Building a Positive Testimony

Here’s a true story about a couple of church building projects that took place around the turn of the century. Two very large and ornate churches were under construction at the same time in the city of Denver, Colorado.

One of the churches was the Roman Catholic Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. The other was the St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral. During the construction project, both churches ran into severe problems.

One day the half-built Roman Catholic church caught fire because it was struck by lightning. Then, not long afterwards, work on the Episcopal church had to be stopped because, due to a sinkhole, the church’s foundation began to cave in.

Well, it so happened that the Catholic bishop was a good friend of the Episcopal bishop. One day, he went over to see him and he began to razz the Episcopal bishop about the foundation of his church caving in. The quick-thinking Episcopal simply replied, “Well, at least our church was attacked from below.”

It’s encouraging to see the progress being made on our building during this mild weather. Work on the foundation has been moving along at a good pace, but I want you to realize something. Most of the work that is being done right now is never going to be seen.

The men are pouring concrete footers, laying pipe, and wiring conduits and so forth. When the building is finished, none of that will be visible. But even though it will never be seen, it is vitally important work, because the ultimate functionality of our building depends on this work being done properly.

And the same is true in the Christian life. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, your visible testimony—the impression you make on other people—is largely determined by a part of your life that is invisible. Your prayer life.

What you are in prayer determines what you are in public. Now you may never have thought of it that way before, but that’s exactly what we find in Colossians 4. This passage deals with both the visible and the invisible parts of the Christian life—your prayer life and your public testimony. And it takes us from the prayer closet right out into the marketplace.

Let’s look at it together, beginning at verse 2:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

We can divide this passage into three parts. First, Paul talks about what kind of pray-ers we should be, in v. 2. Then, he gives an example of the kind of prayers we should be praying in v. 3–4. Finally, in v. 5–6, he talks about what kind of people we should be out there in the world, in our relationships with unbelievers.

And there is a definite linkage between the first part of the passage and the last part, because what you are in prayer determines what you are in public.

First let’s look at what we are in prayer. Paul gives us three imperatives here—three commands for our prayer life.

1. be faithful in prayer.

Verse 2 says “Devote yourselves to prayer…” The word devote means literally “to be strong”. It means to hold steadfast; to keep praying with a kind of dogged determination. Don’t give up praying.

The Bible says that prayer is one of the most difficult, demanding, draining things that you and I are ever called upon to do. It is without a doubt the greatest struggle of the Christian life.

There’s an old hymn that we sometimes sing called “Sweet Hour of Prayer”. But the truth of the matter is more like “Sweat thru an Hour of Prayer”.

Where was it that Jesus sweat as it were great drops of blood? Was it when he was confronting the Pharisees? Was it when he stood before Pilate on trial for his life? Was it when he staggered along under the weight of the cross?

No, it was in the Garden of Gethsemane, as he struggled in prayer. Hebrews 5:7 tells us that “he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears…” Now a skeptic might say “If Jesus is so broken up when all he’s doing is praying, how’s he ever going to react when he faces a real crisis? Why can’t he just be calm and tranquil in the face of adversity—like his three friends over here who are sleeping like babies?”

And yet, the very next day, when the ultimate test came, Jesus walked to the cross with calm courage, while his three friends fell apart in panic. Why? Because what you are in prayer determines what you are in public. Jesus was faithful in prayer. Even though it was hard work—even for him—he hung in there and kept on praying.

I think it’s interesting that after Jesus’ disciples had been with him for two years, and had seen him do all the things he did, they came to him with one question. They asked him: “Lord, teach us to pray.” They didn’t ask him, “Lord teach us how to preach, or teach us how to do miracles, or teach us how to answer questions like you do.” They asked him: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Because they had begun to understand that the power behind all these remarkable things that Jesus was doing in public was what he was doing in private—praying.

Paul says “Be faithful in prayer. Don’t give it up. Don’t neglect it. Keep doing it. It’s your greatest power source for living the Christian life.”

Second, he says “Be watchful in prayer.”

Now you might be saying “How can I be watchful in prayer when I’m supposed to have my eyes closed?” The word watchful here means literally to stay awake. It means to be alert, to be mentally and intellectually awake while you are praying.

Why is that important? Because there is always a tendency to disengage your brain while you are praying. You find your mind wandering. You find your thoughts running off in all directions. You find yourself simply “saying your prayers” rather than really thinking about them. Prayer demands intense concentration and deep, focused thought. That’s why it is so demanding.

Bill Hybels says that the best way he has found to discipline himself in this area is to actually write his prayers out. The act of writing forces him to think clearly and express himself concisely. You may want to try that.

Just get rid of the rambling, unfocused, clichéd kind of prayers that we so often pray. I once knew a man who, every time he would pray in a prayer meeting, his prayers were so predictable, I could practically recite them along with him.

Prayer is a conversation with God. It is not the rote repetition of holy-sounding phrases. So we need to be watchful and alert and awake as we pray.

Finally, Paul says “Be thankful in prayer.”

Maintain your zest for prayer by filling it with thanksgiving. The Bible says “In everything give thanks.” And I’ve observed that Christians who are the most joyful and the most prayerful are the ones who are the most thankful.

You just can’t get them to stop being thankful. Even in the midst of trials and problems, they’ve always got something to thank God for. That’s what the Bible means when it tells us to be thankful in prayer.

Now Paul gives us an example of the kind of prayers we should be praying in verses 3–4. If you are a right pray-er, you’re going to pray right prayers.

And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Notice three things about this prayer:

1. Paul is asking for it. He says “Pray for me.” We should be praying for one another in the body of Christ, and we should be asking each other for prayer. Don’t be like those people who say “Oh, I don’t want to bother other people with my prayer requests.” Share your needs with others so that we can be praying for one another.

2. The focus of his prayer request is the Great Commission—that the Gospel might go forward. Think of all the things that Paul could have asked them to pray for. He was in prison when he wrote this. He could have asked that they pray for his release. He was a sick man—we think that he had some sort of problem with his eyesight. He could have asked for healing. But he didn’t.

What did he ask for? He asked that “God might open a door for the message.”

During President Clinton’s first campaign for the Presidency, his top-level campaign staffers had a little sign in their headquarters that said “It’s the economy, stupid.” That was to remind them not to get distracted by other issues—their top priority issue for that election campaign was the economy.

Sometimes I think that God needs to put into my life a little sign that says “It’s the Great Commission, stupid.” Because I tend to get so distracted by other issues—issues that revolve around my own comfort, my own convenience, my own well-being. I forget that God has me here to help fulfill the Great Commission.

Here’s Paul—in chains, a sick man—asking his fellow believers that they pray for the message to go forward. He understood that the message is more important than the messenger. And if I’m going to pray right prayers, I need to understand that too.

I need to understand that if God chooses to restrict me, to confine me, to put me in an awkward uncomfortable situation, to put me in a sick bed, or give me an incurable disease—that’s fine. As long as there is an open door for the Gospel. Because the message is more important than the messenger.

3. He asked them to pray that, in his preaching, the message would be clear, not cloudy. Now remember, we’re talking about the Apostle Paul here. We’re talking about the man who wrote Romans and Galatians and all those other magnificent letters. He knew that there was always a danger of clouding the Gospel.

When we studied the book of Galatians, we saw that there were teachers who came to Galatia and distorted the Gospel, with the result that the Galatian believers were in danger of deserting the Gospel.

It is said that Napoleon had three rules for the soldiers who were going to serve as couriers carrying orders to and from his headquarters. The first rule was Be Clear. The second rule was Be Clear. The third rule was Be Clear.

We should be praying for one another, that—as we live out in the community, as we rub shoulders with unbelievers—our communication of the Gospel message would be clear, not cloudy.

Now in the last section, we move out of the prayer closet and into the marketplace. And Paul gives us three commands that will help us to build a positive testimony as we rub shoulders with non-Christians. Look at verse 5

1. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders.

Think before you act. Think before you open your mouth. People are watching you. Ask yourself “Is what I am about to do going to bring credit to the Lord? Is it going to help this person want to become a Christian?”

The question in the minds of most non-Christians is this: “Are Christians real? Do they really believe what they say they believe? Or are they phonies, hypocrites, two-faced?”

Being wise as a Christian means doing your work. Is your boss or your fellow worker going to want to become a Christian if they see you cutting corners, taking sick days when you aren’t sick, being chronically late? You say, these are little things. These are the things life is made of.

Being wise as a Christian means paying your bills. Some Christians are very sloppy with their finances. They go around leaving a trail of bad debts. Others are suckers for get-rich-quick schemes.

Being wise as a Christian means keeping your promises. Honoring your commitments. Being a person whose word can be trusted. These are the things that will help you build a positive testimony.

2. Be alert. - “make the most of every opportunity” it says in verse 5.

That expression in Greek is a commercial term. It means to buy out or to purchase the whole lot. In our relationships with non-Christians, we need to seize every opportunity to share the love of Christ and the good news of the gospel.

Now when you think of evangelism, what do you think of? Do you think of someone buttonholing people on elevators, or passing tracts out on street corners? Do you think of somebody trying to force a sale like a used car salesman?

Well, that’s not the way we are to do evangelism, because of what Paul says in verse 6.… “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

3. Be graceful

Be winsome, be attractive in your dealings with unbelievers. People don’t care how much you know unless they know how much you care. Show unbelievers that you really care for them as human beings. Make friends with them. Build bridges. Build relationships.

Paul says that your conversation should be salty—not in the sense of using salty language like a sailor. But it ought to have a salty impact on them. Salt is good for many things:

1. Salt adds flavor. When you talk with non-Christians, is your conversation appetizing? Are you communicating that you think life is great, that it is flavorful? Or are you drab, negative, always complaining? That’s not very appetizing, is it?

2. Salt creates thirst. The way we talk, as Christians, ought to make non-Christians want to know more about what makes us tick. Why we are the way we are. Our conversation ought to create a spiritual thirst in them. And then, when they start to ask questions, God will help us to know how to answer them.

3. Salt purifies. They used to use salt to preserve meat. It would keep the meat from going rotten. It has sort of an antiseptic, wholesome effect. Over in Ephesians 4:29, it says “Do not let any unwholesome (or corrupt, rotten) talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Is your conversation as a Christian having that kind of impact on others? Are they built up or dragged down by what you talk about?

This is what it takes to build a positive testimony. Be wise, be alert, be graceful in your dealings with those outside the faith. Your testimony is what God wants to use to bring them to Christ.

But the only way you can be consistent in building a positive public testimony is to be faithful in private, in your prayer life. Be faithful in prayer—don’t give up! Be watchful in prayer—stay awake mentally; don’t slide into meaningless repeating of words. Be thankful in prayer—cultivate that attitude of gratitude that always finds something to thank God for.

Remember: What you are in prayer determines what you are in public.