To what extent should we rely on personal testimony in witnessing? It is an important tool that we use to bring people to the gospel, but we need to be aware that it is not the gospel itself.
Reading in John chapter 4 this morning, the Lord drew my attention to something that I had never noticed before. In the account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus prophetically tells her of her adultery. Recognizing that he is a prophet, she returns to her village and proceeds to share testimony of her encounter with Jesus:
“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?’ They came out of the town and made their way toward him.” Vv. 28-30
“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.” Vv. 39-41
So were the villagers convinced by her testimony, or did the testimony simply lead them to Christ and the gospel? Verse 42 is telling:
“They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.’”
So though they believed in the power of the Messiah based on the woman’s testimony, it was the words of Christ that led them to know the he was ‘the Savior of the World’.
We must not confuse personal testimony and the preaching of the gospel. Personal testimony may convince someone of God’s power, but “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”(Romans 10:17) I do not want someone to believe on Christ because of what he has done in my life, but because of who he is – the Savior of the World. I can use my personal testimony to draw them to the gospel, but only through the gospel will they believe on him.
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