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Powerful Testimony or Celebration of Sin?
Carl McRoy has written an article entitled Testipohnies. You can find the article at this link. In the article, McRoy chronicles the common occurrence of a preacher talking about his or her life of sin before coming to Jesus. We all have heard these stories. We listen intently as the preacher found his or herself in a tight situations. They have smoked cigarettes and done drugs, drank everything but Drano, stolen from the big pimp boss man, and some even killed other people. But GAAAWWWD brought them out of all that and here they are right now to tell you about it.
Glorifying Sin
McRoy makes a very startling point. Often in these “testimony” sermons the preacher only talks about the pleasurable things. They tell you about all the women they have slept with, but none of the diseases or the painful waiting for that Venereal Disease test to come back. They talk about the alcohol, but not the hangovers. They talk about the glamor of sin and not the underside of it. Certainly there are exceptions, but in many cases this is what you find.
Belittling Those Without These Experiences
But more than this, and I have experienced some of this, we have people who will actually belittle those who have not engaged in some of these practices. The preacher will take on a pious or sanctimonious tone and mock those who have attempted live a whole life in line with Christian principles.
Encouraging to Put Off Coming to Jesus
Finally, and McRoy brings this important point out, these stories can promote living a lifestyle that is not in line with Chrsitian principles, becuase ultimately you will have a later chance to come back to God. While it is true God will forgive, it is also true that sometimes we face the hard issue that we often do reap the harvest that we have sown. Testimonies are important and should be given, but we must never either glorify sin, belittle those who have not had the experiences of these sins, nor should we make people think that they can put off till tomorrow coming to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
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