Wednesday, 15 July 2009
-
Does Not Sharing the Gospel with Someone Mean That You Hate Them?
I saw this video the other day that has really hit me hard. The longer and more in-depth I think about it, the more I see God speaking to me and all Christians. It is amazing to see how God uses people to teach us His truths; people that sometimes do not even believe that God (or any god for that matter) even exists.I was not aware until I saw this video that Penn from the famous Penn and Teller duo is a very strong atheist. The video that I saw (which I will post a link for later in this post) was a clip from Penn as a response to a gentleman that attended one of his shows and then after proceeded to give Penn a Bible and witness to him.
While Penn openly states in this video that this man did not change his mind and he still “knows there is no God,” I believe 100% that God is using Penn to teach Christians an important lesson on evangelism. The reason I say this is a statement that Penn makes about those of us that believe in an eternal life and whether we should be telling people about it.First of all, he says that he does not respect people who believe what Christians believe and do not try to tell others about it. Then he drops what I consider to be a huge bombshell and possibly the most amazing thought on evangelism I have ever heard (and I have spent my entire life in church and four years in Bible college). Penn states, “How much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them?” Here is the video (NOTE: the video contains strong language).
I do not know about you, but I had never thought about it this way. As a Christian, evangelism, or telling people about what you believe, is something that should be of top importance. While this is how it should be, I have not experienced this a lot in my own life or observed it a lot in other Christians that I have had the pleasure of being around on a regular basis. In fact, I would even go as far as saying it is a topic that most Christians would be uncomfortable talking about. This is because either we truly do not care about other people, or we are so scared about what other people will think of us that we think it better just to keep the most amazing gift ever given to ourselves. Another possibility that I see some people using as an excuse not to tell people about Christianity is they believe that only ministers or educated people can effectively do this. It might even be that they think it isn’t even their job to bring others to Christ.
No matter what our excuses are, we need to stop making them and start telling/showing everyone that we come into contact with the truth and gift that we were so freely given. There is no excuse that could ever be enough for us to not tell people about our wonderful loving God. In fact, Christ even commands us to go and bring others to Him. Matthew 28:18-20 states,“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (NIV)
This is one of the last things Jesus told his disciples before ascending into heaven. It is a command that all of us are supposed to follow.
This is not an easy command to follow. In fact, I would argue that because Jesus commanded it, it isn’t really supposed to be easy. People will reject what we have to say. We will face persecution from following this command. Jesus never promised us a peaceful life in which no one would hate us for being His followers. In fact, He told us that this would not be the case at all. Jesus states in Matthew 24:9-10,“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,” (NIV).
Following Jesus is not easy. Following Him comes at a price and following His commands comes at a price as well. While Jesus never promised us it would be easy to follow him (in fact He promised it would be hard), He did give us something to hold on to. This is found at the end of the Matthew 28 passage I quoted earlier. Jesus said,
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (NIV).
What could really go wrong with Jesus promising us that He will always be with us? It won’t be easy, but we have the King of the universe on our side.
I want to focus on what Penn said again for a few minutes. I really feel that his statement shows that he, as an atheist, might actually understand what is at stake with evangelism and why we should be doing it better as Christians.“How much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them?” Let that sink in a little bit more. We are supposed to love everyone but it really is an act of hate to let someone go through our life without trying to show them what we have to look forward to when this world is over. We should be motivated by our love for humanity more than our fear of persecution. All we can control is what we do, and we should try to show everyone what we have.
I do not believe that this means that we have to get in people’s faces every time we see them and try to convert them. We need to be outspoken about who we are and what we believe, but we have to come across as sane people who just care about others enough that we want to share what we believe can lead to everlasting life. Not everyone that we come in contact with is going to listen to us or end up believing what we believe, but we can still plant that seed. We can evangelize in many many different ways, but I feel convicted that we are supposed to evangelize anywhere and everywhere we go.
Again, there are no excuses that can get us out of that. You don’t have to be the best speaker in the world or know the Bible from cover to cover. In fact, I would argue that one would not even have to tell someone about Jesus to evangelize. One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from St. Francis of Assisi and I think it fits this post very well.He states, “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words”. That hits it right on the head. We should always be trying to bring others to Christ by our actions. Actions speak much louder than words, but our words should back up our actions. No matter what, we should be trying to bring every person we meet to a loving relationship with Christ. No excuses.
When it seems hard to tell someone about your faith and what you believe, look back to what a self-proclaimed atheist once went on video and said, “How much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them?” Also remember that Jesus promised to always be with us even to the end of the age. Let’s all try to make an effort to plant seed wherever it is we go.
Do you feel not that sharing your faith with others is seen as hating them?
-
recommend
- recs 7
-
share
-
email
- sent 0
Related Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to revelife's Revelife Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in revelife's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: Crosseyed_Jesus_FreakTN@xanga
- Name: Kraig
- About Me: I am a recent graduate of Cincinnati Christian University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biblical Studies and Youth Ministry. I am originally from Gray, TN. I am currently living in Gray while looking for a new ministry wherever God is leading me.
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 2 Views: 0 2905 Comments: 0 87 View all posts by Crosseyed_Jesus_FreakTN@xanga
Comments (31)
I absolutely love this post! The only thing I would change is this “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words”.
I totally understand using actions of love and service toward our neighbor to help bring down walls and develop friendships. BUT! Those actions in and of themselves are not the gospel. The gospel is the story of Christ, His redemptive work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead for the forgiveness of sins to everyone who believes..... Thats it.... Our works of love toward our neighbor are not the gospel. Loving someone is not the gospel. I know atheists that do great and loving things for their neighbor. In doing so are they sharing Christs gospel?
Our actions play a big part in opening up opportunities to share it... But they are not "it".
(Despite the sentence above, this is where people jump in and tell me that it was someone elses actions that won them over. All I can say is "How can you be won over to Christ if you have never been told about Him?)
Other than that... This post is great! Dead on! And as Penn states... Sharing the gospel is the MOST LOVING THING we can do as Christians. Feed a man and he will hunger again. Clothe him and the garments will fade and tear. Give His Christ! And He will live forever! AMEN AND AMEN!!!
I totally agree that more Christians should 'preach the gospel' with actions and not words. After all, actions speak louder than words.
@MC_Shann@xanga - When I think of that quote by St. Francis I don't think it means that actions should replace words. Rather, I think it addresses those Christians whose walk does not match their talk. We all know that it's easy to say we love God and NOT show it with our actions. So when I hear that quote, I'm reminded to make sure that my life is in accordance with what I preach. In no way should actions be a subsititute for words, though. They should go hand in hand.
St. Francis probably never said that quote. No sources within 200 years of his life contain it. But that's beside the point.
This post reminds me of the quote: "The reason some folks don't believe in missions is that the brand of religion they have isn't worth propagating."
If we really believe in eternal life and hell, if we really believe that this life is a drop in the ocean of eternity, telling people about the hope of Christ would be something we do as much as possible. We may believe those things in our head, but the truth is that it hasn't truly penetrated our hearts. I include myself in that group.
Good thoughts.
I think the gospel can be communicated through a miracle, charity... Sometimes it's the only way it will ever get through but I agree w/ Penn, it's just the modern twist on the gospel that I find really annoying. It's lost so much of it's punch. It's as if the gospel has become fire insurance and nothing more. I find that to be a really weak gospel and one not really worthy of being followed.
I love that quote attributed to Saint Francis.
p
I believe it only alienates people to talk to them about this when they're not willing and open to the message. If someone asks me a question concerning faith, I'll gladly tell them what I believe. But, if they're hostile or show no interest I don't bother.
I struggle with this, because as some of the other commenters here have expressed, I find that it is more effective to share the Gospel with those who are open to discussing it, and I also believe that actions speak louder than words. However, actions can be misinterpreted, no matter how "loud" we assume they are. We can be good to people or act differently than the world, but that alone doesn't explicitly communicate the life changing message of the Gospel of Christ's life, death and resurrection...and we are clearly called to explicitly communicate that message.
Both Christ's commands and His life seem to tell us to boldly, clearly verbalize the full message of the Gospel to all, whether or not we think they are ready or willing to hear it. Only the Spirit of God can prepare one's heart to receive the Gospel, and we shouldn't assume we know where one's heart is at. We are commanded to preach the Gospel to all-not just live lives that reflect Christian values, and not just to those who appear interested-and we should have enough faith in God to do so out of obedience and let Him work out the results with the listener. I know I don't do this nearly as much as I should.
@sarahzthoughts@xanga - I am really glad that you see the quote as you do. Your feelings about it are so much better than what it actually is saying.
A recent blog that I wrote and that was put here on Revelife was about that very topic. A lot of Christians demanded that their actions were what made people come to Christ and not the message of Christ Himself.
Grace and peace!
I have known for a while that Penn is an atheist; up until now, the only comments I have heard him make about believers have been rabid and sarcastic. I am shocked by this video and glad I had the opportunity to view it; I respect him for being honest about the fact that, even though he doesn't believe in G-D, he saw something in the person who gave him the Bible. You would expect a person with so much exposure to keep that to him/herself...
In any event, I have never had a problem expressing my beliefs to people. I do have a problem with "hard and fast" evangelism -- I'm just absolutely lousy at it. My strengths are more in prayer, personal relationships and encouragement; since we are given credit for our participation, no matter how seemingly insignificant, in bringing someone to Christ, I don't feel I am hating someone if I don't knock on doors, and I hold up to G-D those who are able to do so.
I do agree with Penn's comment about the truck -- if we see someone about to get hit, wouldn't we warn them? This is so much more important...
It is hard to share the Gospel in today's society without alienating the person you're trying to share the news with. Eternity is a long time, better to spend it with Jesus rather than the fires of Hell. But people have to be open to hear the Gospel, otherwise witnessing only drives them further from the Truth.
The late Bill Bright , founder of Campus Crusade For Christ said in his book[ The coming Revival] that only 2 percent of professing Christians in the US share their faith regularly with strangers. Read the book of Acts and see if the disciples waited to find people who were open to hear.
I strongly reccomend going to www.livingwaters.com and listening to a message called Hells Best Kept Secret by Ray Comfort. It has changed my life completely!
I would consider that a Baptist way of thinking. Evangelism is only one of the Spiritual gifts. And there are two ways to evangelize - word and lifestyle. Everyone is called to "make disciples" of all nations, but most are only evangelizing if anything. There is much more to making disciples than leading someone into a relationship with the living God. There is equipping the belongers to love one another and reconcile with each other, two things the Church is sorely missing as evidenced by the observations in today's Daily Update, "I'm Tired of the Religious Wars."
So let those with the gift evangelize verbally. Let all others evangelize by how they live and love with the love they get in their intimate relationships with the Most High. And let all mentor as they are gifted to grow the body into lovers of God, Who is the Prime Lover of Man.
great post!
We are all called to evangelize, and that must involve verbal communication or it's not the gospel. The bible says nowhere that there is such a thing as the gift of evangelism. That's like saying some people have the gift of feeding starving children. It's merely love in action. I do agree though that we need to be discipling as well.
@MC_Shann@xanga - At the same time, I don't think we can completely rule out good works as simply a means or a gateway to sharing the gospel. Everyone is different; maybe there are some people who, after getting to know a person who truly acts like Christ, ask what makes that person "different," and that is what gets the conversation started. While no one will automatically be brought to their knees and be saved if they are helped across the street, it still does have effectiveness, just not as much effectiveness as words do.
Whenever we do any loving thing to our fellow man we are preaching the Gospel. Jesus said that to gain eternal life, follow the commandments. One of which is "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Verbal expression of love is only one way, and probably the most limited way, to preach the Gospel.
The athlete's I coach are all church goers. But the way they talk about "getting some" all time is absolutely scandalous! I coach them to be virginal. And I use the "V" word. After one of my little "V" word preachings for some reason one of the more knuckleheaded among us asked me what cellphone carrier I used.
When I responded "Virgin Mobil" they all hit the ground at once howling and moaning laughter.
I guess my problem with evangelism has always been how to do it without sounding too fake or forceful. This is why it's so much easier to share with people who know me and are willing to listen, because then I don't worry as much about how I look and sound to them. But how on earth do we witness effectivelty to strangers? I just can't see myself going up to someone I don't know at the bus stop, putting my arm around him and saying "Sir, if you got hit by this bus today, where would you spend eternity?" To me that just seems so...I don't know, cheap? Insincere. Hit-and-run, almost. I just have no clue sometimes what I should be doing, but the desire to share is there, so I guess that's also important.
This is a fantastic post.
Another part of the problem is that Christians are conditioned to think of "evangelism" as "presenting a pre-packaged 'Gospel message' of the plan of salvation in four easy steps." In reality it's much different. The Gospel (good news) is Jesus. Jesus should be the consuming obsession of everything we as Christians do. Opportunities to talk about Jesus, and thus show the Gospel at work in the totality of our being, will come up organically as we really look to Jesus, not to our methods.
This would also be a good time to link to the person who wrote the best things I've ever read on the subject of evangelism (and personally lead tens of thousands of people to the Lord)-- R. A. Torrey.
not sharing the gospel doesn't mean that you hate someone. that is ridiculous and horrible.
it's nothing to do with the person who could receive the gospel, it's the person who could give that information. Christians are all humans, which means we are all imperfect and make mistakes.
even ministers or educated people who are "supposed" to share the gospel mess up. it doesn't mean that they hate that person!!
however, i am understand how urgent it is that we share the gospel. that is the first most important thing. the second one is living your life, having a relationship with God and other people. (because if our lives were all about getting to heaven, then why don't we die right after we receive salvation?)
and don't beat yourself up if you had a chance to share the gospel with someone and didn't do it, or didn't do it right. you may get another chance, and if not, prayer works! it is not an act of hate. i don't think we should take evangelism tips from athiests. we can learn lessons from them, but we should learn from the bible and bible teachers.
Wow. Consider me convicted. However, I do think a balance can be found between making sure to share the gospel and not forcing it on someone who doesn't want to hear it. I think what the guy did to Penn as mentioned in this blog is a good way to go about it... offer it without pushing it. I really should think about how I can do this same thing. Because I should. I feel incredibly selfish and weak now.
Ouch... you make an excellent point.
We are Christ-like or little Christs, as Christians. Jesus loves the sinner. That is the total, all-encompassing story. It is what I present, as well, as I am also, one of those. ...Love, Sande
personally, the best representatives of Christianity i know are the ones who act on their faith, rather than preach it. the best evidence i could ever get that Christianity is the one true faith wouldn't come from a book or a pulpit or the crazies on the 700 Club, but from actually seeing that being Christian improves one's life.
I didn't read any of the actual post.
But in answering your main question -- that is, the title of your article -- my answer is YES.
Hyuck hyuck, Duhr.
Wow! I see an awful lot of opinions about how to and how not to, but I don't think I have seen any scriptures shared about any of this! Shouldn't we be people of the book! Did the early disciples simply live a good life in front of others that they might ask what makes them different? Acts 17:17 Paul saw the idolatry in Athens and disputed with the Jews in the synagogue and with the devout persons and in the market daily. Stephen didn't make friends with the people first, but open air preached, and when the Jews didn't like him telling them plainly that they had murdered the son of God they killed him. Acts 17:22 Paul stood in the midst of Mars hill and open air preached. Read your bible and you will see things were done very differently than we we are hearing on this site.What if a mormon lives a nice life in front of people and are asked what makes you so different? There are a lot of nice mormons, the problem is they are not representing the true and living God. This is why words are essential to preaching. Our good deeds merely support the message, they are not the message!!!!