when Christians just won’t shut up. They go on and on and on … and even when the victim who’s listening sends all sorts of warning signals of disinterest and irritation, they just keep wittering on. Please don’t bore people by talking too much!
Secondly, testimonies go wrong when Christians are fuzzy about their story’s main point. They get all tangled up in a dozen story lines and leave their listeners frustrated and confused. Please don’t bewilder people with tortuous details and rambling sidetracks!
Thirdly, testimonies go wrong when Christians pile on the jargon. Please don’t baffle people with language from Planet Zion or obscure Bible quotes that no one normal would understand. Like this exaggerated example… (25 second video exerpt)
And fourthly, testimonies go wrong when … please hear me on this … your testimony will derail, blow up, and leave a trail of smoke if you play the superiority card. If you claim you have your act together and the listener is somehow inferior to you, you’re heading for the ditch … and fast. Please don’t belittle people. Here’s a flesh creeper for you… (15 second video exerpt)
Closing
Yuck! If that posture is ever true of me, I hereby give you all permission to take me out the back and put me out of my misery.
Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do as a congregation this week: we’re going to write down our individual before-and-after faith story… in 150 words or less.
But wait, there’s more! If you’re thinking “I need somebody to read my testimony and give me some feedback” … then this is your lucky day!
Because not only do you have the opportunity to write it down but you also have the opportunity to email it to the address that’s up on the screen … and receive a candid thumbs-up or thumbs-down, courtesy of me! The address is also on the bottom of your pew sheet. There’ll be a box on Sandra’s desk over the next three weeks if you haven’t got e-mail.
How does that sound? Something brief, (no eighteen-page epics please), something clear and straightforward, jargon-free and humble. I am looking forward to hearing from you and I hope you have an open heart toward a little constructive feedback.
Wouldn’t you love to have a simple testimony, all ready to face the world, and to go and tell it confidently as often as God gives you opportunity?
Once again, can I encourage you to read chapters 6 to 8 of the book in order to apply this to your own life? There are some great examples of well-told faith stories, there’s more on the bridge illustration, there’s another one called the ladder illustration which is really good - and a lot more too. Karen Snowden was telling me on Friday how inspirational she found it those chapters. She gets extra points for doing the reading before the sermon! There are still a few copies available on the bookstall if you want to buy one.
We might not manage to reverse all of the negative perceptions that are out there about Christians, but we can do our part to ensure that as far as this church is concerned, we have our act together on God’s story and our story.
And I would love the people of this parish to say, “The Christians over there at All Saints’ - when they talk about God it’s actually really interesting. It’s crystal clear and, you know what, there’s zero cringe factor. And when they start to talk about what God has done in their lives … it’s amazing really, it makes you want to know more!”
Is that what you want too?
Let’s stand to pray…
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 6th February 2011
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