“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you” (John 15:16)
My Gospel Story
Joshua Stephenson
Even before I became a Christian, I was very blessed. When I was ten years old, my Japanese grandmother passed away. She had been caring for my mentally disabled aunt, and after she was gone, my grandfather couldn’t take care of her on his own. My parents invited them to live with us. Both my parents and my grandparents were faithful Christians, and I looked up to them. Having three strong Christian role models in the home was something rare, and I was grateful for it. But I was not perfect.
I was opinionated, impulsive, quick to anger, and convinced I was always right.
In middle school, I met an atheist who told me that Jesus was no more real than Santa Claus and that my parents had lied to me. But my parents had never lied to me about Santa. They had always told me the truth. So I argued with him. I wanted to defend what my parents believed, and I wanted to prove that I was right. At the time, I thought I was a Christian because my parents were.
But I didn’t know the Gospel at all.
In fact, the atheist knew more about the Bible than I did. That embarrassed me, so I began to study. Not because I wanted the truth, but because I wanted to win. In that pride, God began to work on me. He opened my eyes and showed me that my motives were wrong.
I realized I was a sinner in need of a Savior.
I saw that Jesus, who had the power to destroy His persecutors, chose instead to give Himself for them. That was the opposite of my own heart. Being right could not save me. My Christian upbringing could not save me. Even my parents, who I admired so much, admitted that they were sinners. What I was really seeing in them was not their strength, but God’s work in them.
I remember reading the Bible and breaking down in tears. My mother came to comfort me. From then on, my parents and grandfather continued to disciple me in truth and love.
Not long after, that atheist boy became my friend. He did not hold my stubbornness against me. We continued to talk, not in anger, but as friends. Eventually, we ended up in different classes, and later, I heard that he had become a Christian himself. It wasn’t through me. It was something God had shown him directly. And that humbled me because it reminded me that my own salvation had also come from God alone.
It wasn’t my parents who saved me. It wasn’t my efforts or my arguments. It was God Himself who opened my eyes and drew me to Him.
Joshua Stephenson is a faithful member of The Bridge Fellowship Tokyo and leads a Bridge Community Group. He also serves in the Bridge Builders Team and in the worship team.