The Power of Testimonies in the Church

An Atheist friend of mine once said to me through email, “There’s no evidence for religion”. I could hardly believe he even said it. I think it would have been appropriate to reply (although I didn’t), “There’s no evidence for Atheism”, for what my friend does not understand is that everything in the world is evidence for religion. Everything points to something beyond itself. The good, the bad, the atrocious, whatever…it all points beyond itself. Nothing touchable in your office right now appeared there all on its own. Every pen, every marker, every paper-clip, every stapler points beyond itself. By its very existence it gives evidence of a maker, a manufacturer, a designer, and it need not say “made in China” for you to know that.  The trouble with modern-man’s lack of faith is not in a lack of “evidence” for religion. The evidence is every bit as much there as it was a thousands of years ago. The trouble is with our eyes.

I find this true in the church as well. It’s not that the Lord is not working in our lives as a depressed Christian might say; it’s that we oftentimes do not have eyes to see Him working in our lives. We fail to recognize all He does because we do not make it a habit of identifying and naming His movements. I suspect we shall arrive on the other side of Eternity to have the Lord ask us, “Why did you not thank Me more for all the things I did for you?” To which we will reply, “I didn’t know You were doing those things”.

I believe regular times of testimony in the church are a great way to foster a habit of identifying the movements of the Lord in our lives, both big and small. The big testimonies people offer are really encouraging because they are hard to deny. There is a temptation, however, to hear the small testimonies and ask oneself, “did God really do that?", to which I try to tell myself, “try proving He didn’t”. This past month at BCC was a month filled with big testimonies. Here’s a recap;

• We had a baptism!
• One member received a spontaneous check for $24,000 from a family member to buy a new car. Their former car managed to make it to the dealership for trade-in where it basically died in the parking lot.
• Members from India received a Visa extension from the Government after months of prayer by the entire church. This news came on the heels of their mother’s death in India (literally the next day). Deep sadness followed by exuberant relief.
• With tears in her eyes a wife praised her husband in front of the whole church for his rapid growth in faith. This was powerful because we all knew that their marital resurrection is a direct result of their new mutual faith in Christ.
• The last week of school my High School students bought me (Shaun) a brand new Kindle Fire HD. I saw the Lord’s hand in this because it was not their parents who bought it for me but them. I have been trying to put into practice our "Kingdom of God" series of lessons by submitting everything I do to the kingship of Christ, even bus driving. I believe the Lord rewarded me for performing that job for Him and not for money.
• The Lord brought my daughter August into the world in an unexpected way. Since the doctor and nurses were not in the room at the time I had no choice but to deliver her myself! I wonder if this is an indication of the sort of woman she shall become- she acts when she is ready whether others are ready or not ;).

I pray that you, your congregation as a whole or your small group will make it a habit of identifying and naming the movements of the Lord in your life; it really fosters faith.