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INTERVIEW
Interview
In this step you will meet with a current Outpost Member to share your Gospel testimony, discuss spiritual gifting and discipleship next steps.
What is a Testimony?
As a starting point, let's define what a testimony is. In a court of law, a testimony is a personal account of an event. Likewise, a testimony about your faith is a personal account of God's work in your life and how you came to know Christ.
This may seem intimidating, but a lot of the pressure may come from the way we phrase the process: sharing your testimony. When we tell our story, we tend to overemphasize ourselves and insist it's compelling or dramatic and showcases a huge change. But it’s not about us. In your testimony, you focus less on yourself and more on God and what He has done in your life. If you’re the hero of the story, you’re doing it wrong.
How to Share My Testimony?
Thankfully, Paul’s testimony in Acts 26:4-23 provides us with a model of how to present your personal testimony: before you met Christ (verses 4-11), how you met Christ (verses 12-20), and after you met Christ (verses 21-23).
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1. Before Knowing Christ
When developing the “before Christ” portion of your testimony, think through your life before you met Jesus. Most people’s actions stem from an unsatisfied inner need, like loneliness, lack of peace, lack of purpose, a desire to be in control, or feeling like something is missing. What were you marked by? Anxiety, ambition, addiction? Choose a few defining characteristics of your life apart from God and describe how your sin was destructive and unfulfilling.
2. How You Met Christ
Explain the circumstances that led you to consider Christ as the solution to those deep inner needs, then talk about the event or period of time when you accepted Jesus Christ as your savior. Even if you never had a rock-bottom moment, every believer comes to a point where they realize they are a sinner and are separated from God. This is the perfect time to clearly and briefly include the gospel: Jesus is God’s Son who came to earth, lived a perfect life, died an awful death on a cross to pay for our sins, and rose from the grave three days later. If you believe in Him, you will be saved from the death you deserve and live an eternal life with Him (John 5:24). Share verses like Romans 6:23, John 3:16, and Ephesians 2:4-5.
3. After You Met Christ
State how God filled and is filling the inner needs you addressed in the “before Christ” part of your story. Have you found freedom from specific sins? Are you able to feel peace and purpose where you couldn’t before? Pick a few characteristics of your life that have changed now that you follow Jesus. Don’t forget to include how the Holy Spirit works in your life today and how the world can still be tempting, but ultimately only God can satisfy. Let them know that you aren’t perfect and life can still be challenging, but you have found joy in the hope God offers.