This is my story

The first of a two-part study by Major Cliff Allchin

STUDY PASSAGE: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:1–15

THE other day I came across a list of 25 things that you should do before you die – an English version of the ‘bucket list’. What things might we regret at the end of our lives? Spending so much time at work that we miss out on our children’s early years, or missing an opportunity that might have made us rich? Would we rue a decision that definitely took us down the wrong path?

We have been called into fellowship with Christ in order to go out into the world and share the good news of all the wonderful things he has done for us.

Evangelist, broadcaster and author Rob Frost wrote: ‘God forgive us if we don’t tell others, for we miserably fail them and deny them the greatest opportunity of all – an opportunity to form a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.’

Read the study passage. Our story is his story. Sometimes we forget just how important it is that we share our story and the good news of Jesus, and how simple that really is. Perhaps we need to be reminded that we have not always been Christians.

I love the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11–32. A trawl through my sermon files reveals that I have preached more on this than any other Bible text. Yet we often forget that there were two prodigals – the one who left home and the one who stayed at home. At some point they both removed themselves from their father’s presence. The father went looking for them and sought them out. They caused him heartache and pain – yet each was dearly loved.

The Bible is unmistakably clear and painfully honest about the condition in which human beings find themselves apart from Christ; we are captives of sin and bound by its guilt and punishment. It is very difficult for those brought up in a household of faith to remember that we have been born as sinful people. Our actions and attitudes all swing towards this sinful tendency like a magnet holding sway over us, taking us away from our loving Father.

We forget who we were at our peril. The writers of the New Testament letters often had to remind their readers of this truth. For instance, Peter writes: ‘[He] called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God, once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy’ (1 Peter 2:9 and 10 all quotations from New International Version).

We are not born Christians – we can only be born-again Christians! And whether we have an incredible story to tell about our journey into faith or we have remained close to God since childhood, the truth remains that where we are today relies upon one thing only – the grace of God shown to us in Christ Jesus.

Most of us do not have a dramatic testimony, but who we are and what God has done for us can speak more clearly and powerfully than anything else. The way we live, the people we are and the priorities we make, will be powerful aspects of our Christian witness to others.

‘If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing’ (2 Corinthians 4:3). That could be your family, your friends, your work colleagues.

‘For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord’ (2 Corinthians 4:5). Francis of Assisi is credited with saying about preaching: ‘If necessary, use words.’

‘God… made his light shine in our hearts’ (2 Corinthians 4:6). Isn’t that something worth having on any bucket list – and so much more rewarding than surfing in Newquay or ghost-hunting in York!

FOR REFLECTION
• What would be on your bucket list? Does the list include sharing your story with others?
• Read the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11–32. Where do you picture yourself in that story?
• Make a comparison between the two brothers: how were they different? How were they similar?
• Look up Romans 11:30, 1 Corinthians 1:26 and Ephesians 2:3. What do these verses tell you about life without Christ?
• Take time to write down your story of how God has made his light shine in your heart.

• Major Allchin is Divisional Director for Evangelism, Anglia