If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.
This seems like one of those pithy life sayings that almost seems too easy. It can't be that simple, can it?
This past weekend, I met with the sub-committee for interns within Palmetto Presbytery. This is all part of the process of coming under care of the Presbytery, which is church-talk for saying that I am seeking ordination. Which is more church-talk to simply say that I am allowing myself to be reviewed by other leaders within the Church to (hopefully) approve that I am theologically and doctrinally fit enough to shepherd a church. (I hear Shawn Spencer's voice saying, "Speak to me like I was five.") Basically, I want to preach, and am asking these men to say that I am approved to do so.
However, this is not a blog regarding church polity, or even ordination itself. This is a blog about basics.
During my meeting with the sub-committee, they wanted to hear about my testimony, my call to ministry, and my wife's reaction to my call to ministry. So I launched into my so-oft-recited tale about my upbringing, struggle with depression, hearing of the Gospel, and eventual conversion. And when you've been "doin' the Christian thing" for so long, you start to throw in more of the church lingo. This is even worse if you're in seminary; you start throwing in all these theological terms and references that begin to show more about your time spent studying rather than your own personal story. (People hearing your testimony don't necessarily care about the nuances of hesed...)
I found it interesting, because at one point, the gentlemen asked me, point blank, "What has Jesus done for you?" I replied something along the lines of the following:
How deep do you want me to go with this? Deep theological answers...no? Sunday School it? OK. Well, as someone who has struggled with depression and self worth, Jesus - through his accomplished work on the cross - has redeemed me, and brings me into the covenant family of God, and that is where I find my value and worth. My worth is not based on what I can do, but on what Christ has done for me...
I think I went on with this line of thought for at least two more minutes. I was mostly concerned with ensuring that these men would not find my answers to be heretical or blasphemous. So, to compensate, I talked more. After I felt I had exhausted the topic thoroughly, the men looked at me, and basically said, "Yes, all that is true, and a valid part of the Gospel, but we want to hear that you acknowledge that you are sinner, that you cannot save yourself, and that only Jesus can pay the price that you owed."
Really? That's it? That's...too...easy.
Then it dawned on me; I've been working so hard to make my testimony sound so appealing to other believers, that I forgot what my testimony is supposed to do: simply state my side of the story. I don't need to use all of the church talk and nuances of Biblical translations (fun as they may be!). My testimony is never supposed to be used to show off my Biblical knowledge and expertise. NO! My testimony is simply supposed to state my desperate need for a Savior, and who that Savior is. Perhaps part (not all, but part) of our problem as Christians today is that we have made evangelism more difficult than it needs to be. Non-believers don't need to hear the theological intricacies and memorize the Shorter Catechism to know Jesus. They need to hear about Jesus. They need to meet Jesus. They need to see Jesus.
Give your testimony in such a way that a child could understand what you are talking about. And if you can't do that, then I think you might not necessarily know what you believe. And I think Einstein may agree with me.
Basic rule of thumb: If at any point in your testimony, you bring up the difference between infra- and supralapsarian, you haven't just gone too far. No, you have at this point completely abandoned the other person in your conversation.
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