“The Testimonial Approach” – John 9

I have a confession to make. I enjoy walking through graveyards. I do. They fascinate me. I take my dogs walking through the one in Bridgeport several times a week and notice something different every time. It got me thinking this past week about what people put on their headstones. There’s not much room on that stone but what is written on there is meant to sum up the person’s life.

For a lot of people, it’s just their name and two dates. Some stones only have one date and that tells you something about that person. But some people splurge and put a word or a phrase; some even have a whole sentence on there or even a poem. Some want a Bible verse or their military service. They can even put your picture on there now if you want that.

How do you want to be remembered? You don’t usually have room to put where you were born and what you did for a living and your spouse and children and all the great details of your life. Hopefully, that will be said at your funeral but the marker over your grave only gives a few details. All that other stuff is important to you but there just isn’t room. It’s a shame but it’s true.

It’s the same with our testimony. Our salvation story starts when we are born; it involves every church we have ever been to and probably several Sunday School teachers and a praying mother or grandmother if we are typical. It could include some horrific stories of abuse or addiction or law-breaking and all of it is meaningful and part of your story and hopefully all of it ultimately brings glory to God.

The problem is, most people in most situations aren’t going to listen to a 45-minute-long story. I don’t care how meaningful it is. People just don’t have that kind of attention span. I can tell you as a preacher and as one who has sat in a lot of worship services, it’s a rare speaker that can keep a group’s attention for more than thirty minutes.

A few years ago, I went to a seminar for pastors and one of the break-out meetings was on how to lead people to Jesus. I would think that most pastors have a pretty solid grip on how to do that but the speaker said he wasn’t too sure and so he was going to teach us. He started by using a huge whiteboard and drawing a long bridge on it from one place to another and every board that made up the bridge was part of the Gospel.

I kid you not, after 45 minutes of watching him draw and listening to his convoluted explanation, I got up and left. I went outside and made a few phone calls and about 15 minutes later, I went back in only to find the bridge not quite drawn yet. I love the Gospel and I love hearing it told in new and different ways but this was ridiculous. In fact, to be honest, his approach just made me mad.

Now, as we are seeing in this sermon series on evangelism, there are a lot of different approaches to telling somebody the Good News of Jesus Christ. We all have different personalities and different gifts and different approaches and we need to make sure that we know our audience before we speak, like Paul did in our scripture last week. There are very few wrong ways to do it but the biggest wrong way is to take too long.

The best way to tell most people your salvation testimony is to briefly tell them what your life was like before you met Jesus, how you came to meet Jesus and what your life has been like since you met Jesus. Now, if it sounds like I used the name Jesus a lot in there is because your testimony should be more about Him than you. Yes, that’s right. Your personal testimony should be more about Jesus than it is you.

I know your life story is interesting and it’s important and meaningful and has made you who you are today. And if anybody asks to hear your life story then you feel free to give them the whole story. But when you are talking to your neighbor out at the mailbox or your co-worker at the water fountain or the cashier at the store, they may be nice and are trying to look like they are interested but after three minutes, they have probably checked out.

It’s interesting to see a man in scripture who has such a great testimony. It’s brief, it’s concise, it tells everything he knows and he wants to tell it. We have had fun studying this guy in the past. Last year in Boot Camp we talked about him and if you were here you remember him. I would call him by name but we don’t know his name. We don’t know when he was born or when he died. We don’t know much at all about him but when we get to Heaven, we will see him there and will get to hear his whole story.

Turn to John chapter 9 and let me introduce to you again the man who was born blind. Several times Jesus healed people that were blind. It was actually a Messianic sign that He do that. In Isaiah 35:5 it prophecies that the Messiah will open the eyes of the blind and this is one of the places that Jesus does that.

Now, just like in Job’s day, some people believed that all problems were caused by sin. That’s why the disciples ask the first question as you will see. We have talked before about this. We know that sin does have consequences but not all bad things are caused by sin. Sometimes bad things happen because we live in a fallen and sinful world and bad things happen. Sometimes God allows or even causes bad things for reasons we will never know. But Jesus uses this man’s blindness to teach all of us a lesson and the man has a great testimony come out of it. Let’s read verses 1-34. It’s kind of long but it’s a good story.

John 9:1-34 says, “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” 10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So, I went and washed, and then I could see.” 12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said. 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.  5 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided. 17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.” 18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” 20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” 26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” 28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Did you catch his testimony in there? You have to be listening closely because it was short and sweet. Look again at verse 25. With all the stuff going on; with all the people questioning him and threatening him; not to mention the little detail of him now being able to see after all these years, he was being pretty patient but you can tell he is about to get tired of it. In all of that, he tells them what his life was like before Jesus and what it was like after Jesus. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Isn’t that good? They asked him a lot of questions about Jesus and how Jesus performed this miracle and most of the answers to those questions the man didn’t know. At one point he ventures a guess as to who Jesus was. In verse 17, the Pharisees are hounding him for an answer about Jesus and the man simply says, “He is a prophet.” But that wasn’t enough for the leaders and so finally, in verse 25, the man sums up everything he knows about Jesus and it’s not much. “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

And that was enough! That’s all he had to say and that’s all you have to say. Through the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of you as a believer in Jesus Christ, that is enough. We would hope that an answer like that would prompt some other serious questions from those we are talking to and maybe you can answer those questions but all you have to say is what your life was like before Jesus, how you came to know Him and what your life has been like since.

The Apostle Paul testified to thousands of different people in all different places and in all different circumstances. Sometimes he would be hauled in front of some king or magistrate to explain what he was talking about and most of the time he started out telling them about his past as a persecutor of the Christians and how he was walking through Damascus and a bright light knocked him down and Jesus spoke to him. He would tell the whole story and relate it to their past and then tell them how they needed to change and what to do to be saved. Paul was a great speaker and often had that kind of opportunity.

But I find it interesting to read in Acts 24 that Paul was brought before Felix, the governor of Caesarea and was given an opportunity to speak to him privately. It says in verses 24-25, “Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. 25As Paul discoursed about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you."

It was too much too soon for poor old Felix. This was one time when Paul might have been better served by just saying, “Felix, I once was blind and now I see.” Then, if Felix wanted to know more (and who wouldn’t?) Paul could have added to it. But he lost his chance with Felix and his wife, too.

Both of my sisters have evangelistic hearts. They both have a passion for people and a passion for Jesus like I can only wish for. Sally is a missionary to Target. That’s right, the big store with the red dot; that Target. Seriously, she goes to Target intentionally, not just to buy groceries or clothes but to minister to other shoppers and employees and it has paid off spiritually. I’ll tell you more about that later.

Suzy has always had a heart for telling others about Jesus. You’ll have to get her to tell this story because she tells it better than I can. But when she was in elementary school, she decided one day she was going to witness to her friends at school. They were in the cafeteria eating lunch and Suzy just asked, “Have any of you ever been saved?” She was going to tell them what she knew about Jesus, like the good little disciple she was but then a little boy at the table spoke up.

He said, “Yes, I have been saved.” And Suzy thought how great that was. She wasn’t the only one and she had visions of both of them spreading the Gospel to the whole school starting right there at the lunch table. Then the little boy launched off on this long story of how he and his dad went fishing one time and the boy fell out of the boat and his dad reached out and saved him. That was his salvation story. His dad saved him from drowning. Of course, everybody at the table had to talk about that and Suzy was left staring at her sandwich. But she learned a lesson that day besides the one her teacher wanted her to learn. She learned you have to know your audience. Speak like they can understand. Get to the point and keep it brief. If you don’t, you may lose your chance.

I remember when I first came to this church and was just getting to know people so I went around and asked people for their testimony. I have to admit, I was shocked. Some people couldn’t tell me anything and some people told me everything and after 15-20 minutes I still hadn’t heard anything about Jesus. I heard about their childhood and where they lived and what churches they went to and how their mother was a Sunday School teacher. But what I didn’t hear was the most important stuff. What was your life like before Jesus? How did you come to start your relationship with Jesus? What is your life like now with Jesus?

What is your salvation story? Can you keep it under three minutes? I haven’t timed it but mine goes something like this. I started my relationship with Jesus when I was just seven years old so my testimony doesn’t have the drama and the flash that some do. I had never raped or murdered anybody. I wasn’t a drug-dealing president of the local Hell’s Angels or anything but I knew I was a sinner. I knew I had displeased God and I had heard that scripture said that what we deserve for our sin is eternal death in hell away from God. (Romans 6:23)  I asked my Dad about it and he explained that all I had to do was believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins and ask Him for forgiveness and to be Lord of my life and I would be saved and have eternity in Heaven. So, I did that and my life since then has been changed. I have made a lot of mistakes in my life. I still sin sometimes but when I do, it pains me and I ask God for forgiveness and do my best to turn away from that sin.

Because I am able to have a relationship with Jesus, and I know that God loves me and is in control, I have peace and joy in my life even in the difficult times plus the assurance of Heaven as a co-heir with Jesus to all the good things God has in store.  How about you? Would you like to have that peace and joy in your life? Would you like to hear God the Father welcome you into Heaven with, “Well done good and faithful servant!”? You can. And all you have to do is believe. Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Do that right now as the music plays.