Penn Jillette, from the Celebrity Apprentice show, atheist illusionist and comedian in LasVegas, made the following statement:
“I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward … How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
Rick Warren asked: What would you do to me if I discovered the polio vaccine but kept it hidden in my basement?
Honestly, why would we try to hide the fact that we are disciples of Christ? It is honorable that we want to hide Jesus until we show him by our deeds. We are called to be a city on a hill. Yet Jesus is not a secret to be kept but a person to be shared.
We are called to be a light to the world, yet we are embarrassed to somehow let others know that we love God.
The forceful cultural pressure makes us water down our beliefs to the point that we don’t hold on to anything higher and brighter than any other faith.
We feel so much better when we conceal our faith.
A study showed that one of the most fundamental reasons for why the youth turn their back to the church is because the church lost her edge. The gospel lost her pull. There is no good news because there is no bad news.
If nobody goes to hell, there is no bad news. If Jesus is not the only way, why bother talking about him? If the church is not exclusively the body of Christ, why bother with it? Why bother reaching out to others if they don’t need to hear our news?
We are tempted to hide. The gospel. Faith. Jesus. God.
Maybe because we don’t see it as the only light. The only good news. If all that the gospel does to someone who receives it is nothing but temporal solace, why bother with sharing it? If the church of Christ is not impacting eternity, why do church?
Why not leave the church? And sadly, that’s what young people are doing.
Are we ready to change?
There are times to hide when we are tempted show.
Read More HERE
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
These are interesting linked posts — sometimes we need to show when we’re tempted to hide, but then hide when we’re tempted to show, when showiness is a temptation. Thank you for highlighting the tension in both show and hide.