Zambia Hunt

A Sermon by Pastor Saidi Chishimba

Well, let’s gather around the Lord’s Word, and spend the next couple of minutes looking at what I have titled: “What’s Your Testimony?” 

Every time we have baptism, we have always said that baptism is a symbol—an outward symbol of what has happened in the heart. And so, when we are baptizing somebody, we are, or that person is showing to us, or testifying to us, that “I have come to know the Lord.” They are indicating that they are followers of Christ. They are disciples of Christ. They are born again. There is a sense in which that baptism acts as a testimony. They testify to those who look at what’s happening.

I have two questions to ask: What is your testimony in church? And secondly, what is your testimony in the world?

You know, many times we don’t think about it—that our testimony while we are in church and our testimony out there matters with God. It is so sad today in Zambia, Christians walk around with testimonies that do not represent Jesus Christ, and they’ve ended up being a hindrance to the work of God.

Two Illustrative Stories

In one incident in Zambia, somebody once said to a particular person who claimed to be a Christian: “If that guy goes to heaven, I’m also going to heaven.” Now, the one who was saying that was far from Christ. In fact, he was a drunkard. He was someone you would pray the Lord would save. It was written all over him: “hell bound, hell bound, hell bound.” And this person points at a Christian and says, “If that guy goes to heaven, I am going as well.”

You know why he said that? Because that dear brother had no good testimony. He claimed to be a Christian. He was found among believers. He identified by word that he was a Christian, but that drunkard knew him better, because he knew the places where that guy hung out, and knew the kind of life he lived. And so he assumed, “We are the same. You have no Christian testimony. If you have it, then I’m a Christian too.”

In another story—whether it happened or not, but one I once read—of a Sunday school teacher teaching the little ones. And he was teaching this group of little ones in a place where they didn’t know Christ, even from reading. So, he took the time to explain practical pictures to the little ones so they could understand who Jesus is. And as he explained—to say Jesus loves children, Jesus this, Jesus that—and as he went on explaining for a good time, one little boy was standing or seated there thinking very meditatively, it seemed.

And then he said, “Does anybody know Jesus?” And the little boy lifted up his hand and said, “I know him.” And so, the teacher said, “How do you know him?” “He lives in my street.”

What the little boy was making reference to: there was a man at the end of the street. As this teacher explained Jesus to the boy, he saw the characteristics of that neighbor. When he says he loves children, the boy says, “That man loves children.” He explains what Jesus would do and teach children. The boy remembered, “That’s what that man does.” And he concluded, “Ah, so that’s the Jesus.”

Well, the boy missed it theologically, but he could relate the life of Christ in somebody. And to that little boy, he had caught the testimony of that man. He could see Christ living in him.

Three Perspectives on Who We Are

I have two simple questions to ask you: What is your testimony in church? And secondly, what is your testimony out there in the world?

You see, every person is seen from many angles, but I want to mention three.

Firstly, we are seen from God’s perspective. Of course, God knows each one of us. No one is hidden from God right now. He knows exactly who we are and how we present ourselves to him. He knows what is in our hearts. He knows what you’re thinking about right now. Firstly, each one of us is known to God.

Secondly, we all have a perspective from which we view ourselves. We speak about ourselves in a certain way. I heard a very interesting statement this week, and it went something like this: “We judge people by what they do, and we judge ourselves by our intentions.”

We will not judge ourselves by the things that we’ve done, but we will judge ourselves by our intention. Because, well, I’ve done this, but I intended to do this. And so, the one who’s looking at me will judge me by what I’ve done. “Did you see what that brother did? Oh!” And I’ll say, “Well, although I did that, I intended to do so.” I’ll judge myself based on my intention. We look at ourselves from our own vantage point and say, “Well, this is who I am.”

Thirdly, people look at me and you from their vantage point and they say, “What? That’s who he is!” It is what we do or say that makes them think about us. When I came, there was a way in which you were thinking about me. And I suppose you may now be thinking of me in a different sense. But also, we influence people to perceive us in a certain way.

Before we met, you may have heard that a pastor from Zambia, named Saidi Chishimba, would be visiting. You probably wondered, “Who’s this guy? What does he look like?” When I walked in with my family, some of your expectations were met, others weren’t. But after spending time preaching, talking, and visiting your homes, I’ve caused you to think about me in a different way. Through my words and actions, I’ve shaped how you now perceive me. May I suggest that this is our testimony—what we cause others to think about us through how we live.

Your Testimony in Church

The Bible, therefore, indicates to us, dear friends, that there is a way in which my testimony in the church really matters. It matters, as I’m seated in church and participating in the life of the church. 

Have you ever asked yourself, ‘How do they think about me?’ Do I edify others through my Christian life? Am I gracious? Do they see Christ in me? Or do they see someone who walks in, minds his own business, worships, then packs up and leaves with a few casual waves? How does my Christian faith testify to Jesus Christ in the Church?

The Testimony of Scripture

Observe John 21:24. This comes after the resurrection when Jesus met the disciples by the seashore, shared breakfast, and restored Peter to shepherd the sheep. After this interaction, John speaks but doesn’t refer to himself by name. Instead, he says, “This is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things. And we know that his testimony is true.” John identifies himself as the one whose testimony we can trust.

First of all, within the Church of Jesus Christ, here is John the Apostle telling us that “Church, we saw, we heard.” He says that in 1 John: “that which we have touched, that which we have heard,” testifying to their experience with Jesus Christ as their teacher, as our Savior. And he says, “This testimony that we have written down that is in the whole book of John, even the rest of the New Testament, it is the truth about Christ.”

There is one testimony of Jesus—read it in your Bible. That is the one true testimony of Jesus Christ. The apostles testify of him as the Son of God, as God himself, as the Eternal One.

So, what is your testimony in this church? When your life is read as a believer, do people see Jesus? Do people hear Christ? Do fellow believers rejoice when they come to church, looking forward to fellowship with you, knowing “that’s my brother and sister in the Lord who will share the life of Christ with me”?

What is your testimony in the church?

The Angel’s Testimony

Look at Revelation 19:10: “And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that. I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. “

Even the angel tells John, “I am just one of you, a servant of him. For even I have a testimony of Jesus.” He further says, “Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

My point is this: even John was told by the angel not to be worshipped. “You have the testimony of Christ. I also have the testimony of Christ.” The angel refers to no other testimony except the very testimony of Jesus that we read in the scriptures.

In Galatians chapter one, verses eight and nine, Paul tells the Galatians there is no other gospel. If angels or anyone else teaches a different gospel, reject it. Why? Because there is only one gospel, one testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ found in the scriptures.

So to lift up Christ’s testimony among us means more than reading scripture—do we have the testimony of Christ in our lives? Do I testify of Jesus among those I worship with? If I were plucked from Perth and thrown into Asia, Europe, Africa, or America, would I still claim the testimony of Christ Jesus?

That’s the first question: Do you talk and walk Christ? Do you think Christ? Do you genuinely love the Lord, or are you a pretender? Do you show up on Sunday dressed in a church appearance, then change when church is over?

Your Testimony in the World

Secondly, what is your testimony to the world out there? 

Most of the time, we Christians are so concerned about how the church thinks about us, right? We’re so concerned about how each one of us thinks about the other. “What do they think about me? What do they say about me?” And we are so preoccupied—I don’t know in Australia, but that’s very common in Zambia. And I want to assume that, as believers, we tend to retain certain traits and characteristics. So I don’t know how, but it’s a common practice or tendency that we are so concerned about how the church thinks about us than what they think about me out there.

I suggest to you tonight that it matters as much how the church thinks about you inside and how the world thinks about you out there. Dear friends, it matters a lot. That is why we end up having two lifestyles as Christians. You find Christians living a double lifestyle.

The Challenge of Cyber Life

Hardly a month ago, if not three weeks before we came, I was preaching in a sister church called Nkana East Chapel at a youth seminar that they had, and they called me to talk about cyber life. And cyber life is just this life all of a sudden that has appeared on the scene in the last 10 years or so, if not 15 years, and that is the computer life.

We are all in the cyber world, and we are Facebooking and internetting, and there’s this virtual life. It’s a virtual life because it’s not tangible, but it’s a life that we are living. We’re on Twitter, we’re on Facebook, and we’re doing all these kinds of things.

And sadly, people often lead a very different life online or on the computer than they actually have in real life. It’s so common in Zambia, you find some people would say awkward things on Facebook, on Twitter, and then you wonder, “I thought this was a brother in the Lord. How could he be saying such things?”

And on many occasions, I have deliberately confronted dear friends in the church. I said, “You know what, I saw your posting this week. I think you need to remove it, or you need to…” “Ah, you know, I was just lazy, I wasn’t doing anything, so I thought of just saying something.” I said, “Well, it defined you, though.”

And so, you find that there is this life on the internet. One of the vices that we talk about among men, especially in our church, is how the computer life, especially men—it seems it’s not a common vice among women, but very strong among men—how you find that we’re entangled, men tend to slip into pornography on the internet easily. And it’s so strong, suddenly you have men struggling with this.

And then you say, “Well, would you go in the streets and look at naked people?” “No, no, no, no, I wouldn’t do that.” “Would you go to brothels?” “No, no, no, I wouldn’t go there.” “But would you go to eat on the internet?” “Oh, well,” and you find they still go.

My point is this: Your testimony matters as much on the internet as it does here in church. It matters there at your workplace, at school, at home, wherever it is. This is to say that it also matters on the internet. That’s your testimony. It matters when you’re on Facebook. It matters when you’re on Twitter. It matters what you’re doing on the net.

Biblical Foundation for External Testimony

I want to consider a passage that is very applicable to this point, 1 Timothy 3:7: “Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he falls into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

This verse is part of the paragraph about qualifications of an elder, overseer, bishop, or pastor. I don’t fancy using the word “qualifications” because where I come from, a qualification is just an entry point. For example, we have national exams on grades 7, 9, and 12. If you pass grade 7’s cut point, you qualify for grade 8. Once there, it doesn’t matter how you behave—you can get straight C’s and F’s and they won’t send you back to grade 7. You are already qualified.

The text before us is not suggesting that kind of qualification. It’s suggesting a life—this must be the life that continues upon him, you’re considering for elder.

But furthermore, this isn’t indicating only elders should have a testimony with those outside. Dear friends, we all must have a testimony with those outside—a testimony that will not bring a snare or reproach upon the believer.

It is a testimony that people will not raise a finger and say, “Ha ha, is that the believer? If he goes to heaven, I’m also going to heaven”—such that when non-believers are invited to church and walk through that door, they sit down, turn and look at you, and you remember the last place you saw each other. “Oh no, this guy has also come to church.”

Now you’re trying to hide in your Bible because your testimony out there is in disorder. While you’re hiding behind your Bible, he’s trying to check who’s behind it. All of a sudden he realizes, “That guy is a Christian, he comes to church. Ah, then I will have nothing to do with church.” Why? Because your testimony has brought reproach upon God’s word.

Dear friends, our testimonies really matter out there.

A Church Membership Experience

Some years back we were considering a dear person who has since gone to be with the Lord. He came to our church and after a good time decided to apply for membership.

We shared our membership procedure with him. One thing we do is recognize that while the church may have known you this far, the community out there also knows you. We make that person available to the church saying, “We have this brother who’s been going through membership class. If there’s any concern, knowledge, or advice about him, please come see the pastor during the week. If the whole church is silent, we’ll proceed with membership.”

Now that’s a bit humiliating, right? I don’t know how it would work in Australia, but it helps the one seeking membership say, “I’m a Christian, here’s my life, see through me.”

When we did that with this dear person, people who came to see me were not church members—they were from outside. People in Zambia have their ears to the ground on almost everything. In Zambia, everybody knows everything. The moment we show up from anywhere, everybody asks, “How was your trip?” Every fly on the wall knows.

So non-believers showed up and said, “Pastor, we hear this guy wants to be a member in your church. How can you accept such a person? We hung around with that guy and don’t think that’s the right move for your church.”

We met later and said, “There’s a concern. Why don’t we hold on?” When the brother came over, we said, “Brother, we love you, but there’s been concern shared about your life out there.”

The brother dropped his head and said, “It’s true, I need help.”

My point is, this dear brother knew his testimony was not right with the world out there, and he was so careful with his little time with us to make sure his testimony was right in the church.

How Is Your Testimony at Home?

How is your testimony out there? Let me narrow it and bring it home. How is your testimony at home?

For husbands and wives, how is your testimony? One time my eldest daughter came to me when she was much younger. She said, “At school, they were asking us what does your father do? I said, my dad is a preacher. And my classmates laughed at me.” My daughter felt humiliated when she said, “My dad is a preacher,” and they laughed at her.

I felt sad for her. I wished dad was a space engineer so she could tell them he manufactures spacecraft. But here’s my joy: she was able to know the testimony of her father. “He’s a preacher.” She was very young and knew nothing about my personal life, but she could register something about her father.

My point is this: how do our children register with us in relation to God? Can my son or daughter say, “Mom or dad is a man of God, a woman of God? She loves the Lord. He loves the Lord. If I want to be a Christian, I want to be like my dad, like my mom. That’s my testimony to follow.”

Can our children say that? How about you young people? What can your brothers and sisters say about you? “You know my big brother? He’s a bully.” Is that what your young sister or brother says? Or do they say, “My brother loves the Lord. You know what? He shames me with his faith in the Lord. She shames me with her faith. I wish, I pray, I would get to that relationship with God like my brother or sister.”

Do dad and mom talk about you in the bedroom as they reflect about your faith and say, “You know, little junior, the Lord is so gracious. What a joy to see him growing in the things of God”? Or does your mom get worried and say, “That son of ours, except the Lord, we would have given him away. Though the church thinks he’s a Christian, very soon I’ll die with high blood pressure because of him”?

What do our parents say about us young people? Your testimony, if you claim to be a Christian, really matters in church and outside.

Dear friends, we really need to examine ourselves. That our testimony is good among those outside. That our claim of faith and relationship with Jesus Christ does not bring ridicule to the name of Christ and reproach to the name of Christ. That we do not walk around ashamed of Jesus. For he says—wait a minute, it doesn’t end there, brother, sister. Get ashamed of me now on earth with your peers. The day of reckoning is coming. On the day of judgment, what does the Bible say? I will be ashamed of you.

Your Testimony with Workmates and Classmates

What’s our testimony with our workmates? Do my workmates know me as a Christian? I’m not saying you go and stand on the platform of your workplace and say, “Hear me, hear me, all workmates. I stand here to notify you that I’m a Christian.” No.

Can they see Christ in your life? How you address yourself, how you relate to matters that affect the heart. Are there workmates that are aching, that are troubled, that you would show up into their lives and say, “You know what, let me share with you something from God’s word”? May not be that easy in Australia, I guess, but does your life demonstrate Christ?

Somebody once said these words: if somebody will never read the Bible, they will never come across the Bible, but they will come across me—may I be the Bible that they will ever read. Meaning, may my life show Christ as the Bible shows Christ.

How about our schoolmates? Do our schoolmates relate to us with Jesus? Do my classmates know me as a Christian? How do they know me?

A Pastor’s Poor Testimony

I remember a pastor I knew from a distance. I really admired this man of God and would hear of him, though I never had a personal relationship with him. One day we were driving in town and both parked at the same place. I was looking forward to an opportunity to greet him, because he was a well-known figure in our community.

As I was trying to walk out, hoping to say hi and introduce myself, he was reversing his car when another car came down the main way, and he reversed into it and bashed it. Police were nearby and came over. He jumped out as I was walking toward his car, and I heard this pastor cursing—he really cursed. My eyes, my face, everything about me dropped. I said, “What’s going on? I didn’t expect him to react like this.”

The police showed up, and he used all sorts of language about the car he had just bashed, saying, “This guy was wrong,” and went on and on. I said, “This man has just cursed, and on top of that, he’s lying.” I jumped in and said, “No, officer, he was wrong.” I didn’t want to introduce myself at that moment. The whole intention had changed.

He turned to me and argued. I said, “Officer, his car is here, my car is here. I was looking at him hoping to greet him, and then he reversed and bashed that guy.”

“No, no, no, no. This is none of your business,” he told me. “You’re not a good witness to this.”

I said, “Officer, here’s my phone number. If this issue goes to court, please call me. I’ll be there.” I didn’t want to introduce myself as a pastor to him because I’d heard enough to change the whole scenario and say, “By the way, brother, we are pastors.” No, I wouldn’t have done that.

But my point is, I said, “Wait a minute, where is this brother’s testimony with the people outside?” If they go to the police and learn he’s a pastor, this guy who’s just been hit will be surprised. “Wait a minute, this is a pastor cursing?” So he would invite reproach to himself.

The Call to Authentic Christian Living

The world out there, dear friends, must see that there is a difference between the believer and the non-believer. There should be a difference. We have been bought by the blood of Christ. Dear friends, we have residing in us the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, God himself. There must be a clear-cut difference.

The world out there must not see us boasting of our faith, but must see us permeating their lives with the Lord Jesus Christ. They must witness Christ’s testimony in our walk toward our families at home, toward our neighbors, workmates, schoolmates, our little brothers and sisters. They must see a testimony of Christ through my life.

I should walk my talk. We must daily show that we do not live for ourselves, but live for the Lord. Both at church and in the world, I have but one life. The church life, the real life, and the cyber life are but one life. My testimony at church should be my testimony in the world, should be my testimony in the cyber life.

Conclusion: Two Questions for Reflection

I leave you with those same two questions:

What is your testimony in the church? How do the brother or sister seated next to you think about you, look at you, expect of you in relation to Jesus and your Christian life?

Secondly, where you are in your social network—at work, at school, the community around you, whatever network you’re found in—those people you interact with, when they hear your words, when they converse with you, when they relate with you, what do they think about you in relation to Christ?

If there was a problem in your class concerning somebody’s life, and they needed a Christian to jump to the occasion to pray for that situation or give biblical counsel, would your class instantly think about you? Or would they think about the boy or the girl in the next class?

I’m not saying you advertise your Christianity, but whenever God gives you a privilege and opportunity to bring forth your Christianity, please don’t be ashamed of Christ. Let the world know.

Jesus says we do not put a lamp where? Under the table. We put it on the table.

It’s sad today that the Christian lamp in many Christians’ lives has been put under the table again and again. It takes mature Christians to come along and say, “Brother, put your lampstand on the table.” “I’ll do it tomorrow.” And they wrestle—your Christian faith must be seen. “No, I want it under the table.” “No, bring it up.” “No, I want it under the table.”

It shouldn’t be that way. It should be a glorious thing for the believer to choose for his faith to be known for Christ’s sake.

Amen.

Please write “Saidi” on the memo line. There are great needs for the family with medical bills, repatriation of Saidi to Zambia from RSA where he passed away, and funeral expenses. 100% donated will go to help his wife and family with expenses. Thank you.