I heard a fantastic sermon this morning about the importance and individuality of our testimonies. The pastor talked about how everyone has a unique story to share and testimonies are more than just conversions stories.

I used to hate giving my testimony. I thought it was boring. The whole “I-grew-up-a-Christian” spiel was ineffective in my mind. The radical, life-change stories were the ones I thought would win over hearts best. I didn’t realize that conversion was only the beginning of an ongoing story. God doesn’t stop working when someone becomes a Christian. In fact, He’s just getting started. A Christian can see God at work in the big things and the small in their day-to-day life. 

You’re probably asking yourself, “Well, if testimonies are so great, why do you have a problem with them?” I don’t.I haven’t changed my mind since coming up with the title and I’m not contradicting myself, I promise. My problem with sharing your faith lies in the word choice and the implications of those words. 

The phrase “share your faith” is a common one in churches and the Christian religion. I cringe a little whenever I hear it. The concept is a good one. Share with others how your Christian faith has affected your life and your outlook. But when someone says they have shared their faith with another person, I think of something entirely different. 

Share can mean “to tell about” but for me it has always had the connotation of “to divide out equally”. You cannot share your faith in that sense because our faith is only for ourselves. We can’t believe for other people.

My other problem lies in “your faith”. While we are saved by our faith in Christ, it is not our faith we should be telling to others. It is God’s grace and mercy and how He works through us despite our many shortcomings that should be our focus. Our faith is the lesser part of the equation that gains us salvation and we shouldn’t make that the selling point of Christianity, especially because we are imperfect human beings who cannot have perfect faith. Instead we should focus on the perfect love of God that redeems us.

So, while “testifying about God’s grace” or “telling about God’s strength in our weaknesses” takes longer to say, I think it’s more accurate.

Until a few weeks ago, all I knew about Star Trek was…well, practically nothing. My sister introduced me to “the final frontier” with the 2009 movie. Shortly after that, we went to see the sequel. I have to say, I was impressed. And while this isn’t a movie review, I do recommend it as a fantastic movie.

If there is one thing I love in a character, it’s internal conflict. I feel like it makes the character, whether protagonist, antagonist, or otherwise, more real to the reader. People can relate to characters who struggle with moral issues or making difficult decisions. Seeing so many of the characters in Into Darkness struggle with themselves made the movie so much better. I know that sounds a little inconsiderate of me, but I factor in that most of the characters who struggled came up with an answer and came out the better for it. After all, Romans 5 tells us that “we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope.” We have to struggle with ourselves if we ever expect to grow either as Christians or as people.

I’m not a professional blogger. I’m sure you’ve realized that by now. However, I am a writer and I think this is good practice for me. Over the summer, and hopefully during the school year as well, I am going to try to update this blog twice a week. It may be about a song that’s stuck in my head, a Scripture that stuck out to me, or a funny experience I had.

This summer, as I have no job, I decided to make writing my job. By the time I go back to school in August, I will have sent a manuscript to at least 3 publishers. At least, that’s my goal. Fingers crossed on that. So it’s possible that I’ll post some excerpts here if anyone is interested in that. Let me know what you think!

Well, this is my second blog (my first one was about my semester in Ireland). This is going to be a place where I put random thoughts, funny experiences, and anything else that comes to mind. I’ll try not to ramble incessantly, but I make no promises that it will all make sense. So yeah, I think that’s all for now. Check back later for something maybe a little more entertaining.