Stories Matter

As a child of the 80s and 90s, music played a big part in my life. I was at the end of generation X, and our music was all over the place. We started toward the end of disco, moved into 80 psychedelic pop, through the beginnings of rap music, teased our hair out for 80s metal, turned that hairdo in for flannel shirts during the grunge/alternative stage, and then made our way into new metal. Bands like Limp Bizkit, The Deftones, and P.O.D. were always on the playlist for many of us. There was also another band whose sound couldn’t be replicated by anyone else. They were the pioneers of what would eventually be called, “Nu Metal”, with a name that was as odd as their sound, Korn.

As interesting and popular as their sound was, (they had two songs retired from MTV’s Total Request Live for being on the show’s countdown for several months in a row) it was filled with messages of depression, anger, and heavy drug use. All of this came from a very real place for the band. In particular, it was during his time with the band that Brian “Head” Welch began dabbling in drugs, thinking he could control it and not let the use get out of control. Unfortunately, the opposite happened. He was now a father and realized he couldn’t keep living this life and be a good father to his daughter if he was constantly high. His drug use became so heavy that rehab centers would actually tell him they couldn’t help him due to the amount he was using. Brian was ready to end his life. In his own words in an interview with TBN, Brian said, “I do not want to exist anymore. I’m a shell walking around with nothing of substance inside. And I got all kinds of money in the bank, but I just don’t want to wake up when I go to sleep. I just wish that I could stay asleep.” The only thing that kept him going was his daughter, but he knew he needed to change. There were even times when he thought his daughter would be better off without him.

Thankfully, after finishing up a real estate deal, he got the invite to go to church. In a strange twist of events, he went. He heard of Christ. He learned of the Cross. God got a hold of Brian. For about three or four weeks, he started praying, then he had a meeting with the pastor. It was here that Brian was told, “Come to church while you’re messed up. Bring all your garbage here and God will come and clean you out.” He came to Christ that day and gave his life over to Him. To this day, Brian is now clean from his drug use, and he is still a devout follower of Christ.

Here’s the most exciting part. Brian now meets with people after concerts and tells them of his conversion. He uses his story to let people know that God saved him through the blood of His son Jesus and that they can be saved too; from addiction, from depression, and from sin.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:1–3

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
1 John 5:11–12

Our testimony is a powerful thing. People who do not read the Bible will rarely be impressed by your knowledge of scripture. They definitely won’t be moved by it. Your testimony, however, the story of how God rescued you and brought you out of death and into life, that story will move them. Stories are so important in human history. Before Moses had even written Genesis, stories of creation and the great flood were passed down from generation to generation to show the awe and power of God. The movies we watch, the books we read, and the podcasts we listen to are made more effective when there is a captivating story.

When it comes to evangelism, your story matters. It probably matters more to the person you are talking to than anything else you can say…..an NO testimony is worse than any other. Sure, Brian Welch’s testimony is powerful, because of how far he had sunk in his life before Christ, but someone who grew up in the Church has an incredible testimony as well. By growing up in the Church, you were afforded the ability to understand community, scripture, and grace to the point that you could share that with others. Your upbringing allowed you to be uniquely equipped to share Christ with others. Brian Welch wasn’t brought to Christ by former drug addicts. He was brought to Christ by people who had grown up in faith.

To share your testimony, though, means you really need to share your authentic testimony. It’s not to put everything out there or bare your soul to the world. It’s because the thing that you hate the most about your past life may be the very thing that someone is struggling with now. When Jesus and His disciples were in the country of the Garasenes, they came upon a man who was possessed by a multitude of demons. Jesus cast the demons out of the man, and the man wanted desperately to stay with Christ and His disciples, but Jesus had something else in mind.

…but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
Luke 8:38–39

Just staying with Jesus wasn’t what Christ wanted the man to do. He knew the man’s testimony would speak volumes and others would desire for that same change. This man was well known for his demon possession. His testimony needed to be told. In the same way, we don’t need to just hang out in the “holy huddle” at church. We need to be in the streets sharing OUR story, because stories matter.