If you had the cure for cancer, you’d tell people.

Question: How do you reconcile tolerance and evangelizing

Warren: I’m a breast cancer survivor. I’ve had breast cancer and melanoma. If I felt like that . . . And let’s just say I heard that you or someone close to me was diagnosed with cancer, and I felt like that I had something that was going to cure your cancer. I would be a terrible human being if I didn’t at least offer it to you. Now you might decide, “No thank you. That sounds like a really radical thing. I think that’s a quack. I’m not really interested in it.” That wouldn’t change my wanting to be with you and to have a friendship and a relationship with you even though you might decide you didn’t like what I was offering. So I think the same thing applies as in . . . in Christian faith, or evangelizing as you said. I happen to believe that I have . . . not because it’s mine, but because God in His word says, “I want a relationship with every human being.” I know that. And so I would be a terrible human being if I didn’t offer that to you – to at least just say, “Here’s what I found. Here’s the relationship I have. I’d like to introduce you to my friend God. I’ve got my little card here: Kay Warren, friend of God. I’d like to introduce you.” And if you said, “Thank you very much. I appreciate that, but I’m really not interested.” Then I would say, “Okay. But let’s be friends. Hey, can we go to dinner tonight?” You know or, “Would you pick up my mail for me while I’m gone this week on vacation?” It should not affect the level of relationship. But neither should I not tell you what I think is the most important news in the whole world.

Recorded on: 12/11/07