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Dr. Ray Pritchard is the founder and President of Keep Believing Ministries

For 26 years he has been a pastor, speaker and author of 27 books. Married to Marlene for 35 years, he enjoys being a dad to 3 sons, biking, world travel and playing with Dudley, beloved basset hound.
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Saint Evel

2
Posted by Ray Pritchard on Friday, April 27, 2007 at 4:44 AM

Evel Knievel has become a Christian. That’s right. And when he gave his testimony on the "Hour of Power" broadcast, 400-500 people spontaneously came forward to be baptized. I first read about Evel Knievel’s conversion in this Christianity Today article. For those who are too young to remember his famous motorcycle jumps, check out the Wikipedia article on his colorful, checkered career.
On Palm Sunday, he appeared with Dr. Robert Schuller at the Crystal Cathedral in California. Here is the transcript of his testimony.
It is always easy to be skeptical when a flamboyant sinner claims to have converted to Christianity. After all, besides being a legendary stuntman, Evel Knievel is the consummate salesman. How do we know that this is not another ploy for attention by a man who wants to grab one last moment in the spotlight? The answer is, we don’t. I can’t read his heart. Time will tell if his conversion is genuine. But I think it is. Let me tell you why I came to that conclusion.
First, his testimony sounds like Evel Knievel. I’ve always thought it was a bad thing when new converts are coached to talk about the Lord using "church talk" instead of their own lingo. His testimony is brash and bold, just like the man himself.
Second, he doesn’t try to sugarcoat his sins. He is open about his drug use, his drinking, his gambling and his womanizing. This was all well-documented anyway so there was no reason to cover it up. But to his credit, he owns up to his past.
Third, he makes it clear that it was God’s power that brought him to faith in Jesus Christ. In that regard his testimony reminds me of Paul’s conversion on the road to Tarsus. Here is how he explains it:

So I don’t know what in the world happened. I don’t know if it was the power of the prayer, or of God Himself. But it just reached out either while I was driving, or walking down the sidewalk, or sleeping; and the power of God in Jesus just grabbed me. It just took a hold of me so strong; I can’t tell you how strong it was, and I became a person who was just filled with Christianity. All of a sudden I just believed in Jesus Christ. I did, I believed in Him!

Fourth, it’s obvious that his life has been radically changed by an encounter with Jesus Christ:

I have a God that I can believe in. Isn’t it a wonderful feeling to wake up in the middle of the night and say, well I’m glad I woke up and now I can go back to bed in a few minutes and sleep, but in the meantime I’m going to think about Jesus Christ.

Fifth, he understands that many people will doubt him because of his past.
As I said, time will tell, but if he was going to be saved, this is how it would happen. In the 70s I enjoyed watching him jump those cars and trucks, and I remember watching his abortive attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho. He always put on a good show. Now that he is in the Lord’s camp, I hope that he will do much good for the Kingdom.
Read his testimony and come to your own conclusion. I think he has genuinely met the Lord.

Wouldn’t it be just like God to use a man like Evel Knievel to bring multitudes to Jesus? The worst sinners often make the best saints, and since he qualifies on the sinner part, I think he may do well on the saint part also.

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April 27, 2007, 7:12 AM
Helen says:
I don’t remember ever reading or hearing a testimony so focused on feelings. For example, quoting from it:

Isn’t it a wonderful feeling? Isn’t it a wonderful feeling to say, I have a God that I can believe in, a real God that I can believe in? Isn’t it a wonderful feeling to wake up in the middle of the night and say, well I’m glad I woke up and now I can go back to bed in a few minutes and sleep, but in the meantime I’m going to think about Jesus Christ. It’s such a warm wonderful feeling to me.


I looked for comments about a changed life; this was all I found, which is very nonspecific and quickly gets back to feelings again:
I just…the diamonds, and the gold, and the racehorses, and the women, and the booze. I want to tell you something, I’d been a sinner. You’re looking at a real sinner, but not anymore. You’re not looking at a sinner anymore, and I’ve had everybody…thank you…I’ve had everybody in my family trying to help me. My son and my wife came here today from Montana and Las Vegas, and friends that came to see me and be with me and I’m so happy. This is the biggest step that I have ever taken in my life, Dr. Schuller is right.


I compared this with Zacchaeus’ testimony in the New Testament:

[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

(Luke 19:1-10)


Maybe Zacchaeus also said “I feel so wonderful that Jesus and I are friends! I’m so happy!” We do know he was happy because he welcomed Jesus gladly. However Luke didn’t include that as part of Zacchaeus’ testimony. Luke’s emphasis in the testimony is on Zacchaeus’ immediate pledge to not only stop defrauding people but to pay unnecessarily generous retribution.

We see evidence at least in words, based on a specific pledge, that Zacchaeus is now truly a follower of Jesus. Because he is already behaving like Jesus in being generous like Jesus.

Zacchaeus’ news was also obvious good news to his community in practical ways as well as spiritual ones - he was not going to defraud them any longer.

I’d like to hear more Zacchaeus-style testimonies.

In saying this I don’t mean to judge Evel - he is new to all this. I don’t even know if he’s heard of Zacchaeus yet.

I hope there is someone like Zacchaeus in Evel’s life: someone who, had he been there when Evel was baptized, would have run up to Evel afterwards and said “Awesome, man! So tell me, what’s changed in your life so far? Has Jesus turned your life upside down yet?” And from there, that person, with kindness and wisdom, would have led a conversation about all that being a follower of Jesus entails.

I can’t tell from the testimony whether anyone has had that conversation with Evel yet and that concerns me.
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