Your Testimony Is Enough: The Often Underutilized Tool of the Apologist

We make evangelism complicated. I know that statement, coming from someone who blogs about apologetics, may seem out of place, but there’s truth to it. I’m a firm believer that the person who wishes to be effective in evangelism should be prepared to defend the gospel, and this preparation should involve an array of disciplines. I covered five of those disciplines in a recent post. https://jmgamblemin.com/5-habits-to-transform-your-apologetics/

I recently had a conversation with someone I consider a spiritual mentor, an absolute giant in the faith, and I was reminded of his common mantra: “It’s simple; you have to make it simple.” There is such truth in those words. The primary point behind spending so much time and energy preparing for those interactions is to convey these concepts in a way that’s simple and easy to understand. I was reminded of both the simplest and one of the most potent tools of the evangelist, the testimony.

To apologists and aspiring apologists alike, the testimony is often overlooked, traded in favor of complex theological argumentation or scarcely known facts about church history. It can be easily disregarded because it’s primarily anecdotal, yet the Holy Spirit has utilized it as a proven evangelistic strategy since the church’s inception. In His hands, a well-presented testimony can be the spiritual scalpel used to transplant the unbeliever’s heart. 

A few instances come to mind of just this truth in action. My first thought takes me to John 4: the story of the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus. This is an often-quoted story because of the radical words of Christ, where he offers living water. What is rarely pointed out is the woman’s response to the interaction. The text says 

“28 The woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.” (ESV)

The remarkable aspect here is that the Samaritan woman had no formal theology. Just a few verses prior, Christ told her that “she and her people worship what they do not know” (Verse 22). She walked away from there and told those whom she could reach what she could; she shared her experience. 

Another text that comes to mind is in the ninth chapter of the same book. Here, Christ heals a man who was born blind. After being questioned by the Pharisees multiple times, he offers the same story. He speaks about what Christ has done for him. “He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (Jn 9:25). You must read the entire story, to quote my pastor, “it’s so good!”

The final text that I would like to draw your attention to is found in the first chapter of John. This one is quoted so often that I’ve seen it decorating rear windows in traffic. To set the scene, Christ is beginning his earthly ministry. He’s inviting followers, and one of them is Philip. The interaction between Philip and Jesus must have been radical, because he went off and found Nathaniel, and gave him something that should always accompany our interactions about Christ: an invitation.  

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (Jn 1:46, ESV)

Sometimes, a “come and see” is all that’s needed. Just meet Him for yourself. 

Takeaways

Your Testimony Is Enough.

So often, we want to lead with facts and theology. There is a time and a place for that, but if you’re still developing in that area, don’t close off the opportunity for God to use you right where you are. Your testimony is enough, and God can use that to do some miraculous things in the lives of those you can reach. Trust the Holy Spirit to do the work; you just be willing to share. 

Prepare 

It’s essential to prepare to give your testimony. In my previous post, I compared it to an elevator pitch. You want to keep it pointed and precise. I recommend somewhere between two and three minutes. Passion is something that will naturally flow from what Christ has done for you, but it’s essential to have a bit of a roadmap for the conversation. If you can add relevant scriptures, that is always a plus. 

One thing that helps immensely is to write it out. This allows you to see and hear how it comes across to the audience, smoothing out any awkward areas, for example. 

The Gospel

Make sure and include some form of an invitation to Christ. Now, I’m not saying that every presentation of your testimony must include an “altar call”; however, you want to ensure that the person you’re speaking to hears and understands the gospel.