There’s something deeply broken about the way we try to share faith today. We’ve turned the gospel into a courtroom argument, treating conversations about Christ like debates to be won rather than truths to be lived. We memorize talking points, prepare our rebuttals, and arm ourselves with apologetics—all while missing the most powerful tool we’ve ever been given: our own transformed lives.
The truth is, when it comes to sharing the gospel, we need to stop trying to convince people and start becoming people worth listening to. And that shift begins not with better arguments, but with a surrendered heart.
The Problem with Debate
Debate has its place in the world. It can sharpen ideas, expose flaws in logic, and help us think more clearly. But when we bring that combative energy into conversations about faith, we sabotage the very message we’re trying to share. Why? Because debate creates distance.
Think about the last time someone tried to debate you into believing something. How did it feel? Chances are, you found yourself digging in deeper to your own position, building walls rather than opening doors. That’s the nature of debate—it triggers defensiveness. It turns the person in front of you into an opponent rather than someone made in the image of God who deserves love, respect, and compassion.
Debate brings conflict. It breeds offense. It stirs up anger and pride. Even when we “win” an argument, we often lose the person. They may walk away silenced, but rarely are they changed. And isn’t transformation what we’re really after? Not compliance, not intellectual agreement, but genuine heart change that can only come from encountering the living Christ.
The Power of a Living Testimony
So if we’re not debating, what are we doing? We’re living. We’re becoming living testimonies that reflect who Christ truly is.
This isn’t about being perfect, far from it. It’s about being authentic. It’s about allowing the reality of Christ’s work in your life to be visible in the everyday moments that make up your existence. When you respond to frustration with patience, when you choose forgiveness over bitterness, when you serve without seeking recognition, when you love without expecting anything in return; that’s when people start to pay attention.
A living testimony is demonstrated in the ordinary rhythms of life. It’s shown in how you treat the barista who got your order wrong, how you respond when someone cuts you off in traffic, how you handle criticism at work, and how you navigate disappointment. It’s visible in your marriage, your friendships, your parenting, and your solitude. People aren’t looking for more religious talk; they’re starving for authentic spiritual life.
Being Christ-minded isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about reflecting Christ’s character in a way that makes others curious about the source of your peace, your hope, your joy—even in the midst of circumstances that would typically produce the opposite.
Wisdom in the Struggle
Here’s where it gets real: what happens when life falls apart? When you’re facing your own affliction, your own struggle, your own dark night of the soul? This is actually when your testimony becomes most powerful but only if you walk through it with wisdom.
Wisdom is what’s required to have good conversations, especially when we’re in pain. Wisdom knows when to speak and when to be silent. It understands that people need presence more than they need answers. It recognizes that sometimes the most Christ-like thing we can do is simply sit with someone in their suffering without trying to fix it, explain it, or spiritualize it away.
When you’re walking through affliction and someone asks you how you’re coping, you don’t need to deliver a sermon. You don’t need to pretend everything is fine or put on a spiritual mask. You can be honest about the struggle while also being honest about where your hope comes from. That honesty—that raw, unfiltered authenticity; often speaks louder than any polished testimony ever could.
Wisdom also helps us navigate conversations without creating unnecessary offense. It teaches us to listen more than we speak, to ask questions rather than make pronouncements, and to meet people where they are instead of where we think they should be. When we approach others with wisdom, we create space for genuine dialogue rather than monologue. We invite them into conversation rather than forcing them into a corner.
What People Are Really Listening For
People aren’t listening for perfect theology. They’re not waiting for you to give them the five-point plan to salvation. They’re not looking for someone who has it all figured out.
They’re listening for authenticity. For hope that holds up under pressure. For love that doesn’t depend on agreement. For peace that doesn’t make sense given the circumstances. They’re watching to see if what you believe actually changes how you live.
And when they see that. . . . when they encounter someone whose life has genuinely been transformed by Christ—it raises questions that no debate ever could. It creates hunger that facts alone can’t satisfy. It opens doors that arguments would only slam shut.
The Starting Point: Wisdom in the Struggle
This all starts with the heart. Before you can be a living testimony, you need to be someone who is genuinely walking with Christ, not just talking about Him. That means regular time in His presence. It means allowing Scripture to shape not just your beliefs but your character. It means confession, repentance, and constant surrender.
It means checking your motives. Are you sharing faith because you genuinely love people and want them to experience the freedom you’ve found? Or are you trying to prove something, win something, or check a box?
When your heart is right, everything else flows naturally. You don’t have to manufacture opportunities to share the gospel—your life becomes the gospel in action. You don’t have to force conversations about faith—they arise organically because people can’t help but notice there’s something different about you.
Final Thoughts
If we want to talk so people actually listen, we need to stop trying to out-argue the world and start out-loving it. We need to trade our debate tactics for genuine wisdom, our clever arguments for authentic testimony, and our need to be right for a humble willingness to simply be Christ to those around us.
The world has heard enough religious noise. What it desperately needs is to see Jesus and the most powerful way they’ll see Him is through ordinary people like you and me, living transformed lives in the midst of an everyday world.
That’s a message worth listening to.