By Larry Rosenbaum
Street preachers are representatives of Jesus Christ to thousands of unsaved people, but unfortunately we do not always represent Him well. I hope the suggestions below will help us all become more effective street preachers.
1. A wise man receives instruction. Often the world of street preachers in one of anarchy, where everyone does what is right in his own eyes and nobody listens to anyone else. First of all, I believe that God would have each of us be part of a home church and be accountable to its leadership. We need to have a teachable spirit, so we can learn from others. Ask other Christians to listen to your preaching and make suggestions as to how you could improve. Try to avoid getting defensive when people ‑‑ Christians or non‑Christians ‑‑ criticize your preaching. Perhaps they have something to say that will help you improve your preaching.
2. More of Jesus, less of me. We need to be careful not to allow our carnal nature to affect our preaching. For example, we may have had a hard day at work, but we don’t want to take our frustrations out on the people we preach to. Or someone on the street may have cursed at us, but we don’t want to respond out of carnal anger.
3. Spend time in one‑on‑one ministry. We need personal contact with unbelievers so we can listen to them and learn to relate better with them. We need to become proficient at listening as well as talking.
4. Preaching is communication. In order to preach effectively, our message must be heard and understood by the people we are preaching to. We need to speak distinctly and present our message in a manner that the people standing around us or walking by can understand. If our audience is moving by rapidly, we need to adjust our message so they can benefit from the short segments of our preaching they can hear. We could be preaching a wonderful message, but people could be walking by so fast they can’t understand what we’re talking about. Ask a Christian to listen to you and let you know if you can be heard distinctly and if you are clearly presenting the gospel.
5. Seek to become all things to all men. We are to consider our audience, using language and speaking of topics they can relate to. We can be contemporary and at the same time speak in a dignified manner, as befits the gospel.
6. Responding in the opposite spirit. If people are argumentative and proud in their reaction to us, we should respond in a gentle, humble manner. Don’t descend to their level. Try to be kind, polite and respectful to those who interrupt and heckle you. If possible, have a Christian with you to talk with people who ask you questions while you’re preaching.
7. When we preach about judgment and Hell, we must do so in an attitude of love towards the people we are speaking to. Avoid any hint of self‑righteousness. Show people that we grieve over their lost condition, as God does, and wish only that they would repent and turn to the Lord. We communicate by our tone of voice as well as our words. Many of the prophets wept as they spoke of God’s judgment, showing their love and God’s love for the people, even as He was about to bring judgment.
8. Stick to the Gospel. Don’t get sidetracked by other issues. Avoid alienating the people you are trying to reach by making controversial statements about peripheral issues. We don’t want people to reject Jesus simply because they disagree with us on views about matters not central to the gospel. Most controversial issues, especially political ones, are not keeping people from salvation and do not need to be dealt with before a person is saved. Keep illustrations brief and non‑controversial, and then bring your message back to the gospel, and the person’s need to make a decision to accept or reject Jesus.
