Finding Your Christian Testimony

Have you ever had someone ask you, "So why do you actually believe?"

Maybe it's your niece in the kitchen, a coworker over lunch, or a friend after a funeral.

You know the faith. You could explain the Creed, the sacraments, why the Church teaches what she teaches.

But they didn't ask what you believe. They asked why.

Nothing dramatic comes to mind. No rock bottom.  No life-changing moment that explains everything. No story that seems big enough to tell. So you share something true and general instead. They nod. The moment closes.

You walk away wondering why you couldn't answer a question you've spent your whole life trying to help other people answer.

I don't think most Catholics lack a story. I think many of us were never taught to look for one.

Most of our formation has trained us to explain the faith. Far fewer of us have learned to recognize where the Kingdom of God is breaking through into our lives.

The problem isn't that you need a more polished testimony or a better witness talk.  It's that recognizing where Jesus has already been at work in your life is its own discipline, and it's one most of us haven't been taught and don't practice enough.

Too often, we wait for something dramatic enough to count — the addiction, the diagnosis, the mountaintop retreat — and when your life doesn't hand you one of those, you quietly conclude you don't have anything to say.

I can't count the number of times I've asked someone to tell me where Jesus has been at work in their life only to watch them apologize because they "don't really have a story." Five minutes later they're describing a marriage that slowly healed, an unexpected peace after grief, or a habit they couldn't break until one day they realized it no longer owned them. 

Those are not lesser stories waiting for a better one to replace them. Those are the story. Jesus was there for all of it. The only thing missing was their attention.

The more I've reflected on this, the more I'm realizing this isn't just a modern problem.  After all, Scripture is full of times when the people of God have to be taught to remember. Not because God forgets, but because His people do. Again and again, Israel is commanded to remember what the Lord has done and to share His works with the next generation.

"Take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children's children." (Deuteronomy 4:9)

Maybe the problem was never a shortage of stories. Maybe it's spiritual forgetfulness.

That's why the best accompaniment begins with questions instead of answers.

Story is just what recognition sounds like once you say it out loud.

So if someone asked you tomorrow why you believe, I don't think the answer is finding better words.

Before you worry about what you'd say, spend some time asking Jesus a different question.

Lord, where have you already been at work in my life that I've never learned to notice?

Don't rush to answer it. Sit with it for a while.  

Ask the Holy Spirit to help enlighten your memory and bring to mind the places where Jesus has already been at work.  

The story you're looking for may not be something you need to create.

Jesus has been moving and working throughout your life – even when you may not have been paying attention.

The invitation now is to remember.