As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He was met by a man with an unclean spirit, who was coming from the tombs. This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains. (Mark 5:2-3)
Earned reputations are hard to overcome. Maybe you were “the rebel,” “the slut,” or “the dropout.” He was “the crazy man.” Everyone knew about him. It was humiliating. He’d lived for years in the cemetery, naked and self-harming. People giggled and pointed. They talked about him but not to him. Then he met Jesus and everything changed. Naturally, he begged, “Take me with you!” But Jesus said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you…” (Mark 5:19)
It’s easy to impress people who don’t know us. We can talk a great game, flit about with our noses in the air, but not when there are people who can point and say, “We know who you really are.” Even after we meet Jesus, it’s tempting to want to move to another planet and start over. But it’s with our own people that we prove ourselves.
A consistent life change gets their attention. “Whaddya mean you don’t drink anymore? You don’t party? You don’t sleep around? You stopped cussing? You read the Bible? Sure. We’ll see how long that lasts.”
And there is our mission field. The space between our verbal witness and our consistent witness is our real testimony. If Jesus has saved you, go home to your own people and prove it.
Our real testimony is found in the space between what we say we are
and what we show ourselves to be.
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