Of course, these lyrics were taken from Revelation 12:11, giving the song strong scriptural content and spiritual appeal. It is a song which I am very much familiar with and enjoy listening to and singing. The song was also very appealing to this particular gentleman due to its lyrical content and likeable melody.

It wasn’t long before, right in the middle of the song, when they got to the bridge, several people came up to “testify” – an occurrence, he told me, that had become quite common during these gatherings and specifically during the time of worship. After what seemed like an eternity, the singing and worship resumed, trying desperately to pick up where it left off. By this time he was totally disengaged, disturbed by the numerous interruptions and distracted by the lack of coherency to the time of worship.

I could literally feel his frustration as he related these events. Many of us have been there. Many of us know what it is to have our worship rudely or presumptuously interrupted. It wouldn’t do this gentleman any good to become angry or upset with the ones who came up to testify or prophesy, because they were only mimicking what has always been modeled before them. After all, they were only doing what they felt was right and appropriate. Like countless others, we have been singing words taken from Scripture that we do not understand. This story, which is much more common than many of us realize, prompted me to write this article. My desire is to bring clarity and insight to those of us who have found ourselves in similar situations so that we are all edified and upgraded in our understanding.

Religious Cultural Usage

If you’ve been among religious circles for any length of time, you’ve seen people stand up and testify during services or religious gatherings. From the little old lady who gets up to testify regarding God healing her arthritis, to the poor single parent testifying how God provided the money to pay the overdue rent. The word testimony has come to mean a recital of the mercies of God one has experienced in his lifetime.

I remember many years ago when I was first born again and was asked to testify during an open air meeting or “crusade” regarding my past and how God had saved me from destruction. As terrified as I was at sixteen years of age to stand before people in a public setting and share, I was able to give my “testimony” regarding my sinful past (which wasn’t all that exciting or colorful being in my mid-teens) and God’s redemptive work in my life. I guess the miracle was in God saving a teenager in the prime stages of what is typically a rebellious period.

There are some older, more mainline churches that actually set aside a time for testimonies from their members during corporate gatherings. It is considered ingratitude to be unwilling to stand up and give testimony of the goodness of God taking place in one’s life.

A testimony, therefore, based on our religious cultural usage and understanding, can either mean the bold and thankful declaration of what God has done for us or in us, or even what God has done through us.

We’ve all watched Christian television or had ministers come to our churches that were known for notable healings and/or miracles. Some of us may even be members where these itinerant healers and miracle workers serve as leaders. Often they would recount or testify regarding the various healings or miracles they had performed. So as not to sound prideful, arrogant or conceited, they would justify their testimonies by quoting Revelation 12:11, or by attempting to convince us that these testimonies were important for building faith in the hearts of the hearers as well as glorifying Jesus.

Jesus And The Apostles

When you examine the life and ministry of Jesus and His apostles, however, you find a significantly divergent pattern or practice. Not only did Jesus and the apostles not go around advertising or testifying regarding their successful healing or miracle campaigns, but Jesus went so far as to forbid those He ministered to from telling anyone.

 

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

(Matthew 8:1-4 ESV; emphasis mine)

And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

(Matthew 9:27-31 ESV; emphasis mine)

While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

(Mark 5:35-43 ESV; emphasis mine)

Why would Jesus, the Son of God, do the complete opposite to what is practiced today? Why would He forbid these people from testifying concerning Him? If anyone had a right to promote themselves it would have been Him, yet not only did He refrain from doing so, but He encouraged the people He had ministered to to do the same as well. In fact, the only time that Jesus ever deviated from this pattern was with the disciples that John the Baptist had sent to Him with a question.

The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

(Luke 7:18-23 ESV)

In case you’re wondering, Jesus wasn’t suddenly becoming egotistic. John was the second cousin of Jesus and in prison at the time. John knew that his time was coming to a close and he was still a bit uncertain as to whether or not Jesus was the promised Messiah. Whether it was familiarity from being second cousins who played together when they were little and knew each other’s humanity, or because Jesus just didn’t seem to fit the bill of being the conquering Messiah who would liberate Israel from the tyranny of Roman oppression, or because he just wanted to be certain that he had finished his course and truly prepared the way for one mightier than himself (Luke 3:16), John needed some kind of confirmation or assurance so that he could accept his end with peace.

Jesus knew that what John needed was not a theological or eschatological discourse. He needed proof or evidence that He was truly the promised Messiah; therefore, Jesus performed mighty healings and miracles and sent John’s disciples back to testify of them not because he was seeking to promote Himself, but for the sake of John. This was the exception rather than the rule. Notice also that Jesus never went to John boasting of the mighty miracles He had just performed. He simply instructed John’s disciples to tell John what they had seen and heard as an answer to John’s question.

It’s worth noting here that the people Jesus instructed to keep the miracles He performed quiet usually didn’t listen to Him anyway, as I’m sure He knew that they wouldn’t. It wasn’t false humility, but an accurate heart posture that Jesus was demonstrating. And it was because of this accurate heart posture of a man who was willing to lay down His life and His reputation (Phil. 2:7) that caused God to promote Jesus by causing His fame to be spread abroad. It is one of the opposites of the Kingdom – by seeking no fame or reputation Jesus became enormously famous and reputable.

I can tell you from first-hand experience that this works. Many years ago when I had the privilege of leading a powerful group of very anointed young people in a youth outreach to the public high schools in Trinidad, a re-enactment of the book of Acts took place. Multitudes were being healed right in the classrooms with some very notable miracles being performed by this group. The power of God was demonstrated so forcefully at times that even teachers fell under the power of God. A great number of students surrendered their lives to the Lordship of Jesus as a result of these encounters.

It would take way too long to recount the various miracles and healings that transpired. But on one occasion, while the group was in the church building praying like they did every week for the advancement of God’s Kingdom in the schools, the miraculous happened again. One of the church staff members who was working on the other side of the building at the time ran into the room where the group was praying, alarmed. He wanted to know what they were doing because the entire building started to shake!

Instead of this group advertising or publicizing all of these miraculous events and stroking their egos or reputations in the eyes of the people by giving public testimonies every Sunday morning when this more than one thousand member community of believers gathered, they kept it quiet, only updating their leaders (as they usually did) with how things were progressing. It wasn’t long, however, before the fame of their exploits became known by many others and they were publicly honored and recognized both in the church community and region.

Similarly, Jesus’ fame wasn’t accomplished through the recounting of the various miracles He performed, or through television, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube videos or a camera crew following Him around to capture every ministry event. His fame spread abroad because He was willing to work the works of God without seeking recognition for Himself. When you truly know who you are, you are never obligated or compelled to prove or promote yourself to anyone!

The early apostles followed the same example. They went about seeking God’s fame rather than their own. The only apostle in Scripture to ever “boast” of his miracle ministry (in general and never in detail) was Paul, and this was only because He was forced to defend his apostleship from those who sought to discredit or invalidate his ministry among the Corinthian community (2 Cor. 12:11-12).

Were it not for Luke who was appointed by God to write the book of Acts, we would not have known about all these miracles performed by the apostles in such detail. By the way, Luke wasn’t hired by any of them to follow them around and promote their mighty healing and miracle ministry to the world. He was not the equivalent of their personal camera crew or scribe. Luke’s purpose for recording these events, like the other authors of the gospels, was to testify concerning what Jesus began both to do and teach, continuing beyond Christ’s ascension into glory to the work of the Holy Spirit in and through the New Covenant Kingdom Community of believers (Acts. 1:1).