The other day I had someone ask me why Presbyterians do not make a bigger deal about professing our faith in Jesus Christ. Quickly rising to the defense of our denomination, I told him, “But we do make a big deal of it! Every time we welcome a confirmation class, we stress the importance of their making a personal profession of faith.”
“When they were baptized as infants,” I explained, “their parents spoke for them. They didn’t have to say a word. But at confirmation, they stand alone and have the opportunity to speak for themselves.”
He wasn’t persuaded. “But all you do is have them answer a question?” he objected. “Why not have them tell their stories? Why not have them share with the congregation how they came to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior?”
At this point, I began to understand what he was getting at. “You mean a testimonial?” I said.
“Exactly. Why don’t Presbyterians have more testimonials?”
That’s a good question, and I think the answer lies in the fact that we don’t ever want to make our professions of faith seem like something we decided to do. After all, we didn’t find Jesus, he found us. The important thing is not that we decided to go with God, but that God, in the person of Jesus Christ, decided to go with us!
Once, when Martin Luther heard a man bragging about how he had “accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior,” Luther remarked, “Big deal! Why are you patting yourself on the back? If a rich man walks up to a poor beggar on the street and hands him a thousand dollars and the beggar accepts that gift, just think of how absurd it would then be for the beggar to go about town bragging, ‘Look at me. I was wise enough to accept a gift of a thousand dollars.’”
Of course, not all testimonies are egocentric. I’ve heard some wonderful testimonies that described how Christ changed a person’s life. But I’ve also heard testimonies that bordered on being boastful—almost as if the person was saying, “Look at me. I was wise enough to accept God’s grace. I made the decision to accept Jesus Christ!”
The bottom line—as Jesus himself plainly told the disciples—is that “You did not choose me … I chose you.” That’s our testimonial!
“When they were baptized as infants,” I explained, “their parents spoke for them. They didn’t have to say a word. But at confirmation, they stand alone and have the opportunity to speak for themselves.”
He wasn’t persuaded. “But all you do is have them answer a question?” he objected. “Why not have them tell their stories? Why not have them share with the congregation how they came to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior?”
At this point, I began to understand what he was getting at. “You mean a testimonial?” I said.
“Exactly. Why don’t Presbyterians have more testimonials?”
That’s a good question, and I think the answer lies in the fact that we don’t ever want to make our professions of faith seem like something we decided to do. After all, we didn’t find Jesus, he found us. The important thing is not that we decided to go with God, but that God, in the person of Jesus Christ, decided to go with us!
Once, when Martin Luther heard a man bragging about how he had “accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior,” Luther remarked, “Big deal! Why are you patting yourself on the back? If a rich man walks up to a poor beggar on the street and hands him a thousand dollars and the beggar accepts that gift, just think of how absurd it would then be for the beggar to go about town bragging, ‘Look at me. I was wise enough to accept a gift of a thousand dollars.’”
Of course, not all testimonies are egocentric. I’ve heard some wonderful testimonies that described how Christ changed a person’s life. But I’ve also heard testimonies that bordered on being boastful—almost as if the person was saying, “Look at me. I was wise enough to accept God’s grace. I made the decision to accept Jesus Christ!”
The bottom line—as Jesus himself plainly told the disciples—is that “You did not choose me … I chose you.” That’s our testimonial!
posted by Dr. Robert Crilley at
2:19 PM
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