RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

Evangelism – 7
Sammy Tippit: I want to welcome you back to our discussion on sharing Christ with other people, letting them know how good he is, what he wants to do in their hearts and lives. I’ve been visiting with Wayne Jenkins, who is Director of Evangelism for the Louisiana Baptist Convention and has trained many, many people in sharing Christ with others.
Wayne, we’re going to turn a corner now. We’ve been talking about deeply spiritual things: the place and role of prayer, the place and role of the Holy Spirit. These are deeply spiritual things. Now we’re going to begin to get into some practical things. We have a good bridge here. The bridge is sharing your testimony, because that is deeply spiritual, but at the same time it’s very practical. So this is a great bridge.
As we get into these practical things, I want to encourage you not to forget the spiritual things and just go out and do the practical. We’re going to get into these practical things. Let me share why I think it’s a bridge. In Revelation 12, verse 11, the Bible talks about a future event. Revelation is about the future, but it talks about the victory of the believer, and he says they overcame him (talking about Satan) by the blood of the Lamb (which is the message), the word of their testimony, and that they loved not their lives even unto death.  There’s something powerful about the testimony. It shatters Satan’s forces, his power, just when you share your testimony. Whenever I preach, when I do evangelistic meetings, every time you’ll hear me share my testimony. I might do it in a different way each time, but I share my testimony, because I know the power of it. So I want us to talk about sharing our testimonies and how to do it. A lot of people don’t really know where to start, how to share their testimony. We talked about clarity, and I think the testimony needs to be very clear for it to be powerful. So how do we do that?
Wayne Jenkins: First of all, we need to know exactly what you said. It’s effective. Your personal testimony is extremely effective. It has authority. People might try to refute God’s Word, but like the man who was healed and said, “All I know is I was blind and now I see…” They couldn’t refute his testimony of what had taken place. The same is true with you and me.
It communicates. People like stories, so you’re talking about something that people want to hear. You don’t have to memorize it. It’s you. It’s a part of you, so it flows, and it’s a good story to tell. It relates. Everybody has a void in their life. Everybody is empty. We have this God-shaped vacuum. You’re telling how God filled it. It relates.
Sammy: Before we go on and move past that, let me just say… I think there are some people who grew up in Christian families, grew up in Christian homes going to church, and they came to Christ at a young age, and they say, “My testimony doesn’t relate to people, because I wasn’t a drug addict. I wasn’t in prison. I wasn’t some…” But the relating is not those things. The relating is the emptiness we all have. I just want to bring that out, because I think everybody needs to know they have a story to share.
Wayne: That’s right. When we get in this in the second session, we’ll talk specifically about the person who has been in a Christian home and brought up in a Christian home and who has a fear of that. “I don’t have one of these outstanding testimonies.” Yes, he does. We’ll talk about that.
It’s powerful, because your story can impact an unbeliever, just like what you said. Every time you preach on one of these crusades you share your story. It makes an impact on the lives of those people who hear the story, and they say, “If God can do that for him, God can do it for me.” I think it’s that kind of impact.
The other thing is it’s always with you. I may not always have a Bible on me. I may not always have a tract on me, but I always have my story of what Christ did in my life. Those are things that make it an extremely effective tool. Now there are some tips for writing it. First of all, we ought to all write our testimony out.
Sammy: So you’re talking about writing it out so that you have it down clearly.
Wayne: So you can do it in about 250 words or less, if you can do it like that. You’re talking about a three- or four-minute testimony that you can give to people at anytime. You need to write it down to know where you’re beginning, where you’re going, where you won’t ramble and get caught in a lot of travelogue and that kind of thing.
Sammy: So give us some of those tips.
Wayne: We’re going to give you in the next one a simple outline from the Scriptures. It’ll be simple. You’re going to be brief. That’s what we just said. Keep it short. Two, three, or four minutes. We have to be conversational. It’s not going to be stiff. It’s not going to be formal, and you’re not going to use what we would say is church lingo or church words. There are some things… You and I have had difficulty even right here talking. We talk about lost, and then we have to go back and say the unbeliever.
Sammy: What that means.
Wayne: What that means. You have to make sure you speak in such a way that you don’t use some of your churchy words.
Sammy: That they don’t understand. I’ve found, Wayne, it’s okay if you explain that, but a lot of the terminology we use people don’t understand what we’re talking about.
Wayne: Even using a word like salvation. It’s such a good word. We understand that. That person may not understand that, but if you talk about committing your life to Christ and coming to Christ and having your life changed and transformed, that communicates better than just the word salvation. It explains all of that. You need to emphasize in your testimony not how wicked you were but how wonderful Christ is. So remember that. That’s what we want to do.
Sammy: This is important. Again, it goes back to that thing of, “I was 9 or 10 years old when I gave my life to Christ.” Well, you’re emphasizing how good God is, not how bad you were. Go ahead.
Wayne: Then be specific. Don’t get caught up in a lot of travelogue, but be specific about, “Here’s the way my life was, but here’s what he has done to change me.” Not “My life is better since.” How is it better? Let them know some specific things God has done for you. It may involve even some physical healing. It may be emotional healing. It could be anything that you could say, “Here are some things that specifically God has done for me.”
Sammy: Or a particular change. Like for instance, racial attitudes for me. God changed for me a lot of attitudes racially. I grew up in a racially charged time. So those specific things.
Wayne: In the process, do not be negative toward other denominations or church groups or religious groups. You won’t win anything.
Sammy: We’re not preaching to people; we’re sharing our story.
Wayne: We’re sharing our story. You don’t want to get into that and get lost into that. The other thing is don’t be shocked when you’re dealing with somebody and they start sharing the way they live. “Oh my God! You live that way?” Don’t be shocked. You’re telling your story, and just keep moving on.
I think the other thing is to relive your story. You and I were in a meeting at a college, and the college president was going to share his testimony at our request. We knew what it was. He started it off with some 3×5 cards and started reading it, and then in the process started reliving it, sort of discarded the cards, and when he got through he had tears in his eyes, and he was not a really emotional guy. The student body when he got through began to applaud. They had never heard the story before, and it was amazing.
Sammy: The thing I want to leave everyone with is this: you have a story. If you know Christ, you have a story. If you don’t know Christ and you’re just religious, then you don’t have a story, but if you truly know Christ, if you’ve trusted him to come into your life, forgive your sins, change your life… If that has happened, if you put your faith in him and began to follow him, then you have a story, and your story is unique. Your story is powerful, and you need to be sharing that story with other people.
In our next session we’re going to give you some really practical tips on how to share that story, and you’ll be able to walk away with being able to do that. I hope you’ll take this today and let God use you. Begin to pray. Begin to think about your story. Begin to write it down, and in the next session we’ll give you some things that will help you to do that.
Wayne: Amen.