EP 7 - Sharing Your Story

Sent 315 Podcast - Episode 7

Sharing Your Story

Kevin Miller: 00:02

Welcome to Sent 315. We're here to encourage and equip Christians to engage in the adventure of sharing Jesus, those that God puts into their life. And we're so glad you're here.

Kevin Miller: 00:17

Hey, everybody, that is the truth. We are so glad you're here. I'm Kevin Miller. I am the host of Sent 315.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 00:24

And I'm Sarah Marie Mayne, the producer. And with us, we also have Matt Hall. He's our sound engineer.

Kevin Miller: 00:34

So we know who we are, you know who we are. We would love to know a little bit more about you, though. On the front end, Sarah, how can we know them better?

Sarah Marie Mayne: 00:42

You can get on our Instagram sent_315 and DM us on there, follow us, give us a comment.

Kevin Miller: 00:49

Yeah, we really want this to be a dialogue. We want this to be a conversation that is edifying and encouraging to all of us and challenging too at times. So what are we going to talk about today?

Sarah Marie Mayne: 01:00

Well, last week, we went over listening, we hope you guys jumped on the website and took the listening thing with somebody and just kind of seeing where you're at with listening. And so playing off of that, we're gonna talk about kind of a guideline of a pattern of how to go about sharing your faith. And it starts with listening to them. And Kevin, you came up with it?

Kevin Miller: 01:25

Oh, I probably stole it from somebody. I am really horrified by the people who steal things from me before I even thought of it. It happens all the time. Like this is a great idea. And oh, yeah, somebody wrote a book on it. Wow, that's cool. We think the same way,

Sarah Marie Mayne: 01:40

They must be extra gifted to be able to see into the future, pull it out of our head.

Kevin Miller: 01:45

Steal the future from me, time bandits. That was a great movie.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 01:49

But it's this pattern of their story, your story and his story.

Kevin Miller: 01:55

And you know, the thing is, is that there are all sorts of sayings like earn the right to be heard. They say they don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. And those are true. That's why those sayings stick around. So that listening is really important. One thing I didn't share in the listening episode that is real meaningful as a bridge to our story, which we're going to talk about a little bit today. And that's one that I get from Bob Gough who steals a lot of my stuff in advance. And he said, engage with those who listen and love those who don't. And I went, instead of slapping around the person that is not listening to your great wisdom that will save them from eternal fires of hell, you love them. I really think that the Lord intends for this conversation with people about life and about God and eternity to be really, really natural. He sets these conversations up. So I'm not big on formulas. So when we've talked about this guidelines, or tips, or just ways that make it simpler. Talked about fear, and people are afraid, hey, I'm going to mess it up. I'm gonna say something wrong, or it'll get into a debate that I can't handle or something like that. And I seriously believe that God isn't necessarily looking for expert witnesses. There are so many times in the Bible where the Pharisees see that the fishermen that are talking to them are unlearned and ignorant men, that's an [unintelligible: 03:29]. The blind man is a great example. He goes, I don't know whether he's a sinner or not. All I know is, I couldn't see, and now I can see. And one that I really, really do love is Philip. Because Nathaniel says to him, can anything good come out of Nazareth? And Philip says, come and see. So it's really simple. And probably the exclamation point of we can all do this, because the Holy Spirit is backing us up. And he's set up these conversations. It's a setup is what John says in 1st John. What we've seen, what we've heard, what we've touched, what we know to be true. That's what we're sharing with you. And it is really, really hard to mess up your story. It's your story. Unless you're lying to them. But there are some communication tips that can really help. Because I know there's some people that I've seen fall into some pitfalls that make it harder for that conversation to help.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 04:26

So the first part, it's listening, their story. So we talked mostly about that last week of just sitting and listening to their story and hearing their story. And in hearing their story, you'll probably be led and kind of know what to share of your story that might connect with them.

Kevin Miller: 04:49

Yes. So many people testimony is, this is my story of how I came to salvation. And that's really important and we need to know how to communicate that to people. But my feeling is, is that your testimony, first of all, it's about what God's doing with you right now, too. Because we run into challenges, we run it hard stuff. And then somebody that you're talking to the Lord may set up a conversation where that's the point of intersection. When you see him intercepting people in the Bible, he just goes to right where they are, sometimes with supernatural discernment. And that's great when we have that too. But if you listen, well, you'll know where a person's at, and then boom, your story and their story just dovetail together.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 05:33

I love that too. Because I know for me, I got saved at a very young age. I met Jesus, for real, when I was two years old.

Kevin Miller: 05:43

Very young age

Sarah Marie Mayne: 05:44

Very young age. I was baptized when I was four. And so it took me a while to realize that my testimony didn't have to be the before and after thing. And what I found, would connect with people was the present relationship with God and talking from that and sharing that. And I think even people who have the before and after, which is beautiful and important to share that. And I still share mine in that way, as well, because it's unique in a certain different kind of way. But the fact that you can share that you're having something going on with God now, today, even if your before and after was 20 years ago. I think sometimes that speaks more volumes of the living presence of God to somebody. Because there's a lot of people out there who are like, oh, yeah, I prayed the prayer, I'm saved, I'm Christian, I'm whatever. But when you can talk out of a real relationship, like you have with your friend or whatever. It's not like that but it's like that, at the same time, it says something, it's powerful. And you can see it sometimes in the person's face where they go, whoa. They're intrigued. They're pulled into that presence.

Kevin Miller: 07:07

You know that guideline of, okay, so one way to put this communication together is what your life was before Jesus, how that encounter happened, and what it's been like since then. However, as we've said, you're talking to a human being whose living life, and so you may start in the middle. You may start with their perception of God and what your experience has been with God and His loving patience, and all of that. It depends on the person that you're talking to. One of the things to watch out for, I think, with that before the encounter with Jesus, and ever since then, sometimes people really embellish the before. So I was in this motorcycle gang, and I had killed 17 people and kicked the dog and I was a horrible human being. Let me tell you more about it. Sometimes the before gets embellished. I think the before is to relate to a person who's in there before. And then just like you said, like we've talked about, listen first, and then know how to formulate your story. What we've done, which is really, really fun, is to have people write out their story. Then if they're not professional writers, or if they have trouble communicating that way, they can give it to somebody who's better at that. And then they can help them like, hey, this is a little, what did you mean by this and help them with that. Then record it, because then they're verbalizing it, and then post it on social media or different places. Now, there's another ministry that does this that I talked to years ago, and they're doing a great job of it. We've done a little bit of our flavor of it. And the people that we work with on this, they can stop anywhere they want, they just want to write it down. So they get it in their head so they have it and it's not stumbling. Or they want to do the video, but they don't want to put it up there for whatever reason. But what a marvelous thing to put it onto the worldwide web and who knows who it's going to affect, who can say I can relate to that. That speaks to them.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 09:10

Even if you don't want to put it on the web, it's really helpful just to form utilize it in a coherent way for yourself. And it's good for your relationship with God. Because I know when I look back over moments in my life where God has met me, it gives like an extra cup of coffee to your relationship with God. Just that extra fuel, where you're like, oh, yeah, especially if you've been discouraged. That's really great thing to do, is to remember where God's met you before because it gives you faith, gives you hope. And then when you start jumping into that with yourself, and you run into somebody who's down and not feeling good, and you can feel that you're gonna have probably more of a little bit of love and pull to reach out to that person and to want to minister because you know that there's this hope and little piece of life that you could share.

Kevin Miller: 10:10

And the Bible talks about the joy of our salvation. And that reminder, and that going back to that point, I can see it right in my head. I had a similar situation that you had, I was in love with Jesus as a very young squirt. I didn't really come from a Christian background, broken family and all that stuff. But I had my rocky road. I took vacations and it's horrible. And I got to a point where, Lord, I don't know if you could ever accept me back. I remember I was in a parking lot waiting for somebody to show up for a job that I was doing. And I saw a penny that was in the asphalt that was mutilated. It was so bent, and so torn. This is when a penny would go into a gum machine. That's how long ago it was. But the picture of it struck me so hard, Lord, I'm like this penny, you can't even use me. I am so beat up by my own decisions and my falling away from you that I don't have any worth. Then he spoke to me. And I remember the day of who I prayed with, and when it really became alive. That's the joy of my salvation, plus all the times that he's made up my lap along the way. I wanted to go into just communication stuff and go over some of the safe guards that might help us not like, they're just people that other people run away from. Your eyes glass over, you know the story will never be short. And what's really funny is when one of those people starts talking about other people that are like that, and they're not self-aware enough to know, Gotta go. [Inaudible: 11:54]. Oh, yeah. So brevity is one of them. If you're communicating your story, if the Lord has set up that conversation, and you've listened well, and somebody is asking, 1st Peter 3:15, to those who ask. It needs to be brief, it needs to be to the point don’t wander. So that's one thing. For myself, when I'm speaking, or I'm writing, editing myself, is really important. And we need to do that. So brevity is definitely one of them.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 12:24

One that I had, and have and I really take a lot of time, sometimes a little too much to practice this one is ensuring that the language that I'm describing my relationship with God, and sharing about the Lord is not too christianese.

Kevin Miller: 12:46

I love this one so much. I really do.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 12:49

It's really hard, especially for me, because I'm a church kid.

Kevin Miller: 12:53

You're inside the club.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 12:54

I was in the club since you know, before I was born, I probably learned some of the words in the womb

Kevin Miller: 13:04

You came out shouting vicarious atonement.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 13:07

No, not that bad. But I think there's even words like the word Holy. Holy, just means to be set apart. But if you're just saying, holy, holy, all the time to random people that you barely know, who maybe have a church background, maybe don't, it's this big, huge word. And it is biblically, but it's not necessarily going to communicate what you want it to, to somebody. So that's one little example. I think, sometimes, obviously, the big crazy words, but I think there's a lot of christianese too

Sarah Marie Mayne: 13:45

I had to look that one up once, I was reading it. I was like, wait, what is that? Because we have to remember the words we learn in the Bible, they made perfect sense to a Jewish person who grew up reading the Torah, understand it, grew up in a very religious type of culture, which is great. But we're in a completely different, we're not in a communal religious culture. We're not necessarily taught religion. We're in America so we get taught like God is God. And that's about it. And then it's very individualistic. So the whole culture of the Bible and mindset that was just natural to people is very different to us now. And so we have to be good translators of that. And so one, you got to understand your word and dive into what the Bible is actually saying. And then when you're reading about farming, because Jesus used farming a lot, but farming wasn't weird. It was so normal. It was like talking about going to Trader Joe's now. If he came now, he wouldn't have used farming unless he was in the middle of a farm town. But if he was in the city, He would use very different language to communicate his parables. And so we have to translate those things for other people. Because God did that. He speaks to us in our humanity, in our present day. And so practicing that, and a tool that I use to do that, because I have to be extra about it, because I grew up mainly just in Christian culture is thinking about how you're going to say something, and then putting yourself in the mindset of, I've never heard of God, I've never been to church. I'm just the average person when it comes to religion, and go, do I understand me? Does that makes sense to me? Because I know, as a Christian, sometimes I hear a pastor say something, and it doesn't make sense, because they use so much christianese, and I'm not tracking. I don't think it means you can't use those words. But if you do use them, you have a simple way of explaining it. One of the pastors at our church is Mike Van Meter, and he's a scholar type guy, very theological. And he'll use big words, but he immediately uses a simple phrase right after, so that your brain hears the word, and at first you're like, wait, what? And then he explains it in one quick phrase or a sentence, and you're like, okay, I'm tracking with you now. And so you can do that as well. Just taking that angle and going, what am I saying? Does it make sense to me? Would it make sense to somebody else?

Kevin Miller: 13:45

[Inaudible: 13:41]

Kevin Miller: 16:27

And if you have friends, family members, who don't have a relationship with Jesus, ask them. It's a real tricky way to talk to them about God, but it's very beneficial the other way, am I making any sense? I remember I was speaking at a high school to a Christian club, I was a guest speaker. And somehow in the room was packed, because there were cute girls and pizza, and it was packed, they were sitting all over the floor. And somehow we all said it together, John 3:16. And I just got this light bulb when we got to the word because it's King James quoting, begotten, only begotten Son. So I asked this huge room of people, what does begotten mean? And not one person, not a Christian kid? Not like, I'm just here for the pizza why are you bothering me could explain begotten. I have a lot of Christian songs in my head that were King James Version. And they're really good for me memorize scripture and everything. But we have to get into the language of the culture, the persons. If you're talking to somebody in Russia, they may need for you to speak in Russian instead of a language they don't understand. So that's the point. A couple more, that I think are really important. And there's resource that we'll have on the website that can go into more depth with this. Walk across the room by Bill Hybels has a great DVD. And they're having a party and the conversations are all wacky and there are conversations that Christians who are not brief, and Christians who are using incredible christianese like read Hezbollah out of the Old Testament.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 18:04

I'm just thinking how fun of a script that would be to write.

Kevin Miller: 18:07

They do a great job of it. I really love it. One of them is be sensitive. First of all, before you start talking, be praying, and be sensitive about crazy stories. Now, you may have a supernatural man Oh, man, this pig just started talking to me. And I have a revelation of the glory of God.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 18:28

Wait, was it babe?

Kevin Miller: 18:29

Yes, saying that would work if it was Disney. But the deal is, is if you have a supernatural story, it can have two sides of it when they're ready, as it makes sense. But you don't want to start off with the craziness that may go oh, another weirdo. You know another person. So for our listeners, if that makes sense to you, then grab that one and be careful of it. Another one is really important all the time. When we see 1st Peter 3:15, it talks about speaking to people with gentleness and reverence. And what that says right off the bat to me is humility. You know, that old saying it's one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. I don't know if you've heard that one.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 19:13

I think I have.

Kevin Miller: 19:14

It's relating with a person because it's humility. We're saved by grace. It's a gift that God just gives us, we weren't the smartest and the prettiest and all of that. It can't be condescending. Your conversation can't be I've got it you don't. Wouldn't you be lucky to get it like I got it? And that just will not work.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 19:31

People can sense that. They can feel that, even if you can't. And if you have that type of mentality, one, if you're concerned about it, you're either breaking it off of yourself or you don't have it. But I would encourage people to ask somebody when you talk about your faith, when you talk about the Bible, ask your Christian friends. Because if you've got that going on, it's probably everywhere and your friends know about it, and they might be a little scared to tell you, but be humble. And ask somebody. Ask your friends and say, hey, do I come off like this? Do I have this better type of mentality? There's a guy on YouTube I listened to, and he's a Christian guy. And he talks about things and cultures, [unintelligible: 20:21], I recommend his channel. But he talks about other rising and how a lot of times we other rise other people. And I think it comes from that mentality of thinking, we're better because we're Christians. And we know God, and we know the Bible. And you know, there's a lot of things we don't know, just like you were talking about in the listening episode with your grandson. And so I love that you brought that up, because it's very powerful and important. And something I have to remind myself too, just because we think we know something, it doesn't make us better. Even if we do know it. We're not better.

Kevin Miller: 20:21

I think kind of summing it up is number one, the Bible is full of regular folks sharing what God has done with them with regular folks. There are supernatural things that happen and stuff. And that's going to be really fun to talk about. But number one, if you're a regular folk, then you're at the right podcast, because that's who we're trying to talk to, and equip and encourage. And secondly, it is not our job to get people saved. It's our job to be obedient and to step into situations and to have some courage where we're kind of afraid. And that's why we evaluate ourselves. And we're serious about just doing the very best we can, but the Holy Spirit draws people. Now, Jesus said, if I'm lifted up, all draw people to me. So you're working together. And so in telling your story, don't worry about the fear. What you've heard, what you felt, what you've touched, what you know, share with other people, be generous with that. What the Lord gave to you pass it along to others.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 21:55

And going off of that, just one last tidbit here, let that just what Kevin shared, let it take that pressure off of you. Because if you mess it up, if you do all the things we said not to do today, or all the things that pushes people away, or you did that in the past, it's okay, God is not angry at you, he's not disappointed in you for not knowing how to do something or thinking you were doing something better than you were. He does the drawing to himself. Even if you did push someone away from the Lord in the past, it doesn't mean they're going to hell. You're not the reason for that. If that happens to them, obviously, we don't want that to happen to them. And we want to do our best to serve and love people and speak well and communicate well, but we get it wrong. And that's okay. Don't let the accusation voice get in there and tell you that you shouldn't do it anymore, or you can't do it or that you screwed up so bad in the past, because that's just not.

Kevin Miller: 22:59

Yeah, because when you have that kind of fear, then it's thinking that Jesus is looking at that and going, dude, I can't fix that. That got botched so bad there's nothing I can do with that. It makes up our lack every time. I end every episode with reminding people that they're sent. This episode, I want to clearly remind everybody, he goes with you. He's with you. He went ahead of you.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 23:22

And you're not so powerful that you're going to keep anybody from him.

Kevin Miller: 23:26

Yeah, coming up is his story. Please be ready for that and watch for that because there's so many ways that we can communicate his story just clearly and wonderfully.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 23:38

So takeaway for today is to write out your story, one part of your story. Take it, write it out, especially if it's one that you feel like maybe in the future, you'd want to know how to share, formalize that. And you know what, send it to us. We'd love to read it.

Kevin Miller: 23:52

Absolutely. That's what we're here for. So what are you going to tell them now?

Sarah Marie Mayne: 23:55

Well, you are going to tell him the new thing but you are sent.

Kevin Miller: 23:59

Yes. Very good. So compelling the new thing.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 24:02

He goes with you.

Kevin Miller: 24:04

Yeah. And he goes with you. I already said it, so I thought they would have picked it up.