When John Stott became a Christian, he spoke of his initial experience as taking, “the experiment of faith” – or to paraphrase, “I just gave it a go”. It got me thinking about how I became a Christian. I remember the time when I had exhausted many of the initial questions I had and at the end of that list decided to take “the experiment of faith”, from which I have not stopped. I have not looked back. Neither did Stott, nor many millions of other Christians for whom that is their story.
My guess is that many of us are like that. Perhaps we tell the story a bit differently though. I know I have, not intentionally, but because I did not reflect enough upon my experience. There were many aspects to my journey of becoming a Christian. But this aspect I had forgotten for some time, or at least I had not realised the significance of it.
So when I thought about how I became a Christian, for a while there was an emphasis on a ‘lightbulb’ moment as it were, or an emphasis on going to church, none of which is not significant. But there was also a distinct, “I’ll just give it a crack and see what happens”.
Consider what this may mean in our conversations with those who are yet to see the glory of Jesus. There are many parts to our evangelism. You want to be in a good relationship with them (generally), and you want to faithfully speak the gospel. But we can also call people to simply ‘test it for themselves’.
This is a very light-on approach and could be just the sort of prod one might need. God is good, and when we approach God we can see that for ourselves. Many will rely on what they have heard third hand about God and about Jesus from others who are not Christians. There is a place to simply invite someone to, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psa. 34:8)
“The experiment of faith” – Foreword in Cross of Christ, p.8, Alistair McGrath Quoting Dudley-Smith, John Stott.
Bigvai and Shiphrah 