If You Don’t Have a Dramatic Testimony

By Stephen Altrogge | Feb 18, 2014 10:30 am

Everyone loves to hear an old-fashioned, rip-roaring, “glory!” conversion testimony.

You know the kind I’m talking about. The dude who was a member of the Crips, a meth dealer, and a mob hit man before he found Jesus. Or the girl who grew up in a Christian home, then got involved in drugs, then got pregnant, then joined a biker gang, then got saved. Or the hardcore atheist who hit rock-bottom, had some sort of existential crisis, and then found Jesus in the most unlikely of places.

Every good testimony involves finding Jesus in the most unlikely of places, like a homeless shelter, or a working banana plantation, or a bowling alley. Every good testimony also involves a grandmother who prayed every day or a mother who never gave up hope. A really good testimony will include running from the cops and/or beating up a Christian who shared the gospel.

When You’re Not That Guy

But many of us don’t have a particularly gripping testimony. I grew up in a Christian home with a wonderful mom and dad. My dad read the Bible to us every morning before breakfast. I was the kid who won the Bible trivia contests in Sunday School. I never did drugs. I didn’t have premarital sex. I didn’t run around with the bad crowd. I never served time in a juvenile detention center. I didn’t get into fights (although one time I tried to pick a fight with a really small kid who was annoying me, but that’s a different story).

I wasn’t an angry kid who listened to Rage Against the Machine and drew the anarchy symbol on his Chuck Taylors. I listened to dcTalk and Michael W. Smith (“Secret Ambition” was one of the greatest Christian songs of all time). My childhood and teenage years were relatively drama free.

Saved from Sex and Drugs — At Age Six

As I’ve gotten older and interacted with more people, I’ve come to realize what a blessing it is to not have an interesting testimony. See, here’s the thing: Testimonies don’t happen in a vacuum. It’s a wonderful thing when God saves a person out of a life of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll, and I love hearing people tell those kinds of stories. But the consequences of sin don’t suddenly disappear once Jesus comes into your life. We all carry around the baggage of our past.

Former drug addicts still have to deal with all the temptations and cravings and health problems that come with addiction. Those who have slept with multiple partners carry the memories and feelings of those partners into the marriage bed. Former gang members have to come face to face with the people they hurt. Women who have had abortions carry that weight for their entire lives.

I’m not in any way saying I’m better than someone who committed lots of blatant sin. I need Jesus just as much as everyone else. The Pharisees and the prostitutes both desperately needed Jesus. Ghetto kids and pastors’ kids are on level ground when it comes to Jesus.

What I am saying is that I’m grateful God saved me when I was young. I’m grateful God spared me from some of the more blatant, outward sins. I’m grateful I don’t have to daily deal with the consequences of certain past sins. I’m grateful that my relationship with my wife isn’t marred by memories of past relationships. I’m grateful I don’t have to tell my kids about all the awful things I did before God saved me.

Grateful That God Spared You

The wonderful thing about Jesus is that he saves all kinds of people. He saves the rich and poor, the cool and the outcast, the lawyer and the loser. Jesus doesn’t show favoritism when it comes to dispensing grace.

My dad was a child of the free-love, free drugs era of the 1960s. I was a child of the homeschooling, evangelical movement of the 1990s. My dad wanted to be like the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. I wanted to be like Audio Adrenaline and Toby Mac. My dad smoked his fair share of dope. I smoked my fair share of those candy cigarettes. And yet, God saved us both. God works within an economy of grace, not a meritocracy.

Don’t be disappointed that you don’t have a gripping, over-the-top testimony. Don’t feel like you somehow missed out. Will you get to tell your story in front of large audiences? Probably not. But that’s a good thing. Be grateful that God spared you from the heart-breaking, soul-wrenching consequences of some sins. Be grateful that God saved you before you could wreck your life. Be grateful that you’re not carrying years of baggage around with you.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to find an ashtray for this candy cigarette.

For everyone laughing at Manchester United, allow me to tell you a story. Railway workmen came together to play
football once and dared to dream. A dream to make something more of their lives. 
That is Manchester United.

The team lost its first ever competitive game 6-0 to Bolton Reserves. It got relegated in its secondseason of competitive football. In January 1902, it was asked to shut down because of debts. It didn't. Instead it came back up and won the league, a FA
Cup and a charity shield 2 years later. That is Manchester United.

From 1922 to 1940, United were relegated again and again and again. Faced with bankruptcy in 1931, United were on the verge of disaster again.
Instead, the team held on and fought on. Finishing 2nd in 1947, 1948 and 1949; 1st in '52, 55 and 56.
It won the FA Cup in 1948 and became the first English team to play in Europe. It had to wait 41 years for glory.
That is Manchester United..

A plane took off on February 6,
1958. To greatness it seemed. And came crashing down. 8 players died.
Facing despair and doom, the club fought on. It reached the final of the FA Cup that year. Without a first team, it plodded on and rebuilt. 7 years later, as
the fallen 8 smiled from above, the team won the title in 1965 and 1967. And the European Cup in '68.
That is Manchester United.

For 25 years it waited to win again, getting relegated, losing Managers and players as rivals laughed. It didn't fall then either. A league title in 1992, a double in '93 and a treble in '99. That is Manchester. Blood, toil, sweat and tears.
That is Manchester United.

Our squad needs a reshuffle you say. Our tactics are outdated you say. You laugh because you think we are down. You laugh because you think we are lost. We smile because we have seen it all. We smile because we know we will ALWAYS be back. Wins from incredible positions. Glory from the darkest despair.
That is Manchester United.

We are Manchester United.'
This is why I love this team,
We may not be the best team in the world, we may not be the greatest of them all but we are the most inspirational team ever!

That is what separates us from others, we are a team to look on to.

I don't know, when we'll be back, maybe this year, maybe next, maybe in 5-10 years time, but believe me down and out? Not a bit of it. We're never out.
And no, this is not blind faith, but belief.

I feel the same way about drinking!

I look around and see my wonderful life

Almost perfect from the outside

In picture frames, I see my beautiful wife

Always smiling, but on the inside

Oh, I can hear her saying

Lead me with strong hands

Stand up when I can't

Don't leave me hungry for love

Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight

That I'm still the love of your life

I know we call this our home

But I still feel alone

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes

They're just children from the outside

I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine

They're independent, but on the inside

Oh, I can hear them saying

Lead me with strong hands

Stand up when I can't

Don't leave me hungry for love

Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight

That I'm still the love of your life

I know we call this our home

But I still feel alone

So Father, give me the strength

To be everything I'm called to be

Oh Father, show me the way

To lead them

Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands

To stand up when they can't

Don't want to leave them hungry for love

Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight

And give them the best of my life

So we can call this our home

Lead me 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me 'cause I can't do this alone

"If God says that he wants you (and wants all of you) warts and all, he wants you. Everything about you – all the stuff you are ashamed of, all the stuff you hate about yourself, all your failures, all the weaknesses, all your filthiness and all your idolatry, all your unbelief — God wants you still. Stop believing yourself and believe him instead. He’s got a fix on reality. And the reality is that the Lord loves you with all he is."
- R W Glenn, preaching pastor of Redeemer Bible Church in Minnetonka, MN

(http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/the-desiring-god?utm_source=Desiring+God&utm_campaign=bfa9d34277-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6da5f8315b-bfa9d34277-99437161)

In the beginning, God created humans to magnify his glory. He made me. I rejected him and chose sin instead, to my ruin and despair. But unknown to me, in eternity past, he set his special love on me. By his beautiful obedience, Christ entered the world to live and die and redeem me, by name, to justify me, to give me the Spirit, and to re-create something beautiful out of this mess called me, something fully obedient, fully radiant in holiness, fully happy in holy communion with God. All my sins and disobedience right now pain him. Yet he delights in all my labors against sin, and my labors to obey, and he lovingly disciplines me toward a day when I will reflect my Savior’s glory to the core of my motives, my thoughts, and all my words and actions, to his great delight. This is what God created me to be!