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Date Posted: 22:34:06 12/01/04 Wed
Author: By faith, not works
Subject: Re: The Doctrine of Testimony Sharing
In reply to: PECAS 's message, "The Doctrine of Testimony Sharing" on 17:33:16 12/01/04 Wed

Hi all, I’m kind of new at posting. I just left UBF, but I figured this topic is as good a place to start posting as any.

I like PECAS’s description of testimony sharing, it would be quite funny if it weren’t true. I, however, had a somewhat different experience with sharing testimonies. I always rebelled against the typical structure of UBF testimonies and the only direction that I was ever given was to include more personal application (i.e. how terrible a person I am) and later to write testimonies on one point only.

However, I do remember that the second gens testimonies really fit what PECAS was talking about…they were very long, yet they were (I was told) written in a very short amount of time. I guess they got so used to the system that they could just churn testimonies out and have a “good testimony” in no time.

The sad thing is that the way UBF does testimony sharing is bad for other reasons besides the fact that they tend to be dictated by the sharer’s shepherd. I’m almost certain what I am about to say has been mentioned elsewhere in RSQUBF, but I’ll say it anyway. When I finally told my parents the whole story about testimony sharing, my dad (who was a military officer and was trained in counter-interrogation (as all officers are)) promptly told me that that kind of regular group confession is a form of brainwashing that has been especially used by communist countries to indoctrinate their people. It acts as a way of simultaneously breaking down and pumping up. One becomes proud of how miserable they are.

There is nothing wrong with sharing your personal struggles with a good Christian friend or counselor who will understand and give guidance/pray for you. But UBF systematizes this and twists it into a weekly ritual of self-flagellation in front of a group. It becomes so repetitive that there is no personal meaning in any of it—just I’m bad, so very bad and only UBF is making me better.

I also heard very little petitioning of God to work in the sharer’s life to sanctify the sharer. It’s all “I must work harder to feed more sheep and be better” or “I must work harder not to sin in X way anymore”. It is only by grace that we can do anything for God. Yes, that does mean that we must actually do it, but the motivation comes from the Spirit, not from our work ethic. If we want to be better, ask God and He’ll sanctify us, as He promises. They forget this step—the closest they get is asking for X 1 to 1 Bible studies and Y disciples of Jesus. How about something like, “Father, change my heart and give me a sincere desire to serve you. Guide me to where I need to be and make me bold enough to be a true witness for Jesus and the Gospel”. Let God take care of the particulars. If we sincerely want Him to change us and guide us, He is faithful even though we are not. Anyway, enough of that tangent, back to whatever it is my point is.

I remember people repeatedly confessing the same sins and personality flaws over and over again. Sometimes I just wanted to say that if you can’t feed sheep, maybe you aren’t gifted as a teacher—but that would have been quite out of place in an organization where everyone is a “teacher”. Most of all, though, it seems to me that UBF testimony sharing doesn’t even serve the same purpose as say, an accountability partner. We publicly repent of sins, even ones done in private (Jesus has something to say about this), yet we are expected to have a list of sins in our testimony. With an accountability partner, the goal is to be able to (someday) truthfully say that I was able to persevere this week in whatever area was troubling me. Until then you talk about it with your partner and pray about it together. In UBF, a testimony is no good if the sharer doesn’t have plenty of things to repent of. We went into every week knowing that we are supposed to have some failing to bring forward, so no one is surprised when we do. There is no commenting on anyone’s struggles, no encouragement, just a “Thank you for your testimony”. The point of accountability is to gain encouragement and maybe even some direction or help from one’s brothers and sisters in Christ, to actually have a dialogue about one’s struggles with someone else. A testimony is a personal and internal pre-prepared statement. Everyone listens, maybe even is comforted that others struggle with the same or similar things (the redeeming quality in testimony sharing), and then everyone goes home. Furthermore, because you are listening to a dozen or so testimonies, who can really remember what everyone is truly struggling with (or really take the time to question and see if there is a deeper problem)?

Most of all though, when people write testimonies, they get so introspective on what our problems and shortcomings are that it is unhealthy spiritually. This is not to dismiss true soul searching and repentance. However, we are directed to “Fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and PERFECTOR of our faith”. There is danger in dwelling on our own shortcomings (ESPECIALLY after we repented of them), rather, Paul tells us to do something quite different, “Finally, bothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). We should be focusing on the positive examples, not on ourselves. We live in grace, we should focus on the author of that grace and then our ability to serve Him will come from His example, not from self-deprecation. Also, we should always be aware that God is sovereign and uses our weaknesses and failings for His purposes, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9a).

Grace and Peace be to you all.

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