Do You Feel As If You Had to Have Taken Drugs in Order to Have a Good Testimony?
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I was definitely a vanilla Christian. I'm laughing at that term. I never went through trauma or serious trials before being saved. I always felt almost guilty, like I was missing out on seeing the true MAJESTY and power of God because he was just kind of always there. I did end up going through stuff, and my "testimony" now is a lot less vanilla, but it's not really my "salvation" testimony. It's my "ongoing" testimony of God's faithfulness.
I look back on my vanilla salvation more kindly now, because I know that while others may have had miraculous and awe-inspiring stories of God flipping them upside down, breaking and rebuilding them, I know that those things do come with a price, and often leave everlasting damage in one form or another. Praise God for refining us and making us ALL new! And praise him, those of us with boring testimonies, for being our shield even from birth. He has us each on our own path.
I look back on my vanilla salvation more kindly now, because I know that while others may have had miraculous and awe-inspiring stories of God flipping them upside down, breaking and rebuilding them, I know that those things do come with a price, and often leave everlasting damage in one form or another. Praise God for refining us and making us ALL new! And praise him, those of us with boring testimonies, for being our shield even from birth. He has us each on our own path.
There's no point in one breath praising God and then in the next describing testimonies as boring. To anyone reading this: you don't need a history of drug and alcohol abuse to inspire others to Christ or show them the love of Jesus. There is nothing ineffective or 'boring' for want of a much better word about inspiring others to Christ and walking the daily walk with Jesus through a smile, an offering, a gesture of help, being appreciative for good health and all the other blessings that God provides you and you in turn provide for others. Especially for christians, we can show others God's love through these acts of Christ, seemingly simple but powerful. Show non believers and indeed even christians who have a long way to go that there's no such thing as 'boring' testimony. God never does anything boring, to describe it as that misses the biggest picture of all about Christ's love and certainly doesn't teach non believers about God.
We've all got things to offer others that we've seen God bestow on us, let God's love shine through this and into a fallen world desperately needing Christians to show them that there is nothing 'vanilla' or 'boring' about anything Christ has done in our lives and certainly what He can do for anyone.
Spot on. As I said at the outset the post was lacking so much in perspective, there were so many things that were missing. To all christians lost on their walk or those that haven't yet come to Christ, i wanted to write in and bring different ideas to what others have described as 'vanilla' or 'boring' from comparing God's work with others, which is wrong. All work done by God is praise worthy, inspiring and a smile through a christian, a simple gesture can change someone's life and save them. Until they understand this about God's love and a christian's patient walk with Christ, feeling negative in whatever form because there's no supposed wizz bang drug abuse history testimony contradicts so much of what we believe and should be doing as Christians inspiring others to Christ.
M
Amen to that.I look at the christians at church with supposedly "easy" lives and wish I had avoided alot of the heartache that I had to go through through my choices and the choices of others.
I think it is important to remember that while you hear of many of the inspiring "success stories" - there are also christians who may never recover from what they went through - who may get the wrong counsel, false teaching or not get the help they need at all - sort of fall through the cracks - and so their wounds never heal - they fester and cause pain and as a result they limp through life.
I think it is important to remember that while you hear of many of the inspiring "success stories" - there are also christians who may never recover from what they went through - who may get the wrong counsel, false teaching or not get the help they need at all - sort of fall through the cracks - and so their wounds never heal - they fester and cause pain and as a result they limp through life.
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Perhaps I didn't work my original post in a way that really conveyed what I was thinking.
Nope, I'm definitely not envious of the more "colorful" paths at all, which is why I didn't get involved in those lifestyles to begin with. If I'd actually been envious of them I'd have gone to parties with my college friends.
It's not that I don't feel as if I don't have anything to offer--after thinking about it, I think what I'm trying to express is that it I often feel helpless when I meet people who are going through the most extreme things and they're asking me for some sort of help. It's more of a feeling of helplessness, NOT worthlessness or total lack of self-esteem.
As most of you know, I've been very passionate about prison ministry in the past, and all my life, God seems to cross my path with people who are going through extreme things.
So, for example, when I would talk to people whose parents prostituted them out since childhood to support their own drug addictions, committed murder and are serving life sentences, and saw their best friends die on the streets, the whole time I would be thinking, "Ok, what do I have to pull from my own background that would possibly let them know I want to relate to them somehow?"
Instead of trying to put together common experiences (that I didn't have, and didn't want in any way), I would relate to their feelings--anger, abandonment, loneliness, fear, etc.
If nothing else, hearing these stories made me all the more thankful for me "vanilla" life.
Nope, I'm definitely not envious of the more "colorful" paths at all, which is why I didn't get involved in those lifestyles to begin with. If I'd actually been envious of them I'd have gone to parties with my college friends.
It's not that I don't feel as if I don't have anything to offer--after thinking about it, I think what I'm trying to express is that it I often feel helpless when I meet people who are going through the most extreme things and they're asking me for some sort of help. It's more of a feeling of helplessness, NOT worthlessness or total lack of self-esteem.
As most of you know, I've been very passionate about prison ministry in the past, and all my life, God seems to cross my path with people who are going through extreme things.
So, for example, when I would talk to people whose parents prostituted them out since childhood to support their own drug addictions, committed murder and are serving life sentences, and saw their best friends die on the streets, the whole time I would be thinking, "Ok, what do I have to pull from my own background that would possibly let them know I want to relate to them somehow?"
Instead of trying to put together common experiences (that I didn't have, and didn't want in any way), I would relate to their feelings--anger, abandonment, loneliness, fear, etc.
If nothing else, hearing these stories made me all the more thankful for me "vanilla" life.
Something else that inspired the topic of this post is that, as I mentioned in an earlier post, God often seems to bring people into my life who are at the point of hitting rock bottom, and I've always felt a strong calling to people in these kinds of situations.
In my single life, I've tried to follow "the good Christian RX" by serving in varying ministries, and something I've learned about myself is that I'm usually attracted to the more intense situations.
Before I burned out on prison ministry, I was becoming interested in working with war veterans, and quickly found out I wasn't ready for that kind of intensity just yet (as I wrote in another post in another thread, one of the veterans my group tried to minister later committed suicide, and even though you know it's not your fault, you struggle with how you could have helped him more effectively.) It's the times when I encounter the people going through, or who are affected by these issues, that I feel the most helpless.
During my "quiet" years (recovering from some intense things in my own life), one of my mentors wanted to start a local ministry that would help young women from very rough backgrounds make better lifestyle and relationship choices. I was very excited about this, but one woman advised me not to join, saying: "We had a girl like you in my domestic violence group. She hadn't been through anything... and we all hated her for that."
To say that I was discouraged would be an understatement. Yup, I realize someone who's walked the walk has a lot more qualifications than someone like me, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything to help. The group never got off the ground, but if it had, I wouldn't have let the criticism stop me, because I've heard it all my life.
When I wrote this thread, I think I was remembering some of the things I'd heard in the past but didn't put them into my original post. It's kind of like, "Yeah, you might be all right at serving tea and washing dishes... but when it comes to crawling through the trenches and doing the 'real' work, you'd better stay home and keep those precious little hands from getting dirty."
Sometimes, putting up with those kinds of attitudes (when they exist) is just as difficult, or even more so, than ministering to the original target audience.
In my single life, I've tried to follow "the good Christian RX" by serving in varying ministries, and something I've learned about myself is that I'm usually attracted to the more intense situations.
Before I burned out on prison ministry, I was becoming interested in working with war veterans, and quickly found out I wasn't ready for that kind of intensity just yet (as I wrote in another post in another thread, one of the veterans my group tried to minister later committed suicide, and even though you know it's not your fault, you struggle with how you could have helped him more effectively.) It's the times when I encounter the people going through, or who are affected by these issues, that I feel the most helpless.
During my "quiet" years (recovering from some intense things in my own life), one of my mentors wanted to start a local ministry that would help young women from very rough backgrounds make better lifestyle and relationship choices. I was very excited about this, but one woman advised me not to join, saying: "We had a girl like you in my domestic violence group. She hadn't been through anything... and we all hated her for that."
To say that I was discouraged would be an understatement. Yup, I realize someone who's walked the walk has a lot more qualifications than someone like me, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything to help. The group never got off the ground, but if it had, I wouldn't have let the criticism stop me, because I've heard it all my life.
When I wrote this thread, I think I was remembering some of the things I'd heard in the past but didn't put them into my original post. It's kind of like, "Yeah, you might be all right at serving tea and washing dishes... but when it comes to crawling through the trenches and doing the 'real' work, you'd better stay home and keep those precious little hands from getting dirty."
Sometimes, putting up with those kinds of attitudes (when they exist) is just as difficult, or even more so, than ministering to the original target audience.
M
The thing with a person's testimony, is that it never ends in this life, it is
living and breathing and continues with life.
A testimony which starts with fireworks but does not continue to florish
is not much of a testimony.
My testimony was quite dramatic then as life has chugged along there has
been quite moments of steady moving on with Jesus and also damatic
life altering moments.
The thing is hardly anyone at my church has heard it, maybe just a handful
over the years. I'm not important enough for people to listen to I guess. Lol
I suspect this is the same for many people both the firework kind and
the steady burn kind. So every testimony posted on her is an
opportunity to give God all the glory.
But Jesus knows each and every testimony big and small, the one at the
very beginning and the ongoing ones.
living and breathing and continues with life.
A testimony which starts with fireworks but does not continue to florish
is not much of a testimony.
My testimony was quite dramatic then as life has chugged along there has
been quite moments of steady moving on with Jesus and also damatic
life altering moments.
The thing is hardly anyone at my church has heard it, maybe just a handful
over the years. I'm not important enough for people to listen to I guess. Lol
I suspect this is the same for many people both the firework kind and
the steady burn kind. So every testimony posted on her is an
opportunity to give God all the glory.
But Jesus knows each and every testimony big and small, the one at the
very beginning and the ongoing ones.
I was never trying to make light of what God did in my life and God knows I never wanted a scarred past to testify of....just that as a human in the flesh sometimes one may feel their testimony is less effective to others...not that God is anything less. People tend to react more to hearing all that God brought you out of than from hearing he helped prevent you from doing them to begin with.
everyone has good things to offer, even if a person has not known great and terrible suffering they still know pain they still struggle in life in some way or another and even the simplest of suffering is just as important as great and terrible sufferings thta other have experienced.
You don't have to have gone through hell and back to have an amazing testimony, each persons story matters each person has good things to offer and share, besides it's not the testimony of our past that matters it's the testimony of the future when we are in heaven that matters. How we lived our lives what we did what little we were given what we did with what we had lots of the people we encountered the souls we helped how we were there for those in need.
every testimony on that day while may be different will be just as important as the next no matter great or how little the sufferings.
You don't have to have gone through hell and back to have an amazing testimony, each persons story matters each person has good things to offer and share, besides it's not the testimony of our past that matters it's the testimony of the future when we are in heaven that matters. How we lived our lives what we did what little we were given what we did with what we had lots of the people we encountered the souls we helped how we were there for those in need.
every testimony on that day while may be different will be just as important as the next no matter great or how little the sufferings.
I'm a graduate of the school of Hard Knocks but never used drugs or had a problem with alcohol. I believe that those who have overcome certain addictions are in a good position to counsel others that are addicts or struggling to overcome. It's like someone who has never been married offering advice on marital problems. It's just not very effective.
Of course, there are exceptions to this. We all are called to humbly serve the Lord in the capacity that He has placed us using the tools that He has provided.
It is best not to ever walk down a self-destructive path. In one way or another we each have been subjected to trials and tribulations in our lives, and having trusted in God and persevered, would make an effective witness by our testimony.
Of course, there are exceptions to this. We all are called to humbly serve the Lord in the capacity that He has placed us using the tools that He has provided.
It is best not to ever walk down a self-destructive path. In one way or another we each have been subjected to trials and tribulations in our lives, and having trusted in God and persevered, would make an effective witness by our testimony.
Blain, I know from your posts that you've been through a lot in life that wasn't even your fault, but rather, the result of others' poor decisions and behaviors.
One of the most encouraging things to me is when someone who DOES have a more intense testimony understands that everyone, even us "vanilla" Christians still have something valuable to offer, too, even if we haven't been through the exact same things.
One of the most encouraging things to me is when someone who DOES have a more intense testimony understands that everyone, even us "vanilla" Christians still have something valuable to offer, too, even if we haven't been through the exact same things.
My testimony can be seen as intense but as i said in my testimony thread it's not my story that needs to be told.
Pain sadness loss confusion everything about life that is hard or unfair while may be at different levels or intensity doesn't decide who or what the person is, you think you are a vanilla Christian because you have not been through hell But God says different
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light
The heart of a person decides everything not the level of hell they went through, I have no doubt that there are ppl here in cc who may not have gone through near as much as me yet shine more brightly than I. If I believed that the level and intensity of my sufferings made me any better than anyone else then i would have to be the most arrogant and most prideful person I have ever met.
My past doesn't have much to do with who i am now, God is the one who molds my heart not my testimony
Pain sadness loss confusion everything about life that is hard or unfair while may be at different levels or intensity doesn't decide who or what the person is, you think you are a vanilla Christian because you have not been through hell But God says different
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light
The heart of a person decides everything not the level of hell they went through, I have no doubt that there are ppl here in cc who may not have gone through near as much as me yet shine more brightly than I. If I believed that the level and intensity of my sufferings made me any better than anyone else then i would have to be the most arrogant and most prideful person I have ever met.
My past doesn't have much to do with who i am now, God is the one who molds my heart not my testimony
My personal theory is that when we are saved, God gives us a little (a lot) extra "oomph" to get us over that huge hump of adjusting to a life of serving him and dying to self daily. We can't "be on the mountain top" forever though - cannot sustain that level of passion indefinitely because we would be exhausted, so after a while we sort of settle into our faith. It grows STRONGER, and we grow WISER, but the emotion and energy of the new Christian is harder to match for mature Christians over a long period of time.
I'm guessing that maybe people you've come into contact with still have that newly-saved passion, and compare themselves to what they believe are less passionate "older" Christians? Or maybe they just have some more growing to do in the humility department. I haven't encountered this, myself. I have met brand new Christians (1-3 years into their faith) who had trouble understanding why everyone else wasn't as excited as they were about God (a misconception on their part) but if it's a 10 year Christian, they just need an attitude adjustment IMO.
I'm guessing that maybe people you've come into contact with still have that newly-saved passion, and compare themselves to what they believe are less passionate "older" Christians? Or maybe they just have some more growing to do in the humility department. I haven't encountered this, myself. I have met brand new Christians (1-3 years into their faith) who had trouble understanding why everyone else wasn't as excited as they were about God (a misconception on their part) but if it's a 10 year Christian, they just need an attitude adjustment IMO.