By Larry Rosenbaum
Open air preaching, of course, is not a new method of evangelism. We find it throughout the Bible. The Old Testament prophets were essentially street preachers. Noah was called a “preacher of righteousness” as he built an ark, warning the people of God’s impending judgment. Noah is quite an encouragement to me when I don’t see a lot of results from my witnessing. Noah preached God’s Word for up to six hundred years and only his family was saved, yet he was perfectly in God’s will. Then there was Jonah, who went to the Gentile city of Ninevah, warning them of God’s judgment. Jonah had no love for the people he was preaching to, yet the entire city of over 120,000 repented and escaped destruction. Many of the prophets were imprisoned and put to death because their message was unpopular. God told some of the prophets to do some outrageous things to dramatize His Word, such as walking around naked for three years (Isa. 20), and cooking with excrement (Ezek. 4). I’m sure glad we’re living in New Testament times!
Much of Jesus’ ministry was that of a street preacher, as He went from town to town preaching God’s Word in public places. He sent out the 12 and later the 70 disciples to do likewise. Before He ascended to heaven, He told His disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15).
The book of Acts begins with the words of Jesus, “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me . . . unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The rest of the book relates how Peter, Paul, and the other disciples preached God’s Word boldly in public places. They were persecuted, but this did not stop them. After Stephen was killed, “Saul made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and dragging off men and women, putting them in prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word” (Acts 8:3,4). It wasn’t just a few leaders who did the preaching, but the entire church. This is one of the reasons that the early church turned the world “upside down.” They weren’t paying a few pastors and evangelists to hold meet ings inside some buildings, but they were all preaching boldly wherever they went. How we need to do this today!
Considering how much importance is placed on open air preaching in the Bible, it is truly amazing how little of it is done by “Bible-believing” churches today. In most cities and towns in America today, few if any people are preaching in public places!
I witnessed on the streets for about seven years before I began street preaching. When I came to San Francisco, I saw a number of street preachers who would preach at Market and Powell, near the cable car turnaround. Many of them spent a lot of time arguing with one another, calling one another “devils” because they disagreed on some doctrine. Many of these street preachers did not have any regular church involvement. What I saw definitely did not make me want to be a street preacher.
After a few years, I met some other street preachers who joined us for our outreaches. They were good, solid Christians who preached under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the message was strong, emphasizing the holiness of God. At other times it was very gentle, emphasizing God’s love. Several of these preachers encouraged me to start preaching.
I resisted for two reasons: 1) My voice isn’t very loud and 2) I was afraid my mind would go blank while I was preaching. One of the preachers loaned me his megaphone, which took care of my first excuse. The Holy Spirit reminded me how He had always given me words to witness to individuals, and assured me that if I would open my mouth to preach, He would give me the words to speak.
My first street preaching experience was much like my first witnessing experience. I was very nervous but the Lord helped me through it. The next time was a little easier, and now it is not difficult to preach to groups of people. One thing I found is that God has given me a unique style of preaching, and He has me preach in different ways to different groups. I have met many anointed street preachers, each of whom has his own God-given style.
After you have been witnessing for a while, I would encourage you to start preaching. Get a megaphone if necessary. Pray, asking the Lord to give you a message and boldness to preach the message under His anointing. He may give you some scriptures to read. Then–open your mouth and He will fill it.
“For Christ sent me . . . to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect . . God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach ing to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:17-23).We need to understand these verses. Our preaching will look foolish and be rejected by a lot of people. But it is God’s plan to save those who in simple childlike faith will believe the message of the cross. I don’t want to turn people off by a sloppy appearance or by unkind remarks, but I can expect that some people will be turned off by our preaching. In Galatians 5:11, Paul talks about the “offense of the cross.” The only way to avoid offending people is by not preaching the gospel. Unfortunately this is what most Christians do.
If you are obedient to Christ’s command to preach His Word, you can be assured that God’s Word will not return void, but will accomplish the purpose God has intended for it (Isa.55:11). After Stephen was killed, Saul went out to see how many Christians he could throw in jail. But when Jesus appeared to him later, He said, “It is hard for you to kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:5). Saul’s conscience had been bothering him. God had used the preaching of Stephen, as well as the witness of other Christians, in Saul’s life.
In large cities, there are many good places to preach, where a lot of people will hear the message. But even in smaller cities and towns there are good places to preach: on Main Street, at the high school, at a rock concert, parade, or county fair, outside the movie theater, or at a college campus. Street preaching in a small town can be very effective. People have probably never seen this before in their town. You’ll become the talk of the town and may get front page coverage in the local paper! People may make fun of you, but it will show them that you’re serious enough about what you believe to risk the disapproval of others. It just might cause them to take God’s Word seriously.
Satan knows the power of gospel preaching, so he will do anything he can to discourage you from preaching on a consistent basis. You will be attacked, but remember where these attacks are coming from. Satan will even use misguided Christians. They will tell you that you are turning people off, hurting the cause of Christ, and what you are doing is definitely not of God. When you hear these things you need to respond in love, to pray for them, and check your own heart to make sure you are preaching with an attitude of genuine love for the lost. It is easy to allow our own personal frustrations to enter into our preaching, to get angry at people because they don’t seem to be responding. If we preach a strong message, we need to be certain that it is coming from God, not from our flesh. At the same time, do not allow yourself to fall into condemnation, and don’t listen to Satan’s lies.
The Effectiveness of Open Air Preaching
I believe that SOS Ministries has had a tremendous impact on the people of San Francisco and many others from all over the world. We have printed and given out several million gospel tracts. We have trained thousands of Christians in evangelism, many of whom are now witnessing in their own communities. We have personally witnessed to thousands of people. We often receive calls and letters from people who were saved through this ministry. Countless others we will only learn about in heaven. We know God’s Word does not return void and that if we sow abundantly, we will reap an abundant harvest of souls for our Lord.
Last week, I was reading a biography of John and Charles Wesley. These men, along with Whitefield, preached out of doors several times weekly to as many as 25,000 people at one time, without an amplifier! Most churchgoers regarded them as fanatics for preaching outside the church, as they do today. They also often found themselves in the middle of riots, and were stopped from preaching by the police.
As John S. Simon wrote, “If Methodism had not come into contact with the mob it would never have reached the section of the English people which most needed salvation. The `Religious Societies’, shut up in their rooms, would never have reformed the country. It was necessary that a race of heroic men should arise, who would dare to confront the wildest and most brutal men, and tell them the meaning of sin, and show them the Christ of the Cross and of the Judgement Throne. The incessant assaults of the mob on the Methodist preachers showed that they had reached the masses. With a superb courage…the Methodist preachers went again and again, to the places from which they had been driven by violence, until their persistence wore down the antagonism of their assailants. Then, out of the once furious crowd, men and women were gathered whose hearts the Lord had touched.” (The Revival of Religion in the Eighteenth Century)
When we are willing to obey the Great Commission of our Lord and follow in the footsteps of His disciples in the Book of Acts, God will bless our labors and bring forth much fruit.
Overcoming Fear
Last month, I shared from a book I have been reading on John and Charles Wesley and the 18th Century Revival in England. While we sometimes face opposition to our preaching on the streets, it is nothing compared to the persecution they faced. Here are some excerpts from the book concerning one incident:
“Charles preached for three quarters on an hour the next morning. But the mob soon attacked, at first using a hand‑operated pump to cover the Methodists with water. Then they resorted to a larger engine which broke the windows, flooded the rooms and spoiled the goods. We were withdrawn to a small upper‑room, in the back part of the house, seeing no way to escape their violence…One brother they dragged away. They threw him into the horse‑pond and broke his back.”
Continuing from Charles’ journal: “Now we stood in jeopardy every moment. Such threatenings, curses and blasphemies I have never heard….They were now close to us, on every side, and over our heads, untiling the roof. I was diverted by a little girl, who called to me, `Mr. Wesley! Mr. Wesley! creep under the bed: they will kill you. They are pulling down the house.’ Our sister Taylor’s faith was just failing, when a ruffian cried out, `Here they are, behind the curtain!’ At this time we fully expected their appearance, and returned to the furthermost corner of the room…In about an hour after the last general assault the answer of faith came, and God made bare his arm. Soon after three, Mr. Clark knocked at the door, and brought with him the constable. He said, `Sir, if you will promise never to preach here again, the gentleman and I will engage to bring you safely out of town.’ My answer was, `I shall promise no such thing.'”
Finally they were able to leave town on horses, with the mob following. They pulled one brother off his horse, and two bulldogs tore his flesh. He got back on his horse and they rode off, singing the hymn “Worship, and thanks, and blessing.”
Fear of Witnessing
A great many in the church have a fear of witnessing. Our word martyr comes from the Greek word martus meaning witness. Because so many in the early church who witnessed died for their faith, the word witness became associated with death. We are fortunate in America today that we have great freedom to preach the gospel and little danger of physical harm or death for doing so. In twelve years of our outreach in San Francisco involving thousands of Christians, none of us have ever been significantly hurt while witnessing. Yet, it seems that fear of witnessing is even more prevalent here than in places where witnessing often results in death.
It seems to me that our main fear today that keeps us from witnessing is fear of ridicule or rejection. I believe that this is one of the main reasons we do not witness as we know we should‑‑whether at work, to our friends and relatives, to people we meet in everyday life, or in special outreaches.
How do we overcome this fear? The first step is to recognize this as a sin, and come to genuine repentance concerning it. Second, understand that the reason we fear rejection, ridicule, injury or death as a result of obeying God as His witness is because we do not reckon ourselves dead to the world. Finally, we overcome fear of man by trusting in God’s love. Here are a few of the many scriptures relating to this:
“Do not be afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do….Fear not therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God; But he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God” (Luke 12:4‑11).
“If any man come to me, and hate not…his own life…he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung” (Phil. 3:8).
“Fear none of those things which you shall suffer; Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried…be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). “And they over came him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev. 12:11).
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4: 18‑19). “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4).
As we come to know God’s love, and are assured that He is with us and that nothing can come into our life that He does not allow, then we will be freed from the torment of fear and know His peace. “He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:5‑6).
