Author: Pastor Robin Tyner
If you’re a born again Christian, then you have a unique and powerful story to share how Christ has changed your life. Christians fall into one of two categories: those who know a specific date of their conversion, and those for whom coming to know the Lord was more of a process over time. Either way, you have a story to share of the difference Christ has made in your life.
Our faith stories are powerful, because the skeptic may deny your doctrine, but he cannot ignore the fact your life has been changed. On Paul’s third missionary journey, and his trip to Rome, he stood before different audiences and presented Christ to them (Acts 22-26). He addressed unbelievers, many of them hostile and rude. Do you know the method Paul used? He shared his personal faith story.
One of my roles as a pastor is to encourage our church family to share their stories with each other and with those who don’t know Christ. Your story of how Christ changed your life is not only powerful, it’s as unique as your fingerprints. No one has the same story that you do.
Shortly before his ascension into heaven, the resurrected Jesus commissioned his followers to be his witnesses. He said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Witnesses of Jesus have a story to tell. A story of who he is, why he came to earth, and how he has made you a new person. As Christ followers we have been entrusted with, “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” which is the good news of the gospel.
My prayer for all of us at Stonebridge is that God will help us understand the power of our story. And we will follow the admonition the Bible gives us to, “Be ready at all times to answer who asks you to explain the hope (your story) you have in Christ, but do it with gentleness and respect” (I Peter 3:15).
No persuasive technique will ever take the place of your story. I challenge you to give serious consideration to thinking through, and then writing out, the way God made you a new creation. I’m convinced that a healthy church culture is a storytelling culture.
Photo Credit: Andrew Seaman, Unsplash
