“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord…”     - II Timothy 1:7-8

For weeks my wife has been asking me to take her to see the movie Blind Side with Sandra Bullock. Fearing it was a chick flick, I found good excuses each time she asked and successfully put her off … until this past weekend.

Blind Sided.
I was pleasantly surprised, and so was everyone else in the packed-out theatre. When the movie ended, no one got up to leave. Literally. Everyone remained seated while the credits rolled, and they watched photo after photo pop onto the screen depicting the real-life characters in the story — Michael Oher and the family of Leigh Anne Tuohy.

I wonder if the believers in the audience were stunned by the obvious Christian theme — southern Christians showing Christ-like love to someone less fortunate. They had actually watched a “testimony” of Christ at work in the world through a few members of His church — a magnificent story, professionally produced by Hollywood, depicting followers of Jesus Christ in a positive way.

And I wondered what nonbelievers thought. Why did they remain seated? Were they captivated by the story? Did they want to see if these real-life Christians truly existed? Did this movie contradict their stereotype image of Christians as grumpy white men or Dana Carvey’s church lady from Saturday Night Live? Did the movie make them wonder if there really are people who would do such a thing?

Who and where are the real Tuohys?
More importantly, who and where are real Christians? Why don’t we — and the rest of the world — know what they’re really doing? If this movie was still sold out after several weeks, and obviously profitable for the producers, why don’t we see more of these powerful “testimonies” of God working through Christians?

Could it be a spiritual thing? Does Satan himself work overtime to keep Christian testimonies silent? Does he know that our testimonies — stories of what God has done in and through us — are powerful weapons to defeat him?

They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony….”     – Rev. 12:11

If the world only knew.
If the world could only see and hear what the bride of Christ is really doing every single day… powerful stories of Christians working in horrible conditions to help the helpless; relief workers serving in the midst of terrible disasters; doctors on mission fields, providing medical help at their own expense; couples adopting kids who need the love of a mother and father; ministers rushing, night and day, to hospitals for their sick members; youth workers pouring out their lives to help kids develop character; missionaries serving undercover in Muslim lands; and many suffering persecution and even dying for Him around the world.

Many of us in the church don’t even realize what God is doing. We don’t hear about His work, unless we see a movie like Blind Side. He never stops, of course, but we don’t see or hear about the thousands of  untold stories, and as a result, even Christian authors and ministry leaders get discouraged. Here’s a quote from the recently published book, 66 Love Letters, by Dr. Larry Crabb:

…If Stephen or Peter or Paul could see what so many of us modern Jesus-followers are calling Christianity, if they visited what so often passes for church today, I think they would fall on their faces and weep.
            We’ve become a community of pretenders who’ve made such a habit of presenting ourselves to each other as more spiritually alive than we are that we actually believe our own posturing.
            I don’t understand why You let those believers [in Acts] see such obvious demonstrations of Your power….
            The way things are today in so many churches seems so far beneath what went on in the church You described in Acts that I felt a wave of futility smothering the life out of me….
            I want to see Your people revived to live the kind of life Your Son lived, the kind of life those early Christians lived — imperfectly, I know, but a lot better than how I see Your people, including me, living today.

Why don’t we see it?
Could it simply be our fear? I know I feel like a hypocrite when I talk or write about what God has done for me, knowing others have seen my sinfulness. But it’s not about me. It’s about Him, and what He has done — for us, in us, and through us. Telling others what He has done brings people to Him even when He tells us not to tell anyone…

Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. … Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result… the people came to him from everywhere.
– Mark 1:44-45

We can do it.
Despite our failures, when we spread the news (our testimony) about what Jesus did (and still does), as well as what He has done for us on the Cross, people are touched at the core of their being, just as those people over the weekend were in that movie theatre… and the more we do it, the better our chances of becoming world changers who draw people to Him, so that He can change them from the inside out.

If you think you can’t do it, listen to these words from Beth Moore’s Believing God Day by Day…

You really can do it, you know. Whatever the harrowing path that’s before you, you really can walk it victoriously. God will give you every place you step your feet for the glory of His name if you let Him.

She bases her statement on this one by the Apostle Paul…

I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.     - Philippians 4:13

Let’s start really “believing God.” Let’s “not be ashamed to testify of our Lord” so people will “come to Him from everywhere.”