Testimonies

Matthew 6:16-17

Many conversion stories have this arc of "I was bad (I drank, smoked pot, slept around, spent money prodigiously, I you-name-it-and-I-did-it), and now I'm saved. When these stories are told well without glorifying the previous life, they can be a real encouragement. But they can also leave a false impression that conversion is simply a movement from super bad to sweet church goer.

But when a prodigal is sharing about his time in the far country and his relief to be home, we have to remember that this is not the end of the story, but its beginning. The prodigal has just cut down the limbs and the branches of sin by turning away from its most egregious forms of it, but there's still work that needs to be done and if this work isn't done (pulling up the roots of sin), new branches of sin grow.

And this is often what grows: pride. A person might take pride in how he's living the Christian walk. He might glow in the praises of the "church ladies" or relish being known as spiritual person.

Jesus warned us of the dangers of this sin three times. He said, "Be careful not to do you 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them" (Matthew 6:1). "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men" (Matthew 6:5). "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting" (Matthew 6:16-17).

I don't know if I've ever heard a testimony of a person who has said. "I used to love to tell people that I spent three hours in prayer, and that I fasted for four days. Now I really don't care if they know what I do in my quiet time. I just hope they know that they are loved."

This wouldn't be your normal testimony, but it might just be as powerful as the story of a drunk gone sober.