Using Your Personal Testimony

In witness for Christ, we are to proclaim the gospel. We are to tell people of what God has done for us through the finished work of Christ. One of the tools we use in witnessing to someone is our personal testimony. A testimony is an eyewitness account of events that have taken place. I am sure we have seen many court cases (real or fictional) where the lawyers call for witnesses that give their testimony in regard to the case.

A Christians testimony is our story of who were before Christ, how we met Christ, and how we have changed. I can't share your testimony nor can you share mine. While sharing your testimony is a good thing, we must be careful to think that we are sharing the gospel when using our testimony. Our personal testimony is not the gospel. The gospel is God's story of what He has done to bring His children to Himself through the finished work of Christ. In his book, The Gospel & Personal Evangelism, Mark Dever wrote:

An account of a changed life is wonderful and inspiring thing, but it's the gospel of Jesus Christ that explains what it's all about and how it happened...It is good to share what God has done in our lives, but in sharing our testimonies we may not actually make clear what Christ's claims are on other people. In order to evangelize, we must be clear about that.

Let me share with you one word of caution. Testimony is, of course, popular in our postmodern, that's good-for-you-age. Who would object to your thinking you've gotten something good from Christ? But wait and see what happens when you try to move the conversation from what Jesus has done for you to the facts of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and how that all applies to your nonbelieving friend. That's when you discover that testimony is not necessarily evangelism.

Using your personal testimony is a good thing, but it does not replace the gospel.