Show, and Do Tell

There is a technique in writing called “show, don’t tell.” The idea is that readers should feel as if they are in the story. For example, instead of simply writing that a character is walking in a garden, the writer would describe the floral scent in the air and the vibrant colors. Unfortunately, without realizing it, I applied this “show, don’t tell” technique to how I shared, or didn’t share, my faith.

I thought that showing how I am a Christian through my actions was more meaningful than saying I am a Christian with my words. Ideally, people around me would notice how I tried to be kind, encouraging, and loving by my interactions with them so that I didn’t have to strategically mention Jesus in every conversation. I worried too much about saying the wrong thing or turning a friendly discussion into an argument. I let that fear keep me silent a lot. Of course God is good, and there have been moments when I shared my faith and the conversations were wonderful. But even when the conversations are awful, I remind myself that God commanded me to try again.

A practice that encourages, and even emboldens me, to talk about my faith is sharing my testimony. In our life groups here at Christ Church, we often have time to share testimonies with one another. Every testimony I listen to gives me hope and leaves me in awe of how God changes hearts and rescues souls. One of my favorite verses is from Ezekiel 36. Verse 26 says, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove your heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” This verse reminds me that my heart was hard and broken, but Jesus saved me, and now God is shaping me as a new creation. This is the story I tell with my testimony.

As Pastor Matt preached this past Sunday from the book of Acts, Paul and Barnabas always pointed to Jesus. “They explain how all of Scripture points to Jesus. And then they exalt Jesus and lift Him up and say this is why Jesus satisfies every longing of your heart. And then they exhort the crowd: trust Him, follow Him, give Him your life.” My testimony follows the same pattern, I trust Him, I follow Him, and I give Him my life.

My prayer is that I can show with my actions and also tell with my words how Jesus changed everything for me.