Students who grew up in the church might envy those stories
(we’ll call them “good testimonies”), knowing that surely if they had suffered those
experiences, they could see God better. And if they could see God better, they would
know why they should tell their friends about Him. It is more obvious in the
mind of a 16-year-old that God saved someone from death by drugs than that God
saved them from the nothing they think they are experiencing in their suburban
church life (we’ll call this a “bad testimony”).
As we all know, Christians are widely seen as hypocrites and
morally judgmental people. In fact, we are called to be the opposite. I have
always struggled with the idea of a calling, but it’s pretty clear, even to me,
that Christians are supposed to be different. But if we are supposed to be
different, what standard are we supposed to be different from? This is where
the “good testimony” versus “bad testimony” comes in.
When a woman stands on stage and tells the story of
redemption from terrible circumstances, I can see that her life is different
and her demons are obvious. She has, in a sense, escaped the standard of the
world in favor of faith.
On the other hand, whenever I try to tell my testimony, it
sounds boring. I adhere to the standard of a good church kid, and the sins of
good church kids aren’t as obvious. In fact, good church kids are less likely
to see their sin themselves, and therein is the sin. We think we are “good
enough.”
Self-righteousness is most often associated with Pharisees,
but the concept has slunk into church culture and permeated the congregation.
It gives us the license to believe that we can save ourselves. We ask, “If’
I’ve never done anything bad. How did Jesus save me?” Our list of good deeds
and the number of times we said no screams “Innocent!” in our minds while our
handle on eternity waivers.
A relationship with God is not based on a list of good
behaviors or acceptable decisions. We cannot save ourselves. Our salvation is
that we have been delivered from thinking we could be saved by our own right,
by our own actions!
Tim Keller sums it up well in his book The Prodigal God:
“Mercy and forgiveness must be free and unmerited to the
wrongdoer. If the wrongdoer has to do something to merit it, then it isn't
mercy, but forgiveness always comes at a
cost to the one granting the forgiveness.”
The salvation that Christ offers is purely based on His
grace and choice. Our response must be wholehearted devotion to Him in
submission to whatever He asks. Submission is the hardest lifestyle, and we
will be deaf to His call if we are consistently focused on our self-imposed
ideas of perfect performance.
It is undeniable that stories differ, but let us never be so
unaware that we believe that our story will win us a relationship with the
Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
