Telling Your Story Effectively
Most of us as Christians if we are honest have had difficulty in being a consistantly good witness for Christ. Sometimes we have opportunities that we don't act upon for one reason or another or we don't have a strategy that personally works well. Either way, God can't use us because we are simply not available or prepared when we are called upon to share our faith. How would you respond if I told you that you have the most powerful witnessing tool for Christ present with you at this moment? Do you know what that is? Its simply the story of how Jesus Christ saved you!
The greatest and most effective way to share your faith is to tell the story of how and where your faith began. If you have placed saving faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you have a story which chronicles how God pursued you and brought you to Himself. Every believer has their own story which needs to be told, simply and directly.
The best Biblical example of a testimony of salvation may be found in Acts 26 where Paul is defending himself before King Agrippa in Jerusalem before the king sends him on to Rome to stand before Caesar. In Paul's story we find five clear and distinct principles to guide us in giving our own testimony to someone with whom we are sharing the Word of Life. Before I begin let me encourage you to read Acts 26.
The first is Introduction. (vs 1-3). Here is where we invite the person to listen to what we have to say. An introduction is kind of like a front porch of a house. A nice porch sort of acts like an introduction to a good story. If it is inviting than we will want to see more. If a porch is clean and inviting it makes us want to see what's inside the front door. If it's dirty and cluttererd, it has just the opposite effect. In Paul's story he gets Agrippa's attention by using a bit of flattery. This is not a bad way to attract a listener if it's appropriate! Whatever the case, an introduction is just a simple way you get a person to listen to what you have to say, so don't make it complicated!
The second principle is Identification. (vs 4-11). If you want someone to listen to you there has to be some common ground on which you both are standing. The shared experiences of life provide the means of your listener identifying with you in your story. Paul identifed with the king and his other courtroom listeners that day in two ways. First he talked about his childhood. Everyone has a childhood. The second way Paul identified was through his religious background. Once again, almost everyone has some kind of religious or spiritual experiences with which they are familiar. Even if religion hasn't played any part in a person's life, they understand religion and the human drive to worship something or someone. Shared experiences are great but oftentimes you will only have shared ideas or concepts.
I was on a flight from Taipai to New York last month sitting beside a Dutch man with whom I was able to share my story. It was a fourteen hour flight! Identifying with him was tough, at least from a human perspective. He had pink socks on, multi-colored running shoes, mis-matched running pants and top and long, blonde curly locks, beard and gotee. I used to be a fan of Led Zepplin when I was a kid and I could have sworn it was Robert Plant. It wasn't. He was an eclectic individual who happened to be a chemist who had alot of time on his hands traveling the world. But as I shared my background with him that day, I shared with him how my Dad, a physician used to bring home a microscope to introduce my brother and me to the otherwise invisible world of cellular life. In that moment, my flying friend and I had an instant bond of shared experience! At this point I was able to move on to the next principle in sharing my testimony with this gentlemen.
The third principle is Impact (vs 12-18). This is the part of your story that you can't wait to get to...because this is where you get to share the gospel. But let me give you a very important reminder here as we get started on this point. Before you can impact you must have context. That is why Identification is important in the process. Let me say it again. Before you can impact you must have context. After Paul had shared this part of his story with Agrippa and his other listeners, they were ready and waiting for what Paul was going to say next. The reason for this was because they now had a genuine sense of Paul's background and were ready to hear the best part his story!
In my next blog I will share the other two principles you need in telling your story effectively with someone who needs Christ. See you then.
The greatest and most effective way to share your faith is to tell the story of how and where your faith began. If you have placed saving faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you have a story which chronicles how God pursued you and brought you to Himself. Every believer has their own story which needs to be told, simply and directly.
The best Biblical example of a testimony of salvation may be found in Acts 26 where Paul is defending himself before King Agrippa in Jerusalem before the king sends him on to Rome to stand before Caesar. In Paul's story we find five clear and distinct principles to guide us in giving our own testimony to someone with whom we are sharing the Word of Life. Before I begin let me encourage you to read Acts 26.
The first is Introduction. (vs 1-3). Here is where we invite the person to listen to what we have to say. An introduction is kind of like a front porch of a house. A nice porch sort of acts like an introduction to a good story. If it is inviting than we will want to see more. If a porch is clean and inviting it makes us want to see what's inside the front door. If it's dirty and cluttererd, it has just the opposite effect. In Paul's story he gets Agrippa's attention by using a bit of flattery. This is not a bad way to attract a listener if it's appropriate! Whatever the case, an introduction is just a simple way you get a person to listen to what you have to say, so don't make it complicated!
The second principle is Identification. (vs 4-11). If you want someone to listen to you there has to be some common ground on which you both are standing. The shared experiences of life provide the means of your listener identifying with you in your story. Paul identifed with the king and his other courtroom listeners that day in two ways. First he talked about his childhood. Everyone has a childhood. The second way Paul identified was through his religious background. Once again, almost everyone has some kind of religious or spiritual experiences with which they are familiar. Even if religion hasn't played any part in a person's life, they understand religion and the human drive to worship something or someone. Shared experiences are great but oftentimes you will only have shared ideas or concepts.
I was on a flight from Taipai to New York last month sitting beside a Dutch man with whom I was able to share my story. It was a fourteen hour flight! Identifying with him was tough, at least from a human perspective. He had pink socks on, multi-colored running shoes, mis-matched running pants and top and long, blonde curly locks, beard and gotee. I used to be a fan of Led Zepplin when I was a kid and I could have sworn it was Robert Plant. It wasn't. He was an eclectic individual who happened to be a chemist who had alot of time on his hands traveling the world. But as I shared my background with him that day, I shared with him how my Dad, a physician used to bring home a microscope to introduce my brother and me to the otherwise invisible world of cellular life. In that moment, my flying friend and I had an instant bond of shared experience! At this point I was able to move on to the next principle in sharing my testimony with this gentlemen.
The third principle is Impact (vs 12-18). This is the part of your story that you can't wait to get to...because this is where you get to share the gospel. But let me give you a very important reminder here as we get started on this point. Before you can impact you must have context. That is why Identification is important in the process. Let me say it again. Before you can impact you must have context. After Paul had shared this part of his story with Agrippa and his other listeners, they were ready and waiting for what Paul was going to say next. The reason for this was because they now had a genuine sense of Paul's background and were ready to hear the best part his story!
In my next blog I will share the other two principles you need in telling your story effectively with someone who needs Christ. See you then.
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