From the time i accepted Jesus as Lord of Lords, King of Kings and my personal Saviour i have been loathe to ever verbally testify in front of a congregation.
This is due to the endless testimonies i heard at churches post becoming a Christian.
In my experience individuals were selected to share their journey to engage the congregations in a kind of vicarious feasting on what terrible sins individuals had done prior to turning to God.
That to me is a denigrating of the individual.
It is also extremely dangerous to pump individuals up on their stories of sins of the past scenarios because they can crash and burn.
Depending on their fragility and history the constant sharing and attention can be detrimental.
It can serve to reinforce labels and notions they are somehow worse than others aka more damaged...
Some people need to have alot of time to heal...
See when God reaches in and rescues/transforms your life - He gives you a grace, dignity and beauty that nothing and no-one else can.
All that was is irrelevant because He accepts you for where you are at. The changes are progressive and ongoing.
The labels junkie, prostitute, gay, child abuse survivor, infected with a blood borne virus etcera have no meaning.
Yes some of me is in those labels but is it important to know which/what?
NO it is not.
It is NOT how God sees you or me. He ain't in the business of labels.
It is God who knows you best - your history, the whys and wherefores. Every twist in your psyche God knows.
So this is my testimony
I was blind but now i see.
Seek and you shall find.
We are all essentially alone in this world - you and God. People die, circumstances changes.
God never changes.
He is my sole Hope.
This is due to the endless testimonies i heard at churches post becoming a Christian.
In my experience individuals were selected to share their journey to engage the congregations in a kind of vicarious feasting on what terrible sins individuals had done prior to turning to God.
That to me is a denigrating of the individual.
It is also extremely dangerous to pump individuals up on their stories of sins of the past scenarios because they can crash and burn.
Depending on their fragility and history the constant sharing and attention can be detrimental.
It can serve to reinforce labels and notions they are somehow worse than others aka more damaged...
Some people need to have alot of time to heal...
See when God reaches in and rescues/transforms your life - He gives you a grace, dignity and beauty that nothing and no-one else can.
All that was is irrelevant because He accepts you for where you are at. The changes are progressive and ongoing.
The labels junkie, prostitute, gay, child abuse survivor, infected with a blood borne virus etcera have no meaning.
Yes some of me is in those labels but is it important to know which/what?
NO it is not.
It is NOT how God sees you or me. He ain't in the business of labels.
It is God who knows you best - your history, the whys and wherefores. Every twist in your psyche God knows.
So this is my testimony
I was blind but now i see.
Seek and you shall find.
We are all essentially alone in this world - you and God. People die, circumstances changes.
God never changes.
He is my sole Hope.
