Tonight, as I do quite often, I taught the high school students at Youth Group. The lesson itself was on the basic Gospel message. After trying to summarize the story and importance of Jesus, I brought up Acts 2:38, where Peter shares a simple message of what to do after hearing and believing this story of Jesus. We talked about belief, repentance, baptism, and living for Jesus. Then, I brought up the idea that we should be sharing this incredibly important message with others.
Earlier today, as I was practicing and doing some last-minute tweaks of the lesson, this video came to mind, and I ended up showing it at the end of the lesson. It is three year-old video blog by Penn Jillette, a comedian and magician mostly known for his part in the duo of Penn & Teller. Penn is a self-proclaimed athiest, meaning that he does not believe in any sort of god, and he also is of the opinion that all religion is bad. While Penn and I would have some disagreements about God, I found this particular video extremely challenging. He describes a time when a fan gave him a Bible after a show.
I think it is great that Penn shows respect toward this guy. The statement that stands out the most to me, though, is the one where he says,
“If you believe that there is a heaven and 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 to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
Wow! I only pray that this challenged our high school students (and possibly you, reader) as much as it has challenged. me. Further, I pray that I will actually do something with it instead of just thinking about it and letting it sit. I mean, how many people have I not told about Jesus, and in turn, denied them not only the opportunity to have eternal life , but also a better life here on earth? Let’s do a better job, church. Jesus commands that we do a better job!
Steve Cullum 