Do We Care Enough to Share?
“How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?” This was the magician and entertainer Penn Jillette’s words on a YouTube video following a show in Las Vegas several years ago. A man had waited in line to meet the magician after the show, and offered him a Bible from the Gideons with a personal message inside and a way for Jillette to contact him if he wanted to talk more about Jesus.
While Jillette said that the conversation did not change his mind about his atheism, he was clearly taken back by the genuine and good-hearted man talking to him about his faith in Jesus. My reason for bringing this simple video conversation of a magician on YouTube is that we have been given the command to go, to preach, to baptize and to teach people to obey the Lord. Jillette went on to say that it is important for people to get over any thought of social awkwardness about such important issues, and he said he thought this is more important than pushing someone out of the way of an approaching bus. I would agree, and I think those are interesting words from a self-proclaimed atheist.
I want to turn his quote inside out. How much do you love the people in your life that still need to respond to God’s offer for eternal life through his Son Jesus? My guess is that you love them very much. They may be your family member, your good friend, your colleague, your classmate, your teammate or your neighbor. Regardless of the level of closeness, you love them enough that you know they need to hear the message, and you need to pray that they will respond with belief in Jesus and a desire to follow him.
What is it going to take for us to approach people with God’s message of grace and truth?
Have you completed the one-person challenge?
What are the basics we should share? Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection for the payment for our sins.