Penn on Proselytizing

// December 19th, 2008 // Christian Living, Video

Here is Penn (from Penn & Teller) talking about an encounter he had with a Christian after one of his shows. Penn is an atheist.

Link to Embedded Video

I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, and you think, ‘Well, it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward’… How much do you have to hate somebody not to proselytize?

I’d say he has a point. I’d also say that the christian that gave him the Bible has guts. Serious guts. First, he had to have enough of a Biblical world view as to not be intimidated by celebrity or atheism. Second, he had to have a soft heart so that he could respond to the urging of the Holy Spirit to follow through. Remember, he had to plan ahead and come a second night, buy another ticket and wait for Penn after the show.

What’s missing in most of us that we cannot see ourselves doing this?

Hat tip to Ed Stetzer

4 Responses to “Penn on Proselytizing”

Chip says:

December 22, 2008 at 10:38 pm

Ben, I loved this post – it really rocked me and made me think about the people I'm not talking to about the Lord. When Penn said “You must hate someone not to tell them if you think they're going to hell” (or something like that), I was absolutely amazed by his perspective. Yes, this Christian that witnessed to Penn is quite an example. I wonder if it was really a “Gideon” bible as Penn says or if that's just what Penn, who probably spends a lot of time in hotels, refers to little bibles as.
Again, thanks for sharing this.

Ben Cotten says:

January 1, 2009 at 7:50 am

Glad you liked it. It rocked me too. I realized that I have bought into some of the "tolerance" speak in our culture and allowed it to soften my view of the gospel in some ways.

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