How to witness to others if you don't have a testimony to witness about?

TruthSeek3r

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I understand the concept of witnessing to others as sharing what God has done in your life. However, that assumes that you already have a testimony to begin with, i.e. a set of undeniable personal experiences with God that you can witness about to others. But what about people who don't have such testimonies to share? An extreme example: an atheist. An atheist has never had a personal experience with God, therefore you never see atheists witnessing about experiences they've never had. (Otherwise, had they had those experiences, they would've probably stopped being atheists and converted long ago.)

The point I'm trying to get across: How can you witness to people about God if you, personally, have never had an encounter or experience or anything to witness about? In other words, how to witness if you don't have a testimony? How should one proceed if one finds oneself in this situation?
 
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NomNomPizza

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I understand the concept of witnessing to others as sharing what God has done in your life. However, that assumes that you already have a testimony to begin with, i.e. a set of undeniable personal experiences with God that you can witness about to others. But what about people who don't have such testimonies to share? An extreme example: an atheist. An atheist has never had a personal experience with God, therefore you never see atheists witnessing about experiences they've never had. (Otherwise, had they had those experiences, they would've probably stopped being atheists and converted long ago.)

The point I'm trying to get across: How can you witness to people about God if you, personally, have never had an encounter or experience or anything to witness about? In other words, how to witness if you don't have a testimony? How should one proceed if one finds oneself in this situation?
What
I'm seriously starting to believe that these "christian colleges" just produce lukewarm pastors who don't teach basic things from bible anymore and we have questions like this one arrive due to this..

Ok to clear your misconceptions
1) We are saved by the gospel not your boasting about what God did for you in your life , nobody cares about you being alcoholic and quitting it because unbelievers do it too and they boast they didn't need God for it
2) Gospel is not your testimony , when Paul preached the gospel he did not tell people how he was blinded and Christ literally spoke to him thats irrevelant it could be halucination or dream...
When Paul preached the gospel he took Scriptures ( Old Testament Prophecy) and showed to people and disputed that They were fulfilled by life and death of Jesus Christ

Definition of the Gospel is 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
about 30% of the Bible is prophecy I suggest reading New Testament then Old Testament to see how they were fulfilled because obviously you did not even bother to read the Bible like most Christians do. That's good that you want to witness to others but witness to yourself first so you can witness to others.

Example of Prophecy Isaiah 53
 
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TruthSeek3r

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I'm seriously starting to believe that these "christian colleges" just produce lukewarm pastors who don't teach basic things from bible anymore and we have questions like this one arrive due to this..

Ok to clear your misconceptions
1) We are saved by the gospel not your boasting about what God did for you in your life , nobody cares about you being alcoholic and quitting it because unbelievers do it too and they boast they didn't need God for it
2) Gospel is not your testimony , when Paul preached the gospel he did not tell people how he was blinded and Christ literally spoke to him thats irrevelant it could be halucination or dream...
When Paul preached the gospel he took Scriptures ( Old Testament Prophecy) and showed to people and disputed that They were fulfilled by life and death of Jesus Christ

Definition of the Gospel is 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
about 30% of the Bible is prophecy I suggest reading New Testament then Old Testament to see how they were fulfilled because obviously you did not even bother to read the Bible like most Christians do. That's good that you want to witness to others but witness to yourself first so you can witness to others.

Example of Prophecy Isaiah 53

John 3:11 (ESV)
Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

Acts 1:8 (ESV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 22:6-21: Paul's Testimony

Revelation 1:1-2 (ESV)
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
 
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NomNomPizza

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John 3:11 (ESV)
Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

Acts 1:8 (ESV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 22:6-21: Paul's Testimony

Revelation 1:1-2 (ESV)
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
Ye testimony of Jesus Christ so the fulfilled prophecy he did.

First text you quoted has nothing to do with you , you havent seen Jesus crucified and risen from death personally

Second it has nothing to do with topic aswell , he said that after they got Holy Spirit ( so they became saved ) they become witnesses so they become missionaries to all other places

Third quote John said that he was witness of the word of God
and the testament of Jesus Christ so the old covenant which was fulfilled.
Thats why people call it old and new testaments.


Besides that , New Testament Scriptures literally did not exist when Christianity was growing and you don't need new testament to prove Christ was Messiah.
 
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Cormack

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I appreciate that to “witness” has a front loaded idea that you have to be testifying about something you’ve seen, heard or felt, but if we are just writing plainly about sharing your beliefs to do with God, then that’s an intellectual thing too.

For example I’ve made a topic about Easter apologetics, that’s not about warm fuzzy feelings in our heart or healing miracles we’ve experienced firsthand, it’s just about good history.

Christians can believe in Christ’s power without being all in their feels about it, they can simply have faith and know their history really well.

Easter apologetics

I hope this helps @TruthSeek3r, God bless and happy Easter Sunday.
 
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Cormack

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NomNomPizza

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????

I’m only writing that the comment seemed unnecessary, @TruthSeek3r was just having a thought, my guy. :tearsofjoy: They don’t need this kind of uncharitable comment.....
Depends how you look at it
any "Christian" to me who doesn't know gospel or uses any sort of thing like for example:
a) Pray prayer with me
b) Ask Jesus in to your heart
c) Be good person
d) Testimony how good God blessed your life with richness and changed your life for better

at least to me , obviously did not even read the Scriptures to begin with just repeats what most new-age lukewarm preachers repeat nowdays ( mostly prosperity teachers).
Since he asked how to witness to Atheist with Testimony its clear to me that at least he doesn't understand how to properly share gospel ( since there is no difference between Atheist , unbeliever and new-age believer or any other religion believer we preach the same gospel to all ).
 
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St_Worm2

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The point I'm trying to get across: How can you witness to people about God if you, personally, have never had an encounter or experience or anything to witness about? In other words, how to witness if you don't have a testimony? How should one proceed if one finds oneself in this situation?
Hello TruthSeek3r, you identify as a Christian here at CF, so first off, when, why and how did you become a Christian?

Thanks!

--David
 
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TruthSeek3r

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Hello TruthSeek3r, you identify as a Christian here at CF, so first off, when, why and how did you become a Christian?

Thanks!

--David

Because of many investigations I've done, I feel strongly inclined to believe that a spirit realm does exist and that Christianity is the religion that most likely gets it right. I have easily watched thousands of testimonies at this point. I have even chatted with people who have had extraordinary supernatural experiences. The testimonial evidence in favor of the supernatural and Christianity is quite strong in my opinion. That's why I decided to label myself as Christian when I joined the site. That said, I'm still in the process of transitioning from an intellectual inclination to Christianity to an actual real life experience of it. That's why I said that I don't have a testimony. I have theoretical knowledge, but little to none actual experience. I cannot witness to somebody saying "Hey, I know this is true because I have personally lived it", instead, I can only say "Hey, let me share with you a document where I have summarized my investigations and conclusions so far". I have no problem sharing theory, but I can't testify about personal experiences when there are none.

Does what I'm saying make sense?
 
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Tolworth John

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I understand the concept of witnessing to others as sharing what God has done in your life. However, that assumes that you already have a testimony to begin with, i.e. a set of undeniable personal experiences with God that you can witness about to others. But what about people who don't have such testimonies to share? An extreme example: an atheist. An atheist has never had a personal experience with God, therefore you never see atheists witnessing about experiences they've never had. (Otherwise, had they had those experiences, they would've probably stopped being atheists and converted long ago.)

The point I'm trying to get across: How can you witness to people about God if you, personally, have never had an encounter or experience or anything to witness about? In other words, how to witness if you don't have a testimony? How should one proceed if one finds oneself in this situation?

Ok two points.
I, when talking to people about Jesus or Christianity, one does not start off by talking about one's own experience but by talking about Jesus/Christianity and asking the question.
What do you believe? Followed by
What evidence do you have for your belief?
A subsequent question is What evidence would you accept?

Look at how Paul, Stephen and others in the N T gosipped the gospel.
They used reasoning and scripture, their testimony was only used if it was appropriate.

2/ if you are a Christian you have a testimony. It may not be dramatic example I was a law-abiding student who did not get into trouble before becoming a Christian, as a Christian I am still a law-abiding citizens.
The importance of so called ' boring' testimonies is that ordinary people need Jesus, not just the visible sinners.

Last point. If you cannot answer the two questions I wrote, you need to talk seriously to your church minister.
 
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Sketcher

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If you've had a boring life like many of us had, that's OK - the emphasis should be on Jesus dying and rising again to forgive sin. If a sincere response to that can be detected in your life and how you try to live now, that will be good enough. We aren't the focus of the Gospel message, so our stories don't have to be extreme or exciting. They're just a tool in God's toolbox and he doesn't always have to work the same way through everyone. He knows he can use me to reach some people, and my friend who got saved in jail to reach other people.

What people seem to look for today is honesty and sincerity. So don't try to pad your story. People will see that from a mile away. Rather, live a sincere life following Christ. The Holy Spirit will use that in unexpected ways.
 
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St_Worm2

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Because of many investigations I've done, I feel strongly inclined to believe that a spirit realm does exist and that Christianity is the religion that most likely gets it right. I have easily watched thousands of testimonies at this point. I have even chatted with people who have had extraordinary supernatural experiences. The testimonial evidence in favor of the supernatural and Christianity is quite strong in my opinion. That's why I decided to label myself as Christian when I joined the site. That said, I'm still in the process of transitioning from an intellectual inclination to Christianity to an actual real life experience of it. That's why I said that I don't have a testimony. I have theoretical knowledge, but little to none actual experience. I cannot witness to somebody saying "Hey, I know this is true because I have personally lived it", instead, I can only say "Hey, let me share with you a document where I have summarized my investigations and conclusions so far". I have no problem sharing theory, but I can't testify about personal experiences when there are none.

Does what I'm saying make sense?
Hello again TruthSeek3r, yes, what you said makes sense (though it is a bit unusual). If I'm correctly understanding what you just said above, you are hoping to become a Christian by doing the things that Christians do, things that the Bible commands us to do, yes? If that's the case, then I'm afraid that you may have put the cart before the horse (so to speak), because Christians do what we do because we ~already are~ Christians, not to become Christians.

I'm guessing that this is also the reason that you do not have a testimony, because you have not experienced God and His salvation .. personally. If this is the case, then a testimony is not what you need right now, salvation is, and your testimony will follow, as a Christian's testimony is, first and foremost about his/her salvation (how/why you came to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as well what it has meant to you/what your life was like before, as a non-Christian, and how it's different now, as a believer).

Perhaps the place to start is here, do you understand why we need Jesus to save us, and what He saves us from (and to)? If you are interested in knowing that, do you also want to know 'how' you can be saved by God/how you can become a Christian?

May God bless you in your seeking of Him!!

--David

Romans 10
9 If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
 
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TzephanYahu

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Hello again @TruthSeek3r

ow can you witness to people about God if you, personally, have never had an encounter or experience or anything to witness about? In other words, how to witness if you don't have a testimony? How should one proceed if one finds oneself in this situation?

You don't need an astounding testimony to reach people. You story doesn't have to involve angel visitations, parting seas, miraculous healings or booming voices from heaven. More often than not, what someone really wants to hear is conviction.

Therefore, if you love the Lord with all your heart, you live your life for Him now and would die for Him if necessary - this kind of testimony is very powerful. The set of circumstances of how you got there is inconsequential and a hardened atheist will challenge every supernatural/miraculous intervention involved. But the end result, of you being one way and now being another with a strong conviction, speaks volumes and can not be argued with. If this kind of testimony is coupled with a reasonable, logical and sound attitude - there really isn't any room for arguing against its validity.

So again - conviction - that's the true power of a testimony.

Peace.
 
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TruthSeek3r

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Perhaps the place to start is here, do you understand why we need Jesus to save us, and what He saves us from (and to)? If you are interested in knowing that, do you also want to know 'how' you can be saved by God/how you can become a Christian?

Of course I know these things, I've watched hundreds of conversion testimonies where people have testified exactly about that. Again, I know the theory. The actual experience of it is what is missing.
 
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TruthSeek3r

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Hello again @TruthSeek3r

You don't need an astounding testimony to reach people. You story doesn't have to involve angel visitations, parting seas, miraculous healings or booming voices from heaven. More often than not, what someone really wants to hear is conviction.

Therefore, if you love the Lord with all your heart, you live your life for Him now and would die for Him if necessary - this kind of testimony is very powerful. The set of circumstances of how you got there is inconsequential and a hardened atheist will challenge every supernatural/miraculous intervention involved. But the end result, of you being one way and now being another with a strong conviction, speaks volumes and can not be argued with. If this kind of testimony is coupled with a reasonable, logical and sound attitude - there really isn't any room for arguing against its validity.

So again - conviction - that's the true power of a testimony.

Peace.

Very good point about conviction. I think you could say that I lack that conviction then. I wouldn't be able to stand in front of someone and proclaim with conviction that Christianity is true. I just can't. I don't have the necessary conviction for doing that. Instead, I would only be able to share a bunch of testimonies from other people and then let the other person make their own conclusions based on the testimonial evidence provided.

You have raised a very good point. Conviction appears to be the key. Those people who have powerful encounters and then create YouTube channels to share their testimonies and proclaim the truth of Christianity have exactly what you are talking about: conviction. Here are two powerful examples: link1, link2. That kind of conviction is exactly what I lack.
 
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TzephanYahu

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Here are two powerful examples: link1, link2. That kind of conviction is exactly what I lack.

Ah yes, I know of Mariah Jones. I've not seen Leah for the Light before.

I think you could say that I lack that conviction then.

Why do you say you lack the conviction? Do you mean that the idea of standing before others daunting, though you believe it deep inside? Or do you lack the conviction because of doubts within?
 
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TruthSeek3r

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Why do you say you lack the conviction? Do you mean that the idea of standing before others daunting, though you believe it deep inside? Or do you lack the conviction because of doubts within?

I lack a solid conviction rooted in a personal encounter/experience. Instead, I only have a kind of intellectual, probabilistic sort of "conviction". Like, if you were to put a gun next to my head and forced me to bet which religion is most likely true, then I would say that Christianity is the one that I find more compelling based on the evidence in its favor. Based on what I've investigated so far and the analysis I've done of hundreds of testimonies, I think that an abductive argument could be made for the supernatural being real and Christianity being the religion that best describes the supernatural realm. And you could add to that arguments that can be made in favor of theism in general from philosophy and apologetics. So I think it's possible to make a reasonable case to justify an inclination toward theism in general, and Christianity in particular. However, that's about it. It's all purely intellectual, probabilistic, partial. I'm still open-minded and able to change my mind based on further evidence. Because I'm still operating at an intellectual level, as an outside observer.

But if you remove all the testimonies I've watched and leave me only with my own personal experience and testimony, there is no way I can justify a belief in Christianity. I just don't have a testimony.
 
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TzephanYahu

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And you could add to that arguments that can be made in favor of theism in general from philosophy and apologetics. So I think it's possible to make a reasonable case to justify an inclination toward theism in general, and Christianity in particular. However, that's about it. It's all purely intellectual, probabilistic, partial.

Ah, that you still have more to come my friend :)

Most Christians you would have come across won't have faith based purely on an intellectual level. Now, if you find you are at this place at the moment, it's good because it shows you have made a wise assessment of the matter - on an intellectual level, which some lack. But now the knowledge needs to reach your heart as it sounds like your spiritual enlightenment is still to develop further. That is to say, the utter revelation of the truth to the core of your soul. When that happens, you will have the conviction and reassurance of the truth in a way that will eclipse the intellectual stance and you will no longer be able to say...
there is no way I can justify a belief in Christianity. I just don't have a testimony.

I may be totally way off here, but would I be right in thinking that you like to be in control or understand everything and also don't like authority - because you often see where they are going wrong?

And may I also ask, what was your experience of becoming a non-Christian to becoming a Christian? IF you don't mind sharing.

Peace.
 
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