I would like to take a moment and introduce you to someone . . . me! The youngest of five children, I grew up in a Christian home with a father who was a minister. I was a good kid growing up but always felt drawn to push the envelope. I played sports and had the opportunity to play at the collegiate level, but I felt more drawn to prove that I could make it on my own. So I decided to join the US Army and became an airborne medic with the 82nd Airborne Division. This “good kid” with lots of structure suddenly had no moral check and balance in his life. I loved all the training that made me feel like a man, and I loved the freedom we had in our off time. Soon, everything became permissible, though very little was beneficial.

I learned the hard way that living for yourself was no way to live, and before too long the consequences of my decisions started to dictate my behavior. I know what it is like to drink so much that you cannot remember what you have done. I lived for years struggling with addiction to both drugs and alcohol. I have felt the desperation that exists when you are out of money and out of drugs. I understand how living for “fun” is not fun at all as you lose friends and have to work hard to cover up the poor choices you are making. Please understand that the Army did not do this to me as it had a regimen for everyone to follow. I simply had no desire to follow it and chose to remove myself from any moral influence in my life. 

There were, of course, “God moments.” There were times when I could sense God calling me; but by that point, I felt I was too far gone for any opportunity for change in my life. The enemy surely loves to use guilt in our lives to separate us from God. I left the Army a broken man, and yet one night I decided to go to church because of an invitation. It was a Nazarene church. On that particular night, there was no guesswork—God was speaking to me directly. In a moment of critical decision, I asked God to forgive me. Casting aside that internal weight on my soul, I allowed the penetrating gaze of Jesus’ love to wash over me. I told God I was sorry and that I needed help. That night, I asked Him into my heart.

I wish I could say I got up from that moment and left every bad habit behind, but it didn’t happen quite that way. I can say though that my heart was changed, and I felt fresh, new, and no longer staggering under the weight of my sins. I suddenly knew hope and the wonderful potential for transformation in my life. I felt accepted despite who I had been. I felt love like I had never experienced. Each day, the Holy Spirit drew me closer, and each day the grip of bad habits on my life started to loosen. A sweet elderly woman in that Nazarene church took an interest in me; she said God had told her that He wanted me to be a minister. I quickly told her if God wanted that for my life, He should probably tell me, and God had certainly not informed me yet. She calmly assured that if I was bold enough to ask God what He wanted with my life, He would give me the same revelation. I agreed, and fairly quickly, I felt God confirming what she seemed to have already known. When I confessed that to her, she was not surprised. She told me God had clearly spoken to her and that she was supposed to help pay my way to school. Her obedience before God provided enough funds to pay for my first year. 

It has been 27 years since I accepted God’s call, and I am forever grateful for the story God is telling with my life. Each day, I find joy in knowing that Christ is in me and that He is leading my life! Having served as a Nazarene minister, the founder of Tragedy Into Triumph, and now as a district superintendent, I believe in the power of personal testimony. I believe that the greatest way to introduce someone to Jesus is to share the story of your faith in Christ.

The power to articulate your story is perhaps more important today than ever. We decide in seconds whether something is worthy of our attention. We get our news and updates about those closest to us in short snippets of text or in a simple photo or a quick video. Many believe our attention spans are shrinking rapidly. The ability to articulate your faith story has the potential to capture attention quickly so that people will want to hear more about Christ, not less. There are three basic reasons for this.

First, your story has authenticity. You are the only one that can describe your real-life experience with Jesus Christ. In fact, you do not have to be a storyteller to tell a good story . . . you simply must have lived the story. Your story makes the God of the Bible tangible and real. People can debate the validity of Scripture, but they cannot debate your story as you simply give an account of real-life events that happened specifically to you. Your passion will come through as you share because you experienced the events you are sharing. In John 9, we read about Jesus healing a man born blind. The religious elite questioned the man about his miraculous healing—finally, the man in desperation proclaimed, “I don’t know who He is, but what I do know is I was blind and now I see!” (John 9:25). You have a moment just like that in your life that is exclusive to you—a moment when you were changed and you are not quite sure how Christ did it, you just know He did!

Secondly, your story connects. Your story connects with others because humans share common emotions and experiences. You are not speaking in deep theological terms; rather, you are sharing circumstances and events in real life with which every person is familiar. I have led many people to share their stories. Every time someone shares his or her story, that person is connecting with the audience who can identify with similar pains, adversities, guilt, fears, and anger. They can also identify with the need for forgiveness, joy, peace, and hope in their lives. Your faith story will connect with others at the most basic level of humanity. For this reason, the Psalms resonate with so many of us because in them we recognize ordinary human emotions and circumstances that the psalmist experienced (Read Psalm 10 as an example).

Third, your story provides. God allows the circumstances that surround your faith in Jesus to speak to others’ hearts the things they are already crying out for even if they do not realize it. As you tell your story, God will use your circumstances to help others see His love for them. 1 John 1:3 tells us, “We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” Sharing your story provides an opportunity for others to have fellowship with God. God will do the leading—our part is to be obedient.  

Wendell Brown is district superintendent of the North Central Ohio District Church of the Nazarene.