How Much Do You Have to Hate to Not Evangelize?...Continued from page 8

The Gift of a Bible

Now some might think, But what if I turn them off? What if they react negatively? This seems to be the arresting fear of our day. Those actually engaged in the effort are among the first to witness to its spurious assumptions. Most people—even the most hardened of skeptics—respond positively to a winsome and compelling witness. Penn Jillette is the talkative half of Penn and Teller, the Las Vegas comedy-illusion team, now with their own program on cable TV. Penn is an outspoken atheist. But he posted a video blog on his personal website about a man who gave him a Bible, which has much to teach Christians:

At the end of the show . . . we go out and we talk to folks, . . . sign an occasional autograph and shake hands. . . . [T]here was one guy waiting over to the side . . . [a]nd he walked over to me and he said, "I was here last night at the show, and I saw the show and I liked the show. . . ."

He was very complimentary. . . . And then he said, "I brought this for you," and he handed me a Gideon pocket edition. I thought it said from the New Testament. . . . And he said, "I wrote in the front of it, and I wanted you to have this. I'm kind of proselytizing."

And then he said, "I'm a business man. I'm sane. I'm not crazy." And he looked me right in the eye and did all of this. And it was really wonderful. I believe he knew that I was an atheist. But he was not defensive. . . . He was really kind and nice and sane and looked me in the eyes and talked to me, and then gave me this Bible.

And I've always said that I don't respect people who don't proselytize. I don't respect that at all. If you believe that there is a heaven and hell and that people could be going to hell . . . How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?

How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? And that's all I want to say.

Perhaps, that's all we need to hear.

[Editor's note: This excerpt taken from chapter 4 of Christ Among Dragons: Finding Our Way Through Cultural Challenges by James Emery White. Copyright ©2010 by James Emery White. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press PO Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515. www.ivpress.com.]