By Larry Rosenbaum
When most of us hear the word “evangelist” we immediately think of someone like Billy Graham who holds large crusades and leads lots of people to Christ. While this is one function of the evangelist, he also has another important function. Ephesians 4 says that God gave evangelists “to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.”
Not every Christian is an evangelist, but every Christian is called to witness for Christ. The evangelist is supposed to help train believers to witness for the Lord. When I go out on the streets to witness, only certain people will respond. Some people can’t relate to me because I’m too old or too young, they don’t like the way I look or talk, or for any number of reasons. Even though the message is the same, God uses a wide variety of messengers and approaches to reach different people. So we need a lot of workers with a variety of witnessing styles and personalities to reach different people on the streets.
Many people are saved at mass meetings, such as Billy Graham crusades. Others won’t go near an evangelistic crusade. Many people are saved by watching Christian television. Others can’t stand “TV preachers.” Many people are saved by the witness of Christian friends or relatives. Others don’t have any Christian friends or relatives, or won’t receive their witness. Some people will not talk to strangers. Others will open up to a stranger on the street, but not to their friends or relatives. We need to reach people for Jesus through every possible means.
Jesus said, “The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few.” By myself, I can witness to a few people. If I can recruit and train other laborers, I can multiply my ministry. God showed me that He wants to use this book to help train workers to start street ministries in cities and towns throughout the country, and in other countries.
While there are many Christians in the United States, very few are actively witnessing for the Lord. Many people in this country are turning away from God, especially young people, and getting involved in drugs and sexual immorality, among other things. In other countries, the needs are even greater. There are many groups of people throughout the world that have no Christian witness at all. It is my hope that God will use this book to encourage Christians to go into all the world with His Word. Even in the United States, we can witness to people from every nation on the earth. As these people are saved, many will take the gospel to their homelands.
Usually, there are a few people in each church who are eager to witness. Often these are people God has called to be evangelists. God has placed evangelists in each church, not only to witness, but to equip and encourage other believers in the church to witness. Frequently, these evangelistically‑oriented Christians are frustrated by the lack of interest in evangelism by others in their church.
How do we get people in our church interested in witnessing? Let me give a few suggestions.
First, pray for the people in your church, especially your pastor. Ask God to give these people a burden for the lost. Pray that He would send forth laborers into the harvest out of your church. Pray that your pastor would encourage people in your church to get involved in street ministry, and that he would be involved himself. Persevere in prayer. Keep praying that God would move in the lives of people in your church.
Second, try to get the support of your pastor. In the Bible, people are often compared to sheep. They follow their leader. Your pastor may not be an evangelist, but if he believes in the importance of evangelism, if he encourages those in his church to witness, and especially if he sets an example for his flock by participating in street ministry himself, many of the “sheep” will follow. There are a few churches in the San Francisco area in which a large portion of the believers are involved in evangelism. In almost every case, the pastor is very supportive of street witnessing, and joins the group occasionally.
Go to your pastor and tell him about the street ministry you are involved in. Ask his help in getting others in the church involved. He may give you an opportunity to speak about the ministry during a service, or to give testimonies of what has happened on the street from time to time. Also, he will probably allow you to put an announcement in your church bulletin. He may give you an opportunity to teach a class on street witnessing.
People will listen to what your pastor says and does more than they will listen to you. Ask him if he would announce the street witnessing and really encourage people to get involved. Ask him if he would be willing to join you occasionally, perhaps once a month. If he announces the street ministry, says that he believes that it is an important ministry, and that he will be there this Saturday (or whenever), you will probably get a good turnout from your church.
Third, get your church involved in follow‑up. Find some people in your church who have a burden to follow up on new believers and give them names, addresses, and phone numbers of people who have received Christ or shown an interest in Him on the streets. As they minister to these people, and as some of the new believers start coming to your church, people will see that street witnessing is an effective ministry and they will start getting a burden for these people, and others like them who need the Lord. As they talk to some confused teenager who comes from a broken home and is addicted to drugs, God will give them love for the many people who are caught up in such lifestyles.
Fourth, be positive. Most Christians know that they should be witnessing more than they do, and already feel guilty about it. Usually, this guilt is not sufficient to get them to witness. If you are constantly reminding people of how they should be witnessing more, and of all the people going to hell while they are watching TV, they will avoid you and not listen to what you say. Occasionally, we do need to speak of these things, but mostly we need to relate the exciting things that happened on the streets. Talk about the people who get saved, or respond positively. Let them know how you have grown spiritually from your involvement in street ministry. Avoid talking about persecution and negative responses as it tends to scare people off. When you’re actually getting persecuted, God gives you great joy. But those who have never witnessed don’t know this.
Fifth, get the new believers in your church out on the They’re excited about the Lord and want to tell others about what they’ve experienced. With a little instruction, they can be very effective witnessers. Often, new believers lead more people to Christ than more mature Christians do. Their Christian experience is fresh and exciting, as ours should be. They are filled with the joy of the Lord and they still remember how to relate to unbelievers. They read about Jesus’ command to preach the gospel to every creature and they naturally want to obey. Be sure that they witness with a mature believer, and be careful that they are not drawn back into their old lifestyle. In San Francisco, we have had a real problem with ex‑homosexuals witnessing in homosexual neighborhoods. This could also be a problem with ex‑alcoholics, ex‑pornography addicts, etc.
Finally, don’t get discouraged. Few things are more difficult than getting Christians involved in street evangelism. Many people have attended their church for many years without hearing that they should witness on the streets or seeing anyone from their church participate in street evangelism. They may have seen a street preacher who looked like a wild fanatic. They may think that America is already well‑evangelized with Christian TV and radio, evangelistic crusades, and churches in every neighborhood. They hear about all the world`s problems through TV and newspapers, but it doesn’t hit home (unless they learn that their son or daughter is on drugs, or is a homosexual).
It has been said that the last seven words of a dying church are: “We never did it this way before.” As Christians, we tend to get set in our ways. But things in your church can change with prayer, persistence, gentle persuasion, and hopefully the support of your pastor.
One of the greatest enemies of the church is our material wealth. When we get comfortable, our prayer life becomes less intense. Society will accept us as long as we don’t “rock the boat” by witnessing too much. It may take persecution to stir up the church in America. We need to pray for spiritual revival and do all we can to encourage our brethren to become true disciples of the Lord. We need to set a good example ourselves. We must be on our guard not to get caught up in worldly cares and desires. Be sure to exhort others with love and humility, not self‑ righteousness.
