Telling Your Faith Story

You never know when a simple story will be powerful, like the one I heard while watching the first memorial service for U.S. Senator John McCain.

I didn’t intend to watch the whole service when I turned on the TV, but the tributes were stirring. McCain colleague Grant Woods talked about his decades-long friendship with the man and their work together. Professional athlete Larry Fitzgerald spoke of a newer friendship, forged between them without regard to age and race. Another friend spoke movingly about McCain’s trust in him.

Then former U.S. senator and vice president Joe Biden stood at the podium of that large Baptist church and began to speak to the 3,500 people in attendance.

“My name is Joe Biden,” he said. The audience laughed. They all knew who he was. No introduction was necessary.

Then with a smile he added, “I’m a Democrat.” The people laughed again. They instantly understood he was noting how unlikely had been his close friendship with McCain. An aisle stood between them on the senate floor.

Finally, Biden said, “And I loved John McCain.” This time the audience was silent, reverent. From just that statement, they understood the depth and significance of his story. It was simple and powerful, and its power came from love.

Your Faith Story

Personal faith stories telling of God’s miraculous intervention, revelation, and redemption are thrilling to hear, but not all our stories are like that. My own story of God’s work in my life is full of his consistent faithfulness and comfort, but not a lot of drama or detail. No one is going to make me a keynote speaker because I have a forty-five-minute story to tell, because I don’t. Perhaps your story is like that, too, and that’s okay. Whatever our faith stories are, they’re no less or more powerful than anyone else’s, because God’s work in all of us is always powerful.

Any faith story, even those more complex, can begin with simplicity, nearly as much as Joe Biden told us about his relationship with John McCain. One reason I like to talk about telling faith stories with simplicity is this: The apostle Peter wrote, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV). This verse used to make me nervous. When I thought about “witnessing,” I remembered how some well-meaning persuasion led me to try just jumping into telling my faith story, without being asked.

I wasn’t mature enough to think that through, and a few experiences both spooked me and left me feeling guilty. I came to realize, though, that most of the time God is probably going to ask me to tell my story according to how he wired me. Except in case of emergency (or perhaps despair on the part of another), I am not the jumping-in type.

Telling Your Faith Story

Consider these four elements of a simple faith storytelling God might have in mind for you, as I believe he has had for me:

1. Tell people who you are. You’ll need to go beyond just stating your name, of course, but most people hear best from someone already familiar to them, someone they trust. Get to know people you meet and let them get to know you.
   
2. Tell people what you are. You might not call yourself a (forgiven) sinner right off the bat when you meet someone, but don’t be afraid to reveal you’ve made plenty of mistakes, done plenty of wrong, and you’re willing to admit it. In other words, be vulnerable.
3. Tell people where you stand. At some point in a relationship, if it’s the right time, the Holy Spirit might lead you to say something along the lines of, “You know, I have hope in this life, no matter what happens, even with trials.” Chances are, that person will ask you what you mean.
4. Tell people why you have hope. So many people know about God, but they don’t understand why anyone would love him until they understand “I was separated from God by my sin, and then…” If you know someone like that who seems ready to take a next step toward faith, and God is nudging you, it’s time to tell your story.

Just as Peter said, we all need to be ready to tell our faith story—the story about the most significant relationship we’ll ever have. And sometimes we’re supposed to jump in; we’re led to. Yet I confess ready has not always been the place I’ve been. Realizing I can tell my faith story with simplicity, however, in time or in immediate circumstances, makes a difference.

God, of course, provides the power in the message. We know this because his gospel is full of unequaled, powerful love and redemption, as told in John 3:16 with just twenty-six words: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (NIV).

Jean Kavich Bloom is a champion coffee drinker and a freelance editor and writer for Christian publishers and ministries. She doesn’t garden, bake, or knit, but insists playing Scrabble is exactly the same thing. Jean and her husband, Cal, live in central Indiana. They have three children (plus two who married in) and five grandchildren. She blogs at bloominwordstoo.blogspot.com.

Photograph © Daniil Silantev, used with permission