One Guy’s True Story
FROM CHURCH KID TO REAL FAITH
This testimony is from Nathan, a member of Street Level Ministries in Menomonie.
John 8 has a story that has often served as a reminder of my life before and after truly meeting and giving my life to Jesus. In the story, the law-abiding and ultra-religious Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to the feet of Jesus. “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” they ask him. Jesus rebukes them by telling them that the one who has no sin should be the one to throw the first stone. The Pharisees leave, one by one, until only the woman is left, and Jesus tells her He does not condemn her and to leave her life of sin. Many people may say they identify with the woman in this story, and I certainly do as well, but the arrogance and perceived holiness of the Pharisees are what I saw reflected in my own life the most.
I grew up in a large, church-going family. My dad was on the elder board, and my mom was an active volunteer in our children’s programs. I grew up as the kid who always got straight A’s on his Sunday School work. We always attended youth group and maybe even brought a friend when the youth pastor suggested it. If you had asked me if I was a Christian, I wouldn’t have had a doubt in my mind. “Of course, can’t you tell by all the Christian things I do?” would probably be my answer. Despite this mask I didn’t even know I was wearing, my personal life was defined by sin and apathy towards God. I discovered porn at a pretty young age, making me a closely-guarded and shameful person. I was the perfect example of what Jesus called a whitewashed tomb, outwardly beautiful but full of death and uncleanliness on the inside. Still, I made excuses. I tried rationalizing things by trying to balance my sin out with good works or by choosing not to believe it was wrong in the first place. Despite all this, I still believed I was the person I had been playing at all along. Just like the Pharisees, I could drag others before Jesus while refusing to acknowledge the death in me.
I was a boy who had been living his parents’ faith and deeply needed Jesus.
During my first years of high school, several things happened that changed my life. I went to a youth conference in Duluth, Minnesota and was invited to join a group of guys in a Bible study. Through that experience of actually studying the Bible, I saw that I was not the perfect person I had imagined myself to be. I was a boy who had been living his parents’ faith and deeply needed Jesus. I had prayed a prayer asking God into my heart many years before that, but it wasn’t until high school that I finally believed and trusted in Jesus as my savior.
I am thankful for how God has worked in my life since then. I am by no means a perfect person, but I can look back and see just how far He has taken me. I still struggle with trying to earn God’s love somehow, and I have to be careful of my motives. Still, I can look back, even in just the past year, and see examples of times He has provided, blessed, tested, grown, and rebuilt me. Over the summer, I got the opportunity to travel to Berlin, Germany and learn from and serve alongside a team of amazing Christians. That and other experiences have confirmed that if you put yourself out there, He will take care of the rest. I am still very much a child in my faith, but being a part of the Christian community at Street Level has been a huge blessing and help. One verse I learned over the summer that has been a motto to me recently when I worry about what my future will look like is Psalms 9:9-10: “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”
-Nathan