How to Avoid a Watered-Down Testimony

“True children of God are so different from sinners in heart, in spirit, in life or lifestyle, in character and characteristics as the day is different from the light or as light is different from darkness.” – William F. Kumuyi

Think back to your teenage years. For some of us that was a half-century ago… OUCH!

One of the most important things to a teenager is fitting in with his or her own peers. After all, the teen years are awkward at best… with our minds, bodies, and personalities going through rapid and radical transformations. And so, it’s only natural to seek out others who are going through the same changes.

When we come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, we often experience another period of dramatic growth and development, only this time it is on the spiritual level. We may stop participating in certain activities that we once enjoyed but now consider sinful. We may also stop hanging around with the same people who were bad influences on us or with whom we no longer have much in common.

Surveys show that within a few short years, most new believers no longer have many close unsaved friends. In some ways, that is only natural because we no longer share the same values and goals. In other ways, it is sad because we lose the opportunity to share the gospel with them and impact them for the cause of Christ.

In recent years, however, I have noticed a growing trend where the lines between Christian behavior and that of the unsaved world has become increasingly blurred. It’s almost like believers want their salvation but don’t want to part with the world’s enticements. Not only is this type of spiritual fence-straddling unbiblical, but it also compromises – and waters down – our Christian testimony.

Here is how Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers”, described the “desired differences” between Christians and unbelievers…

“Well-fortified cities have broad walls, and so did Jerusalem in her glory days. The New Jerusalem must, similarly, be surrounded and preserved by a broad wall of nonconformity to the world and separation from its patterns and ideas. There is a tendency today to break down this holy barrier and make the distinction between the Church and the world merely nominal. Believers are no longer fixed on godliness, questionable literature is widely read, frivolous pastimes are eagerly indulged, and a general laxity threatens to deprive the Lord's special people of those sacred distinctives that separate them from sinners. It will be a bad day for the Church and the world when the proposed amalgamation is complete, and the sons of God and the daughters of men shall be united, and another deluge of wrath is ushered in. Make it your aim in heart, in word, in dress, in action to maintain the broad wall, remembering that the friendship of this world is enmity against God.”

“Separated from the world, and denying ourselves all ungodliness and fleshly lusts, we are not in prison nor restricted within narrow boundaries; no, we walk in freedom, because we keep His commands.”

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” I Peter 2:9 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President