On Giving Your Testimony, part 1

One tradition that has developed especially in conservative Baptist circles, is that of Testimony Night. It's customary on that occassion for folks who are not normally preachers or teachers, or even pulic speakers, to rise and "give their testimony." The theory is that as we come together to share "what Christ has done for me" then this re-telling of our individual conversion story serves as a vehicle for spreading the Gospel. Meaning, when people hear our testimony, and how Jesus came and set us free, they themselves will be induced to be converted to faith in Christ.

Before we begin to analyze this practice of "testifying" in the light of the Scripture, let me say at the outset that I absolutely love hearing the stories of how people came to saving faith. I find it terribly thrilling and encouraging. In fact, my favorite Christian radio program ever is one that we heard routinely when we lived in Idaho, but sadly have not been able to find again since. It was called "Unshackled," and the concept was to create radio theater, complete with actors and sound effects, to dramatize real-life conversion stories.

I find that each conversion story from a genuine believer is like a fingerprint that says, "God has been here." Conversion stories (done rightly, as we'll discuss below) are like snowflakes. At one time, they are uniquely individual, and yet they share enough in common that they are all unified in kind. Each snowflake differs from snowflake, but they're all easily recognizable as snowflakes. There are common elements that demand we group them together.

What gets me thinking about Testimony Night specifically these days is the sad, nay, frankly depressing, story of Ergun Caner, the former President of Liberty University, a Southern Baptist seminary that has enjoyed something like celebrity status since its founding by the late Moral Majority honcho, Dr. Jerry Falwell. I will not go into details of the story here, but any internet search will make these available to you instantly.

Basically, the incontrovertible evidence is that Ergun Caner invented a fictional former life for himself, for the apparent purpose of making his own conversion story seem more robustly dramatic. This is reminiscent of the case of Mike Warnke back in the 80's. Warnke made a name for himself, and raked in quite a load of cash along the way, by also inventing a conversion story. Warnke spun a tale that had him completely immersed in the shadowy, enigmatic world of secret Satanic occultism and witchcraft. His mythology was eventually uncovered, and the name of Mike Warnke is now only invoked as the modern model of the Hyper-Inflated Testimony. When somebody invents an outlandish "back story" for the purpose of duly impressing folks on Testimony Night, they're doing what Warnke did. And now, they're doing what Ergun Caner has done. Warnke falsely claimed to be Satanist. Caner has claimed (but only after the events of 9/11, note well) that he came to America as a teenager, having been fully trained as a muslim Jihadist, and prepared to prosecute acts of terror on American soil. All of which is patently false. He came to America at the age of 3, and though his non-custodial father did his best to raise Ergun and his brothers as muslims, the evidence is that they actually lived pretty normal, boring American lives in Ohio.

Why would a man do this, invent this sort of story? I think the answer is pretty easy. Within the Christian world, an exciting conversion story can take you places, if that's what you want. It can sell books, and get you invited to speak at conferences all over the place. It can even get you employed as the President of a seminary, in spite of the fact that you may demonstrate merely the most tenuous grasp on Bible doctrine.

But we do this. We, Christians, who enjoy Testimony Night and find conversion stories rightly thrilling and inspiring. We set this environment in place. We make it possible, and even easy, for a charlatan to come up with a piece of pulse-pounding fiction and get fame and fortune for his trouble.

Now, having said all of that, I repeat: I love hearing conversion stories!

But here is where we have gone wrong. We have lost sight of the true miracle it is, when God turns the heart of any sinner to repent of their sins and trust in Him. That's become commonplace and frankly boring to us. And the reason for that, demands a whole 'nother post; but, it hinges on the Evangelical obsession with the lie of Decisional Regeneration. We have dumbed down the Gospel so much, and found so many ways to manipulate and steer our listeners, that getting people to make a decision for Jesus is no miracle at all. Deciding for Christ is no longer a case of a rebellious, poisonous God-hating heart being miraculously raised to new life: it's about convincing this rebel that he can have Jesus (or, really, all the benefits of Jesus) without inconvenient things like genuine repentance getting in the way; and, having raised his hand during the Revival Meeting, may walk out of said meeting completely unchanged, and yet completely assured of a glorious eternal life in heaven.

"Getting saved" has become an anti-climactic event in many Evangelical circles, therefore. So we look for something more, something that still has the power to thrill and entertain us. Satanic High Priest, you say? Wow! That's great! Childhood victim of Ritual Satanic Abuse? Marvelous! Mafia enforcer? Cool! Former Presidential cabinet member, privvy to the inner workings of government? Nice. Islamic radical bent on destroying America! Well, praise God!

We see this sort of thing on a smaller scale in our own, local Testimony Nights. Hopefully no one's making things up, of course, but still, you find many Christians who are convinced their testimony is too boring to share with anyone. They were pretty normal before Jesus saved them. Or, they were even a goody-two-shoes. How lame!

We have come to despise the miracle of being Born Again through the sovereign grace of God in Christ.

Brethren in Chains

Dr. James Galyon is an internet friend of mine, and a chaplain in the US military. He is always rightly concerned about the persecution of Christians worldwide.  He has three short articles up on his blog today. Here is the latest. You ought to read it and the two that came just before it.

We like to think that we are radical, counter-culture Christians because of our bumper-stickers; and we fail to share our faith because we'd hate for people to think that we are some sort of religious fanatics. Your brothers and sisters around the world are being harassed, raped, sold into slavery, and executed for no reason other than their faith in Jesus Christ. Please pray for them...and for us.

Because I Said So, That's Why

In this insightful post at the Pyro blog, Dan P. makes the point that everyone believes in innerrancy, in some form or other.

Okay, we probably need to define that. He means that everyone, not just Bible believers, holds onto something at the very base of everything he or she believes, and ascribes to that something supreme authority, and the perfect ability to determine right and wrong, or decide spiritual truth, etc.

We believe in Biblical Inerrancy. For us, we put that right and authority on the Word of God, and that's that.

But folks who don't believe the Bible, still ultimately appeal to some ultimate source of authority, which source they trust implicitly.

This is very much the sort of thing I've been discussing with our youth in Sunday School. We've been learning how to analyze arguments logically; how to spot logical errors, etc.

One of things I've been trying to show them is that everyone appeals to something, and they do so even before they being to look at the "evidence." That's right. Your source of authority is what it is because you say that it is. And that fact lies at the very base of everything else that we think, especially when we start thinking spiritually or morally.

The Bible is my source of authority.

You ask, Why?

I say, Because it's always right.

That's circular reasoning! you exclaim.

Okay, fine with me. Now, if you'll just realize that your own source of ultimate authority is that source for you in precisely the same way, then maybe we can talk.

You presuppose, that is, regard as true before the evidence is considered, that your brain functions reliably and correctly; or that your senses tell you the truth; or that your mom and dad were right; or that the church you've always belonged to is right; or, that the high-priests of modern science are always right; or, a multitude of other whatevers. And the reason you believe that? Because you do. You assume. It has not been proved, but you trust your source to always tell you the truth, regardless. And then, even when they fail, you're willing to overlook that and move on.

We are a Calvinistic Church? Huh?

You don't have to be a Christian for very long before you start bumping up against ideas like Calvinism and Arminianism. For a lot of folks, the issues involved either seem too complex to devote any time to, or else they seem irrelevant to anything. Both these ideas are wrong.

If you were not aware, Immanuel Baptist Church holds to the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of 1833. That means that we believe that document is an accurate summary of Bible teaching, and we require ministers to preach in accordance with it.

The New Hampshire Confession is a Calvinistic document. The Calvinism of our confession is very mildly stated: we're not out to argue with anybody about it; and we're not hoping to pick a fight about it, but we are willing to state it plainly and stand behind it.

If you are new to some of these issues, here is a short book review that presents an overview of the issues involved.

In addition, here is a link to a conference presentation by one of the best Bible scholars of our day, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, in which he provides a helpful background and overview for beginning to think about these things.