Penn Jillette thinks you should share the gospel

This is What Happens When an Atheist Thinks You Should Evangelize [video]

Peter Guirguis Online Evangelism, Video 11 Comments

Have you ever heard of Penn and Teller? They are two guys who have a famous magic show based out of Las Vegas. You may have seen them also on TV or on one of their YouTube videos, they are pretty popular.

One of these guys, Penn Jillette, is a well-known and outspoken atheist. So what happens when a Christian business man witnesses to Penn after one of his shows in Las Vegas?

Well, check it out for yourself.

Even Penn Thinks You Should Share the Gospel

My favorite part of the YouTube video is when Penn gives the analogy of the truck. He says, if you were standing next to Penn in the street and didn’t believe that a truck was going to hit you, then there would be a certain point when Penn would tackle you to get you out of harms way.

This is what he had to say:

[sws_blockquote_endquote align=”” cite=”-Penn Jillette” quotestyle=”style02″] I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. If you believe that there is a heaven or hell, or that people could be going to hell, or not get eternal life, and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward…and atheists think people shouldn’t proselytize, just keep religion to yourself… 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? [/sws_blockquote_endquote]

Let me remind you that these words are coming from an atheist!

So if an atheist thinks that you should be tackling people left and right to warn them of the truck of death that is coming their way, then would you be willing to overcome your fear of social awkwardness?

Are you willing to fight against your fear of rejection using your sword of faith?

That’s the way most of us feel here at the Not Ashamed of the Gospel community. We’re going through a series on how to share your faith and this is the second post in the series. Last week, I shared with you an embarrassing story about how I was an evangelistic chicken.

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[photo background credit: Jaret Benson]

Comments 11

  1. I think that the fact that the man was polite and respectful is very important. The Bible tells us that the Gospel will be offensive to some, but that doesn’t mean we should be offensive. We need to remember that it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict people of sin and to draw them to Christ. Our job, to use Penn Jillette’s analogy, is to warn people that a truck is coming. The man in Penn’s story did his part, the rest is up to the Holy Spirit.

    1. And then there’s the fable of the boy who cried wolf…Sometime if you keep yammering the same message you just get ignored.

        1. I am living proof of that. I was formerly an agnostic. I believed there was a God, but that when we died, that was it. Our bodies were put into the ground, and we were no more. Most of my family and friends knew that. I even mocked people who prayed because I thought it was a waste. I didn’t think God cared enough to pay attention.
          Then, my ex-husband found work on the other side of the country. He went ahead of us to find housing. In the few days before my children and I boarded a plane to California, six family members and friends told me to be sure to find a good church out there. This puzzled me because they knew I didn’t want anything to do with God or church.
          Well, God knew He needed to get me away from my old lifestyle. I was alone out there (other than my immediate family). I happened to come across TBN on TV. God used Christian Television and one person’s testimony to break through my hardened heart and my unbelief. There were seeds planted over the first 28 years of my life, and then, the harvest busted through.
          I thank God and all those who cared enough to reach out to me–even though I rudely rejected them. Now, when I feel led to witness or minister, I reach out by faith and not by what I see or hear. No matter how someone reacts, I know the Holy Spirit is working.

          1. Wow, that is such an amazing testimony Kaye! All of this time that you and I have been tweeting on Twitter and I just now find out how you came to the Lord, that is just too cool 🙂

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  3. Thanks for sharing this!! I stumbled on your blog because I was searching for evangelism tips. You see quite recently, God has really been putting a burden onto me to share the gospel to strangers around me and even more recently to share the gospel on my bus commute, like stand up and share it to the whole bus kind of thing, like “Open air preaching” style. i kept telling myself that it can’t be God because that might be considered disruptive behaviour. and as God would have it I witnessed a man share the gospel yesterday to the whole bus and when the sinners prayer came about a lady on the buse started praying along with him under her breath and she was crying! it was amazing to witness that his 10mins of sharing the gospel with the Holy Spirit working, brought her to know the Lord and gave her eternal life! and so now I am really conflicted because I am overjoyed that my inclinations to share the gospel with random strangers haven’t been in my head, but I am sooooooooooooooooooooo afraid about it. i think about it all day and keep feeling lilke I am doing an injustice to so many people by not telling them about the truth of death and life. So yea please if you are reading this, keep my in your prayers, that I would stop caring about what people will think about me, accept that i may be rejected when I share the gospel I (probably will, i mean they rejected Jesus and he did signs and wonders, much less so me…). anyways, I want people to know the truth, i cant bare it that they might have never heard the gospel. I asked to pray with a classmate the other day about her essay that was giving her problems (i didnt know her stance on what she believes about GOd) but she was so grateful and told me that NO ONE has ever prayed with her in her life ! Imagine that! anyways, I encourage you all, lets cry out to God for more boldness to share the truth and joy which He has so graciously made known to us 🙂

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