Why Won't We Witness?

I saw this video a while back and it got me to thinking (and not just because it mentions my name)...
A Letter From Hell
I feel that as a whole, the church in America has forgotten to and how to witness. When I look at other parts of the world where the church is booming such as East Asia, Africa, and the Middle East I wonder how the church is able to grow that rapidly with all of the persecution that occurs there while the church here is indeed growing, but nowhere near the rate as it is in other parts of the world. It seems kind of ironic that where we have religious freedom we have become apathetic and scared regarding witnessing, but where people can be put to death for believing in Christ they view witnessing as an essential part of daily life. How have we become this way? Though I am certainly no anthropologist, after thinking about it for a while I think that these are a few of the reasons:

1) Materialism - Here in North America, people have definately been blessed materially. However, I believe that people have grown content and comfortable with their possessions. They receive a sense of security through things. To be frank, people in other countries typically don't have as much as we do over here and I think this causes them to act as if they have nothing to lose, while we act as if witnessing will cause us to lose everything.

2) A passiveness about where others spend eternity - We have become perfectly content with where things are at now. We think that if God wants somebody to be saved that they will find a way somehow, while we do nothing to help. I don't understand how people can do this. These are our brothers, sisters, coworkers, neighbors, parents, and friends we are talking about, and yet we care nothing about where these people will spend eternity.

3) Fear - We have become afraid of what others will say or think about us. We've become afraid that someone might not like us anymore, that we'll offend someone, or that we'll be made fun of. How have we gotten to the point that we have become so self-absorbed that we care more about our own temporary comfort rather than others' eternal destiny?

4) The "I witness through the way I live" excuse - Yes, we are supposed to live a Godly lifestyle. But if one looks at Jesus' life, He not only lived in a God pleasing way, but He actively witnessed as well. Everywhere Christ went He was telling others about how they could be reconciled with God. What would have happened had He just went through His life completely silent regarding the matter as many of us are doing today? I feel that this is nothing more than an excuse to get one's self out of some potentially uncomfortable situations.

5) The "I don't know how/am not trained enough" excuse - Many people will quickly give this as an excuse as to why they will not or don't witness. We in America have been blessed with religious freedom and many, though certainly not all, have been going to church for a very long time, if not a majority of our life. After this much time as a Christian and this much time in church, Bible studies, weekend retreats, personal devotions, etc. how are you not prepared to share the Gospel? If you compare yourself with many Christians in places such as the Middle East who have just come to Christ, how is it that they are willing to share their faith with others immediately though they certainly do not have near the amount of training that the majority of us have today?

These are only a few (I ended up counting 10, I might post the rest later...) of what I believe to be some of the reasons that the church in America has forgotten/forsaken the command to actively witness. I believe that we can certainly do much better than we are now. It is my prayer that God would open up the eyes of believers throughout America and cause them to see people through Christ's eyes. By seeing people in this way it becomes impossible to not desire to do something to reach out to the people whom surround us. May God open our eyes and put a passion in our hearts to reach the lost.