Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Welcome to week #3 of Just Walk Across the Room. We’ve been diving headfirst into this thing called evangelism. How do I really share my faith with someone who doesn’t know Jesus? The response from this series has been off the charts. So many of you have told me that you’ve been encouraged and challenged to walk across the room to someone who doesn’t yet know Jesus.

Today in our third session, we’re talking about The Power of Story.

I’m going to get you thinking right out of the gate this morning. I’m going to say a word or phrase, and then you just tell the person sitting next to you what comes to mind. A little word association for your Sunday morning. There is no right or wrong answer. Your response can be anything that comes to mind. But the key is to go fast. Don’t give this a lot of thought. The idea is to capture your gut-instinct immediately after you hear what comes out of my mouth.

Ready? Here’s the first word …

Mona

Any “Lisas” out there? Okay, so some of you are catching on, at least. Ready for the next one?

How about …

McDonalds

Anybody say Big Mac?

Here’s the next one.

Vacation

Next one.

Snow

Here’s a timely word.

Politics

And for our last one …

Christian

Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could electronically tabulate all the words that floated throughout the room after the word “Christian” flashed across the screen? Personally, I think the results would be fascinating.

Let’s take it a step further. What do you think would happen if we showed the same screen to a hundred people who are living far from God? If we said, “Do you know any Christians? If so, what are they like … what are your general impressions of them?”

We might get quite an earful, don’t you think? What if their perceptions included things like these:

“I’ve come across a few Christians, and the ones I know are just so … uptight … narrow … and rigid.”

Or …

“I went to school with one once … he was pretty isolated. Kept to himself all the time.”

Or …

“I don’t know any of them very well. They hang with their own type … certainly don’t rub shoulders with people like me.”

Or what about …

“I know a Christian … what a turnoff she is! I feel like she’s judging me in everything I do. She’s so self-righteous… just absolutely egotistical.”

These perceptions are out there, and they’re not isolated perceptions. God’s call on us is to point people to faith. We serve as his vehicle for getting that done!

Here’s what I wish.

• I wish that whenever I struck up a casual conversation with people and asked them to tell me what they think of the Christians they know, the first thought that would come to mind would be something like, “Hmmm … Christians? Can’t say it’s true for them all, but the ones I know are chock full of integrity. That’s what distinguishes them, their integrity.”

Or …

• “Christians? The ones I’ve come across are ridiculously filled with compassion. They’re just plain kind to people!”

Or …

• “Christians? They tell the truth … they shoot straight with you.”
• “Christians? They have concern for the poor—no one cares for the poor like Christians do.”
• “Christians? They’re humble people, they’re honest … they have this incredible inner strength.”
• “Christians? They love God, they love people. What more can you say?”

That’s the type of press that I wish was out there.

You know what I also wish? I wish people said … whenever Christ-followers talk about God, they are so clear! They are so excited about their faith! And you should just hear them talk about their own faith journeys … they are always so humble … so interesting to listen to!

If you’re ready to communicate like a walk-across-the-room person, then today’s message is for you! Primarily, we’ll seek to answer these two questions:

• How do we talk about God in a way that’s full of clarity and passion?
• How do we convey our personal faith stories in a way that’s humble and interesting?

Let’s get into it. Stories are powerful. The power of story—and of words—is undeniable in Scripture. The Bible reminds us time and again that our words carry great power.

Proverbs 12:18 says, “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” (Proverbs 12:18, NIV)

Ecclesiastes 9:17 says that, “The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 9:17, NIV) Words you speak will be heeded when they are spoken quietly!

One of my favorite Scriptures, Proverbs 27:14. “A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!” (Proverbs 27:14, NLT) How many of you resonate with this Scripture? I definitely do. The timing of our words is important. The right word at the wrong time becomes the wrong word.

Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24, NIV) Isn’t that a great image?

Ecclesiastes 10:12 says, “Words from a wise man's mouth are gracious, but a fool is consumed by his own lips.” (Ecclesiastes 10:12, NIV) By this definition, are you wise or are you a fool?

Words.

Humble words. Healing words. Wise words. Gentle words. Grace-filled words.

Are these the types of words you’re known for speaking? If we polled your friends and your family members, the people who know you best, would they say, “Yeah, those are the kind of words that he or she speaks.”

Let’s take this morning as an example. Think about the very last thing you said before you walked into this room today. Do you remember who you were talking to? Do you remember what you said?

Were the words you spoke life-giving? Full of grace? Or were they…not?

God allows power, astounding power, to inhabit our words. That power is at our disposal, for good or for evil.

If we could find a way to use words for good in people’s lives—if we could be known for being clear and humble and succinct and relevant—then we might just begin to change people’s perceptions of Christians. And more importantly, their perceptions of Christ.

So let’s talk about how we use our words. Primarily, how we use our words to tell some important stories.

Just what is God’s story? What is your story? And how can you tell them both well? So well that your listeners walk away saying, “Now that I understood! That I enjoyed! That makes me want what they’ve got.”

Let’s start with the most important story: God’s story. God has a story. I’m in charge of telling that story, so I have to learn to tell it well.

Last week, we talked about developing friendships and discovering other people’s stories. It’s important to get their stories before you start inserting your own views and beliefs.

But when it’s our turn to speak, we’ve got to be discerning. We’ve got to pray for God to show us where to go next. What if the next step is actually telling this person God’s story? Could you do that? Does the prospect of telling God’s story scare you to death? I’m so under qualified. I’ll botch it up. I can’t do that.

God has a story. It’s a powerful story. And your job—and mine—is to learn to tell it well.

Let’s test your current comfort level for telling it well.

What would you say if someone in your current sphere of influence were to come to you today and say this: “You know, Tom (assuming your name is Tom), we’ve been friends for a long time. You’ve been really cool not to force the whole Jesus thing on me. But…well…I guess you could say things have gone a little south in my marriage, and my wife and I … well, we were talking about maybe trying out church. Sort of a last-ditch effort before we call it quits. I just wonder if … before I dive into anything huge … I just wonder if you could sort of explain the whole deal to me. What is it about God that so many people are attracted to? What difference does God really make, anyway?”

Gang, that is what we call, in sophisticated theological terms, a wide-open door. Would you be ready to respond?

There’s a tried-and-true way of explaining God’s story called “The Bridge.” It’s been around for years, but it still works because, not only is it true, but it is super simple to explain and to understand.

The next time you find yourself in a delicate conversation where the person you’re talking to really does want to understand who God is and what he has done, grab a piece of scratch paper, a cocktail napkin or whatever, and ask their permission to sketch out this bridge. Here’s how it goes.

For starters, we have to establish the reality of two beings: people and God. There is a great gap between people and God—a division that exists because we have rebelled against God’s way and decided to go our own way. The Bible calls this “sin.” Sin separates us from God.

The dilemma people face is that we want to get to God but know we can’t just leap over the chasm. We can try to do all kinds of good things to build our own bridge, but in the end we realize that all the human effort in the world will never be enough to get us to the other side. No matter how much goodness you rack up, it’s still not enough to bridge the gap.

But thankfully, God loved us so much that he intervened so that we would have a means of getting close to him. He did what we couldn’t do. He bridged the gap. Jesus’ death on the cross is the bridge we can cross to be with God. We can never be good enough to close the gap, but Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price we couldn’t pay. He bridged the gap so that we could have full access to the presence of God, now and forever.If you remember nothing else about the bridge illustration, remember this: Christ came to earth to be our bridge, and whoever makes the decision to cross the bridge will live with God forever.

This Scripture really drives it all home. John 5:24 - Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24, NIV)

You know what I just gave you in this bridge illustration? A simple, straight-forward, concise way to tell God’s story. It’s so basic. It’s so simple to understand. You can do this. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Christian for 5 minutes, you can do this. You can use this illustration to tell God’s story.

If you don’t want to use the bridge illustration, then don’t. I don’t care. I just wanted to give you something that you can easily use to tell God’s story. The most important thing to remember, however you tell God’s story, is to remember the types of words we looked at earlier. Humble words. Healing words. Wise words. Gentle words. Grace-filled words.

Remember, you are not responsible for transforming a human heart. You can’t save anybody. That is God’s role. Your role, when prompted to do so, is to open your mouth and give a gentle, thoughtful, clear, and passionate understanding of who God is and what he’s done for us. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less. God has a story. You can learn to tell it well.

Not only does God have a story, but you and I have a story as well. A powerful story. And our job is to learn to tell it well!

Do you believe what I just said … that you have a powerful story to tell? Some of you don’t see any significance in your story, but you’re wrong. If you have come into a relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ, then you have a wonderful, redemptive story to tell. Here’s why that’s true …

Regardless how old you were when you came to faith, hopefully you were different before Christ than you are after Christ invaded your world and beautifully wrecked it with things like grace and mercy and love. If Jesus has made no difference in your life, then you’ve got bigger problems. But most all of us who have come to Christ would say, “Oh man, he’s made an incredible difference in my life.” Good. That means you’ve got a story to tell.

Take the guy from Luke 5 who once had leprosy. Starting in verse 12, “While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him,

"Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.

Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." (Luke 5:12-14, NIV)

Can you imagine what that experience must have been like for that man? Jesus healed him of one of the most dreaded diseases of his time. It was beyond our ability to comprehend. But Jesus wasn’t yet ready to draw a lot of attention to himself. He had a lot he wanted to accomplish before that happened. So Jesus told this guy, “Don’t tell anybody about this.” Yeah right.

The Bible says in the next verse, “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.” (Luke 5:15, NIV)

What do you think this guy told every, single person who would listen from that point forward?! “I was a leper. But then I met Christ! And now I’m healed … totally and completely healed.” He simply couldn’t keep it to himself.

Do you see a before-and-after in his story?

• I was sick. But now I’m well.
• I was diseased. But now I’m healthy.
• I was outcast. But now I’m accepted.
• I was defiled. But now I’m good as new.
• I was tarnished. But now I’m clean.
• I was left for dead. But now I have a future.

Who knows which aspect of the former leper’s before-and-after was most compelling to him … who knows which facet he would have homed in on? He’d have to figure out his story for himself, right?

But here’s the point: for the vast majority of you sitting in this room, the same pattern is true for you.

If you’ve given your life to Christ, then you have a before-and-after.

And that’s about all people need to hear right out of the blocks … what you were like before you came to Christ. What the experience was like of embracing faith in him. And what you are like after that decision.

If you’re reading the Just Walk Across the Room book, you’ll come across some great examples of well-told faith stories in your reading this week. But let me just give you the crux of a few of these before-and-afters.

• “I was striving … but now I’m at peace.”
• “I was self-destructive … but now I’m healthy.”
• “Guilty, but now liberated.”
• “Fear-stricken, but now confident.”
• “Despairing, but now hopeful!”

Your own before-and-after doesn’t have to be more complicated than this. It just has to be simple, humble, succinct … and true.

Sounds pretty straightforward, right?

That’s what it should be. It should be this easy to tell an effective before-and-after faith story. But if I’m being honest, I have to tell you that it’s quite possible for these stories we’re talking about to absolutely derail.

First, faith stories derail because they’re too long. This happens when a Christ-follower just won’t stop talking. He oversupplies and just slaughters the demand. He goes on and on and on … and even after the listener sends all sorts of warning signals that disinterest and disdain have taken root, the storyteller obliviously keeps chatting away.

Second, faith stories derail when they’re not focused. When a Christ-follower is fuzzy about the story’s core theme. She gets all tangled up in a dozen story lines and leaves her listener frustrated, exhausted, and baffled.

Third, faith stories derail when they are full of religious jargon. A Christ-follower lays out a string of four-syllable Christian-insider words that no one outside the family of faith can understand. People outside of Christ don’t know words like redemption, justification, sanctification, exegesis, pre-millenial, post-millenial, amillenial, etc. Don’t use them. Tell your story using plain, ordinary language that they will understand. That takes some work. It’s not as easy as you might think.

Fourth—and finally—faith stories derail when they’re told with an attitude of superiority. Your faith story will derail, blow up, and leave a trail of smoke a mile long if you play the superiority card. If you act like you have your act perfectly together and the listener is somehow inferior to you, you’re headed for the ditch … and fast, my friend.

You have a story. It’s the story of God’s work in your life, so it is worth some time, effort, and work to learn to tell it well. If we don’t think this is worth telling well, then what are we really all about?

So here’s what I’m challenging us to do this week: we’re going to write our stories down … our individual before-and-after faith story.

But wait, there’s more! If you were sitting here during that last portion of the message thinking, Wow. I wish I had somebody who would read my faith story and give me some help developing it… then this is your lucky day!

Because not only do you have the opportunity to write down your before-and-after faith story, but you also have the opportunity to email it to us. It’ll give someone with a fresh set of eyes to read your story and then give you some input and some encouragement. You can email it to and I, or some other trusted leader, will read your story and then reply.

Keep in mind, when someone opens the door for you to tell about your faith, you have about 45-60 seconds. If you haven’t said something concise and convincing in that time frame, they’re probably going to shut you down. That’s why it’s worth putting effort and work and prayer into this. And if you’d like some extra eyes to read over your story, this is your chance. Go over the faith story principles we’ve talked about, and then sit down to crank out your first draft. You may go through a few drafts, but it’s worth it to come away with a concise, clear, true story about how God has worked and is working in your life.

We may not be able to reverse all of the negative perceptions that are out there about Christians, but we can certainly do our part to ensure that as far as this congregation is concerned, we have our act together on the story front.

We can do our part to cause this community to say, “The Christians over there at Amelia? They know how to tell God’s story. And to hear them talk about what he’s done in their lives … it makes me want that type of thing for my own life!”

1 Corinthians 14:9 says, “If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space.” (1 Corinthians 14:9, NLT) Is that a good reminder, or what?

As Christians, we bear the name of Christ. Let’s do him proud as we work hard to hone and shape and sharpen our before-and-after stories. Send in your hundred-words-or-less story, written in a clear, succinct, humble, simple manner, and have an open heart to receive some input and encouragement. Stay the course until your story is ready to face the world, and then go tell it confidently as often as God provides opportunity!

We have stories to tell. We have the privilege of telling God’s story. We have the opportunity to tell our story. And as we learn to tell them well, God will use us as his storytellers. He will use our stories to call people back to him.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: Just Walk Across the Room, evangelism, faith story, story, testimony, the bridge