1 John 1:3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

I could easily write on any of the 10 verses in this chapter, and that’s why I chose this one. John is here describing, even defining, what Jesus meant when He said, “You shall be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8) In a court of law, hearsay testimony is not acceptable; it has to be what the person speaking personally experienced. That’s the problem with many “evangelistic techniques.” If what we are saying is only what we learned in a classroom, there is no power to it. However, as has been said, a theory cannot win an argument with an experience. That’s why the current political administration in the US is in such trouble in facing the upcoming election: theories about the “good economy” are ineffective against the experienced high cost of living. That applies in evangelism as well. A person isn’t going to be very open to the idea of repentance unless they have experienced emotional pain, at least, from their sins. Actually, everyone with a halfway healthy conscience has experienced such pain, so the question is how successful they have been in numbing that pain. If we are open and honest about our own journey, their defenses will be stripped away and they will receive the Gospel with joy, knowing they need it. Effective evangelism isn’t theological, it is down-to-earth. We don’t have to go into all the sordid details of our own sin, but we need to be very aware that we ourselves are sinners, telling other sinners how to be saved.

I have experienced this in the secular world as well. In my 42 years of teaching medical English to nurses and therapists, it has been very effective to illustrate what I was teaching with my own medical experiences and those of my wife. As a pastor I have done a lot of hospital visitation, both in the US and Japan. On top of that, I have had surgeries for basal cell carcinomas, a hernia, and a badly fractured wrist. Each experience has made me a more effective teacher! And that doesn’t touch on the wide range of medical issues my wife has experienced. Those haven’t been in my own body, but they have very much been my experiences. On the flip side of that, my students have been far more receptive to what I have been teaching them when they have experienced the need for it, from a linguistic perspective or from a medical perspective. As a pastor I desire that all the believers be active in sharing what they have experienced of Christ, but that is culturally awkward. Partly as a response to the dense population, Japanese tend to be very private about their feelings and their experiences, and as believers we need to get past that. Vulnerability isn’t comfortable in any culture, but we need to be vulnerable in order to let God’s power be manifested in our weakness. It is when we share how Christ has met our needs that we receive ever more from Him, for the blessing of more and more people and for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for the message for Sunday! I ask for clear guidance and anointing as I prepare and deliver this message, so that Your children may be equipped to be and do all that You desire of and for them, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!