Orthodox view on testimony in public

Greetings everyone, I was wondering.......We see evangelicals, protestants, charismatics, Pentecostals etc. giving testimonies in public as part of their declaration of faith. We have the Creed as our declaration of faith. What is the Orthodox viewpoint regarding giving testimonies in public? God bless, R

As always we need to think about what we say.

\\"Tes-tee-fy-in\'\\" usually turns off more people than it attracts.

\\"Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved.\\" -St Seraphim of Sarov I could give my two cents, but its only worth about two cents....ha! You should read the story of Mother Gavilia, \\"In the Asectic of Love\\" I think you might find your anwser there. She proclaimed her faith publicly, but in a very Orthodox way.

I believe there are times when sharing your story can be encouraging, inspiring, uplifting, challenging and all those other good words associated with a protestant's understanding of a \"testimony.\" Those times are probably less frequent than a new convert would think, though. I also recall how squashed I felt at first by those of Orthodox upbringing who quickly dismissed my joy as \"convertitis\" - as though telling my story was a bad thing to do. I realize now how unnecessary it is to tell, but I do hope that the joy never diminishes.

Our life IS our public witness. Are we honest? Do we talk down to others? Do we belittle others? Do we gossip (which includes good and bad stuff) about others? These are a much more accurate witness than reciting the Nicene-Constinopolitan Creed. Anyone can recite it....but only true Christians live with Love in their hearts. For what it might be worth.....

I just realized that I wasn't very clear with my example. I meant to say that how we live is a better witness to what we believe than whether we can recite the Creed or not. Our witness is not always a good one.

Indeed our life is more important, but sometimes the atheists can do the same thing. There is some point that we need to say something.

Although I wasn't raised in such a tradition, altar calls, public testimonies, etc, always struck me as being very ego-centric, as if there were a contest to see who the worst sinner were who still found Jesus. I don't wish to make light of it, but I find conversion a very personal internal humbling matter and not something we see wide approval or praise for. That is for the angels in heaven. Same thing goes for speaking in tongues: I've witnessed it and it made my skin crawl. It sounded like a tribal African language and appeared based on emotional excess, and not the Holy Spirit. Did not the Apostles at Pentacost speak in human \"tongues\" that \"foreigners\" could understand. I don't think it was about some \"secret\" language that only God can understand.

I meant \"something we seek wide approval... Sorry about the typo.