"We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard."
- Peter and John (Acts 4.20)

People love to talk about their experiences. In fact, in some cases, they can't help but talk about what they have seen and heard during the course of their lives. To many people, experience is reality and if it cannot be experienced, it's not real. This is especially true of those under 40.

This is not a threat to Christianity, because following Jesus is meant to be an experience, not just an idea that we hold on to. This is actually an incredible opportunity for Christianity to distinguish itself as practical and relevant. People want real experiences, Christianity offers a real savior who is a real historical figure.

It's useless and potentially even harmful to deny the role of personal experience in someone's faith. On a practical level, seeing the Bible as authoritative means interpreting our experiences THROUGH the lens of scripture. This is something that the church needs to equip people to do by cultivating a Biblical worldview. Helping people understand how to make sense of their experiences from a Biblical perspective can result in increased holiness, devotion to Jesus, service to others and a healthy soul.

In addition, creating opportunities for people to have experiences with Jesus is essential. Jesus told us to observe communion, baptize disciples, wash the feet of those whom we serve, anoint the sick, lay hands on those called to ministry, share meals together, feed the hungry and more. All of these are experiences! If churches don't facilitate these experiences, we leave people with a hypothetical faith that is not tested or developed in real world circumstances.

Like Peter and John, people can't stop speaking about what they've seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears. As we lead people into first hand encounters with God they are more likely to organically share their experiences of Jesus with others.