Testimony

You Wear His Coat Very Well

There is a magnificent story in Marie Chapian’s book Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy. The book told of the sufferings of the true church in Yugoslavia where so much wrong has been perpetrated by the politicized ecclesiastical hierarchy. That which has gone on in the name of Christ for the enriching and empowering of corrupt church officials has been a terrible affront to decency.

One day an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived in a certain village. He commiserated with an elderly man named Cimmerman on the tragedies he had experienced and talked to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, a history replete with plundering, exploiting, and indeed with killing innocent people. “My own nephew was killed by them,” he said and angrily rebuffed any effort on Jakov’s part to talk about Christ. “They wear those elaborate coats and caps and crosses,” he said, “signifying a heavenly commission, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore.”

Jakov, looking for an occasion to get Cimmerman to change his line of thinking, said, “Cimmerman, can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track; they recognized your coat. What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?”

“I would deny it,” said Cimmerman.

“‘Ah, but we saw your coat,’ they would say,” retorted Jakov. This analogy quite annoyed Cimmerman, who ordered Jakov to leave his home.

Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share the love of Christ, with him. Finally one day Cimmerman asked, “How does one become a Christian?” and Jakov taught him the simple steps of repentance for sin and of trust in the work of Jesus Christ and gently pointed him to the Shepherd of his soul. Cimmerman bent his knee on the soil with his head bowed and surrendered his life to Christ. As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he embraced Jakov and said, “Thank you for being in my life.” And then he pointed to the heavens and whispered, “You wear His coat very well.”

Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, (Word Publ., Dallas: 1994), pp. 101-102

Is Your Honsty Above Question?

As a schoolboy, I worked with my father during the summer months. Each morning we stopped to pick up the early edition of the newspaper at a small grocery store.

One morning when we got to work, my father found that by mistake he had taken two newspapers instead of one. He first thought of paying the man the extra price the next morning, but then after a moment’s consideration he said, “I had better go back with this paper. I don’t want the man at the store to think I’m dishonest.” He got in his car, drove back to the store, and returned the paper.

About a week later, someone stole money from the grocery store. When police pinpointed the time it occurred, the grocer remembered only two people being in the store at the time—and one was my father. The grocer immediately dismissed my father as a suspect, saying, “That man is really honest. He came all the way back here just to return a newspaper he took by mistake.” The police then focused their investigation on the other man, who soon made a full confession. My father’s honesty made a big impression on that non-Christian storeowner, and on me.

Does your Christian walk square with your Christian talk? Is your honesty above question?

Our Daily Bread, March-May, 1998, p. for April 15

Preparing Your Personal

You may use one of two types of personal testimonies:

•      A salvation testimony is the story of how you became a Christian.

•      A recovery testimony is the story of how Jesus helped you at a point of need in your life.

Successful, powerful salvation and recovery testimonies have several elements that you’ll want to incorporate:

My Salvation Testimony

1. My life before receiving Christ

2. How I received Jesus Christ

3. How Jesus Christ makes my life meaningful

My Recovery Testimony

1. My life seemed fairly normal until . . .

2. I discovered hope and help in Jesus when . . .

3. I am glad I have a personal relationship with Jesus today because . . .

Once you’ve shared your testimony, you can ask, “May I share with you how something like this can happen to you?”

Give adequate and precise details showing how Christ became Savior and Lord of your life. Tell about yourself. Humor and human interest are keys. Most of us find that human interest is easier to achieve than humor. The average unbeliever thinks a Christian comes from another world or is strange and unusual. Be sure not to leave the impression that walking down an aisle, joining a church, or being baptized is what made you a Christian! Turning from your sins to Christ and placing your faith in Him is what did it. As important as these acts of obedience to Christ are, they did not provide forgiveness and eternal life and will not do so for anyone else!

Be sure that in your testimony you clearly show the person how to receive the gift of salvation.

Use language that the non-Christian can understand (1 Cor. 14:9). Avoid churchy, religious, theological terms. You understand them, but the other person may not. Such terms as “walked the aisle,” “took the preacher’s hand,” “justified,” “convicted,” and “redeemed” may be meaningless or even misleading.

When useful, relate your testimony to Bible verses. Your experience will illustrate the Bible truth.

Bring your testimony up-to-date by sharing what Jesus means to you today.

Make your testimony brief—no longer than a minute and a half.

In Ian Fleming’s From Russia with Love, James Bond’s friend captures the enemy. He ties the villain up in a chair to hold him for a few hours while Bond rescues the leading lady. Bond’s friend settles in for a bit of mischievous “torture” by saying, “I have led a fascinating life. Let me tell you all about it.”

It is not realistic to assume that the person you are witnessing to will want to hear everything about your life. It may be that they need to tell you their own story. Prepare your testimony so that you can share it in about a minute and a half. Get to the point quickly, realizing that the attention span of the listener may be brief.

Darrell W. Robinson, People Sharing Jesus, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), pp. 203-207

Practice Sharing Your Personal

•      Write out your testimony, using the three-point outline. Practice reading it aloud several times.

•      Ask a person you know to allow you to share it with him or her.

•      Ask God to guide you to a person with whom you can share.

•      Introduce your testimony by saying, “May I share with you the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me? It changed my life!”

•      In concluding your testimony, ask, “Has this kind of experience happened to you?”

Below is a sample worksheet for preparing your personal testimony.

My Salvation Testimony

“May I share with you the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me?”

1. My life before receiving Christ:

2. How I received Jesus Christ:

3. How Jesus Christ makes my life meaningful:

“May I share with you how something like this can happen in your life?”

My Recovery Testimony

“May I share with you something that means so much to me?”

1. My life seemed fairly normal until . . .

2. I discovered hope and help in Jesus when . . .

3. I am glad I have a personal relationship with Jesus today because . . .

“May I share how something like this can happen to you?”

Darrell W. Robinson, People Sharing Jesus, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), pp. 203-207