Do You Feel As If You Had to Have Taken Drugs in Order to Have a Good Testimony?

[seoulsearch]

Hey Everyone,

Do you ever feel like you don't have much to offer other people or the kingdom of God because you're a "plain vanilla" Christian?

My Mom and I were talking about this because my parents regularly hear all kinds of testimonies through their work. She told that she often feels like she doesn't have anything to offer anyone because she's doesn't have an incredibly intense testimony as so many Christians do. She was born and raised a Christian, married early, stayed at home to raise a family... and continues to be my Dad's faithful help mate every single day.

I don't know if it's just me, but I'm often blown away by the testimonies some people have--recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, surviving abandonment and raising kids amidst the turmoil, and several "there is no cure" medical issues that were miraculously healed.

I admire each and every person for the personal struggles God has helped them overcome.

But it leaves me feeling as if... I don't have anything worthwhile to contribute to the Christian circle. This is part of the reason why I continuously come back to CC to talk about what's on my heart--in real life, I mostly listen, because nothing I have to add is nearly as powerful, and I don't want to detract from someone else's testimony.

On the flip side, I've also had some Christian people tell me (in a condescending way) that I've had a very easy life (with the implication is that I must be "Christianity Lite", and only a fraction of the true Christian that they are because of their trials.) To some people, more suffering and trials means they rate higher as a Christian.

Now, I am certainly NOT saying that anyone with a powerful testimony this way, but it often seems to me as if the most extreme testimonies are also showcased at the church or in a Bible study. The person who was rescued from the most sordid things is usually asked to share, not the small town girl who simply became a housewife.

I know that we all have a testimony, and that it's all valuable to our Lord.

But do find yourself ever feeling as if... The "true" Christians are the ones who have suffered the most, and somehow, you're not worth nearly as much to God or other Christians because your life hasn't nearly been so "colorful"?

 

[wwjd_kilden]

Thank you for posting this! *hugs*

Yes, I do feel like that very often.
It's like .... if you do all the bad things in the start of your life, and then turn to Christ, it is wonderful
If you start of well, but "go bad", that is considered a really really bad thing (much worse than the other way around)
and , like you said, if you do well, or "ok" most or all of your life, it seems at if it is just taken for granted.

Please know this though: Your life might be a wonderful testimony to those around you!

 

[seoulsearch]

It's kind of interesting because I guess I think of it like this: let's use Exodus as an example.

If you had a choice between listening to Joshua's testimony (someone who saw all the plagues, miraculous provisions, and made it to the Promised Land), vs. an Israelite who had faithfully served God as an Egyptian slave... in the 400 years BEFORE God started to release His people... Which one would you want to listen to? (And I'm betting my answer is the same.)

I think one of the reasons why churches enjoy spotlighting such show-stopping testimonies is because it's like being able to say, "Look!! Here's tangible proof that everything I believe in is worthwhile, and the God I believe in is REAL... Haters!!"

Over the years, I've become less and less drawn to powerful testimonies, because for every alcoholic who get miraculously set free, there are thousands of other alcoholics who are still fighting their addiction every day, and their families and loved ones are suffering right along with them.

For my own faith, I have NEVER had a doubt that God is all-powerful.

My struggled always lies in the issue of why He seems to "pick" some to be set free during this lifetime... But leaves so many others behind. I know it's all His jurisdiction to choose.

But for every "Showstopping Amazing Testimony" I hear, the first thing I think about is, "How many people DIDN'T get their miracle, and how are they coping?"

 

[coby]

Everyone who hasn't used harddrugs isn't a real christian.
I find those testimonies awesome, especially from Michael Brown and Steve Hill and they're always on fire. But the ordinary ones prayed for them and lead them to the Lord.
Michael Brown, that was so funny. A woman wrote in her diary: Antichrist has come to church.

 

[GodIsSalvation]

My Mom and I were talking about this because my parents regularly hear all kinds of testimonies through their work. She told that she often feels like she doesn't have anything to offer anyone because she's doesn't have an incredibly intense testimony as so many Christians do. She was born and raised a Christian, married early, stayed at home to raise a family... and continues to be my Dad's faithful help mate every single day.

This right here is a powerful testimony, far more than any personal dramas and war stories I have seen.

 

[coby]

It's a more spectacular testimony and people like that, but it's not better. Is Peter's testimony better than John's?

 

[seoulsearch]

Everyone who hasn't used harddrugs isn't a real christian.
I find those testimonies awesome, especially from Michael Brown and Steve Hill and they're always on fire. But the ordinary ones prayed for them and lead them to the Lord.
Michael Brown, that was so funny. A woman wrote in her diary: Antichrist has come to church.

I loved this point, Coby. God often does extraordinary work through very ordinary people.

This right here is a powerful testimony, far more than any personal dramas and war stories I have seen.

Thank you for this, GIS. I will be sure to pass this along to my Mom!!

It's a more spectacular testimony and people like that, but it's not better. Is Peter's testimony better than John's?

This is an awesome question, Coby.

I am by NO means trying to discredit people with a dramatic testimony at all.

But it seems so often to me that there is almost a "hierarchy" among Christians as to whose testimony "really counts".

 

[Pipp]

I definitely understand what you mean.... and yes I have in the past felt like that. I was raised in church and got saved when I was 16, so I've never been "out in the world" in a sense where I have stories to tell. Then one day I just decided that the fact that by God's grace I was kept from all of that was just as great a testimony as those who were brought out of it.

 

[coby]

This right here is a powerful testimony, far more than any personal dramas and war stories I have seen.

Yes it's an awesome testimony. These days people that stay married and have a good marriage are a major testimony. Look at how atheists talk about divorcing christians.
I read books of Corrie ten Boom. Her parents, major testimony, such a Godly family and she gave her heart to the Lord when she was 5 and her mother said when she was playing a game where she knocked on a door: Jesus knocks on your door. He wants to come in.

 

[NukePooch]

I worked at a crisis intervention hotline for a while. I talked to all sorts of people in all sorts of situations, and all I can say is that it depends.

I've talked to drug/alcohol/whatever addicts who asked me if I was a fellow addict, and when I said no, they told me I wouldn't understand, then hung up.
I've talked to abused women who said I wouldn't understand them, because I was a guy...
I've talked to harried moms that told me I wouldn't understand because I didn't have children that were on the wrong path.
I've talked to ____ that said I wouldn't understand because I was _____.

I've also talked people from all of the above groups and was able to help them cope.

It just depends.

Sometimes, a teenaged girl who was raped absolutely refuses to talk to a man. I understandably get that. However, I was able to help some in that situation regardless of being me.

Generally, I've found that like seeks out like. Alcoholics might tend to find greater empathy with other recovering alcoholics... Sometimes, however, the differences simply don't matter. Even more, sometimes the differences might be what truly breaks through to them.

You'll often never know how you impact people.

It just depends.

 

[JosephsDreams]

I am of the opposite mind. While some of the testimonies of people who previously had taken drugs are mind blowing, it is better to never have taken them.
To me, that is a stronger testimony. That has more impact to me. Through Jesus to have the strength to have never touched nayhting, in this infested society, that is a whole nother level !

 

[Tintin]

I was never embroiled in the world of witchcraft, sex, drugs, alcohol, money, violence - any of that. So have I felt like a vanilla Christian before? Absolutely! But I've had my own battles to fight and they involve identity and constant wrestles with God (I've had numerous times in the wilderness so that's been fun - not) and the aftereffects of being bullied for most of my life. It's amazing how much crap you can pick up either consciously or subconsciously in the Christian life (with all of the religious bull). I have a very different story, but I still have my own story to tell.

 

[crosstweed]

No.
I was raised in a Christian home by Christian parents, but I have never felt that way about my testimony. Although God breaking me of an RPG addiction and forgiving me of my sins is hardly as glamorous as say, healing me of a cocaine addiction (I never used cocaine, just using it as an example), and actually looks ludicrous to some people, it was still an area of deep sin for me in my in my relatively sheltered circumstances. Had I been in public school at that time in my life, there is no telling what else I would have gotten myself into.

It seems more spectacular when someone gets forgiven and healed of a drug addiction or prostitution something like that, but it's not really, because we were all born with the potential to end up in a similar bad circumstance/depth of sin and it's no harder for God to forgive a repentant "vanilla" person than a prostitute, as long as both are sincerely repentant. TBH, I sometimes think it's a just as big a miracle that God can heal the subtler, sneakier things that everyone (even us vanilla people) have in our lives that take time for God to bring to our attention as it is the big stuff that everyone can see.


EDIT: Although I will add that "he who is forgiven much, loves much." I also think that if some Christians realized how deep their "little sins" actually went, they would love a lot more than they do.

 

[A_Friend_In_Christ]

I have felt this before too. I became a Christian at a young age and some Christians who accept Jesus later act like we are not real Christians.

We did not have a wild life and we did not do a lot of drugs and alcohol before we came to know the Lord. Like somehow they are better than the rest of us who were young Christians.

Not all have acted this way, but I have run into a few people like this. Some in chat rooms like to say that they went through this and that and had a wild life and talk about themselves a lot instead of putting the focus on Jesus.

They may have had a hard life, but I don't want to her them brag about it and how that they are a better Christian now than us "had it easy" Christians. (Turn off!)

 

[laura_charlotte]

But it leaves me feeling as if... I don't have anything worthwhile to contribute to the Christian circle.

That perspective really needs a lot of work. If we don't have history of drugs usage, we can inspire people to good health and the natural way of life. You can inspire people just by smiling at them, doing something nice to them, walking with God and being a nice person - all these things can change an unbeliever's mind just as much, if not more so, than a testimony of a history of drugs or some of other addiction.

God has given each and every one of us a walk with Him to complete. We all have work to finish off. We all have God given talents and abilities - for as long as we're doing that and showing people who Christ is through everyday moves or gestures or a prior history of going away from the Lord and then showing how Jesus inspired them back is just as equal in weight in testimony and inspiration to the Lord.

I've never had anything to do with drugs or alcohol. However i know i show Jesus' love when i develop self esteem and confidence in my students at school. Or when i make the rounds in the neighbourhood and drop things off to those in need. The love of Jesus isn't greater in someone who was a former drug addict/turned their life over to Jesus v.s my Godly moves on a daily basis - Jesus doesn't measure things in this regards. As long as we're walking the Christian walk and doing God's will, every little breath we draw has an inspiring place in the quilt that God wants us all to finish that is His work.

 

[missy2014]

No.
I was raised in a Christian home by Christian parents, but I have never felt that way about my testimony. Although God breaking me of an RPG addiction and forgiving me of my sins is hardly as glamorous as say, healing me of a cocaine addiction (I never used cocaine, just using it as an example), and actually looks ludicrous to some people, it was still an area of deep sin for me in my in my relatively sheltered circumstances. Had I been in public school at that time in my life, there is no telling what else I would have gotten myself into.

It seems more spectacular when someone gets forgiven and healed of a drug addiction or prostitution something like that, but it's not really, because we were all born with the potential to end up in a similar bad circumstance/depth of sin and it's no harder for God to forgive a repentant "vanilla" person than a prostitute, as long as both are sincerely repentant. TBH, I sometimes think it's a just as big a miracle that God can heal the subtler, sneakier things that everyone (even us vanilla people) have in our lives that take time for God to bring to our attention as it is the big stuff that everyone can see.


EDIT: Although I will add that "he who is forgiven much, loves much." I also think that if some Christians realized how deep their "little sins" actually went, they would love a lot more than they do.

I reckon what you jus wrote your testimony and what you wrote how prideful we can be as christians I love what you wrote May God use you your testimony for his glory in his mighty power thats wonderful keep going and go further in God and grow stronger. Our God is wonderful we serve an awesome and wonderful Saviour Jesus!

 

[missy2014]

Hey Everyone,

Do you ever feel like you don't have much to offer other people or the kingdom of God because you're a "plain vanilla" Christian?

My Mom and I were talking about this because my parents regularly hear all kinds of testimonies through their work. She told that she often feels like she doesn't have anything to offer anyone because she's doesn't have an incredibly intense testimony as so many Christians do. She was born and raised a Christian, married early, stayed at home to raise a family... and continues to be my Dad's faithful help mate every single day.

I don't know if it's just me, but I'm often blown away by the testimonies some people have--recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, surviving abandonment and raising kids amidst the turmoil, and several "there is no cure" medical issues that were miraculously healed.

I admire each and every person for the personal struggles God has helped them overcome.

But it leaves me feeling as if... I don't have anything worthwhile to contribute to the Christian circle. This is part of the reason why I continuously come back to CC to talk about what's on my heart--in real life, I mostly listen, because nothing I have to add is nearly as powerful, and I don't want to detract from someone else's testimony.

On the flip side, I've also had some Christian people tell me (in a condescending way) that I've had a very easy life (with the implication is that I must be "Christianity Lite", and only a fraction of the true Christian that they are because of their trials.) To some people, more suffering and trials means they rate higher as a Christian.

Now, I am certainly NOT saying that anyone with a powerful testimony this way, but it often seems to me as if the most extreme testimonies are also showcased at the church or in a Bible study. The person who was rescued from the most sordid things is usually asked to share, not the small town girl who simply became a housewife.

I know that we all have a testimony, and that it's all valuable to our Lord.

But do find yourself ever feeling as if... The "true" Christians are the ones who have suffered the most, and somehow, you're not worth nearly as much to God or other Christians because your life hasn't nearly been so "colorful"?

If you feel you havent lived a life that is powerful as it should of been start today and you wont regret it the more we seek God the more love him and the greater desire and im not judging you this is based on what you have said you feel youre lacking something . Make a decision today. And seriously Im having to make this decision myself and you so dont have as much junk to work through as I do so dont be discouraged and Im not putting myself down . Im just aware some of us like myself will have to work a bit more to 'get back up on our donkeys' because of all the sin weve accumulated. Be encouraged with where you at with God today remember heaven is real and you dont want to be getting there and be all bummed why didnt I do more woah I missed out on alot. As you said to me in the fitness forums YOU CAN DO THIS. I believe the Christians taht are closest to God are very honest that kind of exposure of their sin and being very honest with people can be very difficult and hurts but honesty is always the best policy.

 

[Lynx]

Depends what the purpose of the testimony is. If one is witnessing to a drug addict, a testimony of overcoming drug addiction can be a powerful thing. "I know what you are going through because I went through it, and you CAN be free." Some people will always be much better able to witness to people with certain problems than I ever will because I don't know what their problems are like.

As to whether a recovered drug user has a better testimony... well, everybody likes a prodigal son story. That's just human nature. And frankly I never did care what most people think. I just write it off and go on with my life.

I would point out though, that you don't have to do something bad to have a testimony. I rode a bicycle to work (about 3.5 miles or so) and the rain always redirected itself around my work schedule. In east TN, where the mountains make their own weather. For FOUR YEARS! I can't even count the number of times it started raining just as I got to work and dashed inside.

As to why some are freed from addictions and others aren't... Luke 4:27.

 

[Lynx]

By the way, I keep giving definitive answers to your threads and you might get the impression I know a lot - that I have this christian thing down pat. It's a false impression. You just keep starting threads on topics that I once preached a sermon on.

 

[Tintin]

It's notoriously difficult to find good books by Christians who've been Christians for all of their known lives and are honest about the struggles of the Christian walk. I absolutely find that stories from new Christians and those who came to know Christ have valuable insights and encouragements, but I can't identify with them in any big way. Makes it difficult.