As a Christian leader, one of the most valuable resources that you have is your testimony.
But you don’t take my word for it. Let’s look at what the Bible has to say about it: Revelation 12:11 tells us, “And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.” (NLT)
While our testimonies are important, many are hesitant to share them. If you can relate, you might not know how to share your testimony or you might think that your testimony isn’t worth sharing.
Christian comedian, Tim Hawkins has a bit where he jokes that his testimony is “horrible.”
I am definitely guilty of describing my testimony in this way, so I’m preaching to myself when with this post. But when we devalue our testimonies we also inadvertently devaluing the work God has done in our lives.
In addition to this, and at the risk of sounding overly spiritual, I think that Satan can use this to stop you from sharing your testimony with someone who needs to hear it.
Now that we’ve established that your testimony matter, I am going to show you how to share your testimony. To do that, I am going to teach you something known as the “Pixar Story Structure.”
This structure was outlined by Emma Coats, a former Pixar storyboard artist. It’s essentially a six-part “fill in the blank” story template. If you are familiar with the “Mad Libs” word game, it’s similar to that.
The Pixar Story Structure goes like this:
- Once upon a time…
- Every day…
- But one day…
- Because of that…
- Because of that…
- Until finally…
As you think of some of your favorite Pixar movies, it’s easy to see how the stories follow this structure.
In addition to telling fun stories about cowboys and spacemen, you can also use the Pixar Story Structure to share your testimony.
In Acts 22:2-21, The Apostle Paul shares his testimony. In this passage, there are elements of the Pixar Story Structure. I am going to retell his story by using this template to show you how you can use it to share your testimony.
Here’s Paul’s Testimony using the Pixar Story Structure:
- Once upon a time… there was a religious leader named Saul.
- Every day… He would persecute Christians.
- But one day… Jesus appeared to him on the Road to Damascus.
- Because of that… Saul became blind.
- Because of that… He went to see Ananias who helped restore his sight
- Until finally… Saul changed his name to Paul and dedicated his life to spreading the gospel.
As you look at this example, you might be thinking, “Nick, there is so much more to Paul’s testimony than that.” And you are right, I didn’t include every detail.
The point of this isn’t to include every small detail of your testimony. The point of using the Pixar Story Structure is to share a few of the main components of your testimony.
- What your life was like before Jesus (steps 1 & 2).
- What circumstances lead you to Jesus (steps 3, 4, & 5)
- How your life is different now that you have encountered Jesus (step 6).
And if you like, once you have these main components down, you can always go back and fill in some of the smaller details.
If you found this post helpful, share it with someone who thinks their testimony is “horrible.”
Watch the accompanying video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Kn45aYyGjbo
Nick Chellsen 