Friday, September 12, 2008
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Street Preaching- Effective Way to Share the Gospel and Faith?
Being on a large university campus, from time to time I pass street preachers. (you know, those guys who stand in the middle of where everyone walks and tells them that if they don't repent now, they'll go to hell.) Anyway, I've always wanted to stop and talk to one of them, but never do. (I'm not sure if it is due to me not wanting to be associated with them or that I just think they are really strange.) Jesus preached to the people in public places, but He also built relationships with people. However, I'm not sure if Jesus told them they were going to hell if they didn't repent.
Whatever it may be, I've often wondered if what the street preachers do is effective or if it's just annoying. I am a firm believer in the whole building relationships with people before sharing the full gospel with them idea. I know that the street preachers mean well, but sometimes I wonder if what they're doing is not out of love, but more out of condemnation. My reasoning for that is I feel they are not giving non-believers an opportunity to really try and understand the gospel. In a way, it seems to me that they are condemning them because once a person hears about Jesus and rejects it, they will have no excuse once judgment day arrives. At the same time, it is true that we all have free will to choose.
Point is, I'd like for those street preachers to instead of telling people that they'll go to hell if they don't repent, to actually tell people about Jesus and the way He lived to serve and love others. I guess perhaps I'm split on this subject and haven't really decided whether or not street preaching is effective. In any event, it's not up to me whether or not it's effective and ultimately only God has the power to change lives.
How do you view street preaching?
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Comments (87)
I think, if done properly, it can be an effective tool. You have to give people both the law and grace. If you only give them the law, then you're not doing any good. If you only give them grace, they won't understand why they need it. There is a guy in California named Patrick Ersig who does street preaching on Skid Row. He has some videos on Youtube you might be interested in.
In an extremely distrusting culture like our own, we believe everyone is trying to take advantage of us. We think everyone is trying to sell us something. Everyone is trying to use us. At one time, we trust people until they proved otherwise. Now, we distrust people until they prove trustworthy. This is especially true for younger people. As a result, street preaching simply isn't effective. There's nothing wrong with it if it communicates the gospel, but we need to realize it isn't a culturally effective way to share the gospel. It may work sometimes, and in some cultures it still may be an effective way to share the gospel. But in the United States, it probably isn't.
In a culture of distrust, the best way to share the gospel is to invest in relationships. When people realize you care about them and aren't 'using' them to get a convert, they'll be more open to hearing what you have to say.
I disagree with it in our culture specifically. I'm can't recall if Jesus did, but John the Baptist called out "Repent", and Jesus did do similar things, though He mostly spoke to people in parables. But I think that was a completely different time and different type of people...in our culture and in a lot of places in the world today people are pretty informed, and this kind of evangelism is not affective. One thing that makes it really unaffective is that often the people doing this come off as harsh or self-righteous, and therefore completely unappealing to someone who does not know the truth. I was with a group of people once and we passed by one of these street preachers, and we asked him if he felt like what he was doing was affective, or if he had ever tried just talking one on one to people. He said that most people don't really respond to what he says but he believed he was supposed to do it and trust that they would think about it...I highly doubt that's what people were doing, but anyway...I think there are much more effective ways to evangelize and often this form is not effective.
I think street preaching is great. You can plant a seed even if you don't reap the harvest. You put the words out there in someones ears. It may be another step in the right direction for someone and might bring them to the Lord. I really love how Kirk Cameron does it.
I think if the person doing the preaching is a skilled communicator, able to come across as friendly and intelligent, and if they are a spiritually gifted evangelist, willing to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, then it can be very effective. I've seen it done under these conditions, with very positive results.
If you don't have those two qualifications, then please do us all a favor and don't try to evangelize in public until you get them. Especially not with a bullhorn and a homemade sign. That's just embarrassing.
I have a friend who is highly unusual. He once felt like God was leading him to preach down at the beach. He did, and two people were saved.
Normally I think it's not a great idea, but when it's God-led, He can make things happen.
I really can't stand street preaching. I'm very religious, and I'm loyal to my faith more than anything, but I'm also a college student. I don't like the street preachers who plant themselves on my school's property and start shouting about how we're all damned unless we listen to their word.
It's one thing to preach respectably. It's another to attack people with your preaching. You have no idea what religion these people are. You have no idea if what you say offends them. It seems kind of dangerous to me, but that's just my take on it.
@Nieblung@xanga - That was one of the most ignorant comments I've seen on Xanga.
I prefer way of the master's efforts. I like how they put the burden on the unbeliever that they're living ok and can justify themselves as a good person in a way that doesn't come off as harsh or ridiculing, but as honest and genuine.
@Power_Ranger_Freak@xanga - that's the key: if done effectively. If done effectively, it's wonderful. I respect street preachers who go out and share the Gospel that way. That takes a lot of faith. And knowledge of the Word.
Also when it comes to street preaching and preaching "repent or go to Hell", they should EXPLAIN why that's so. Without that, they'll just look like a religious nut; instead of a religious nut who knows that if someone is proud in his own self-righteousness, then he may not be ready for the Gospel. The Holy Spirit would need to break him more, and make him more perceptive (to the Gospel) before then. I think Way of the Master says it best: "Law to the Proud, Grace to the Humble."
I recently wrote a post explaining my encounter with Brother Jeb, who some college students may have met as well. All he seems to do is scare people from Christianity.
Not a single street preacher I've ever met has said or done one thing that has made me consider that, based on his model, Christianity is a positive thing. In fact, if I were to judge Christianity based on these people, I'd have to assume that they were all violent, bigoted, myopic idiots.
One of the preachers on my campus actually attacked two Somali girls with a copy of the Qur'an! How does that help his message?
Street preaching is very VERY bad imo. Thanks to those heathens that preached in the streets at WVU, proclaming that everyone, including me, will go to hell if they don't repent, made my life and everybody at the campus ministries harder. How can we witness when there was someone, that made the college folks here feel bad, insecure, and plain out horrible. How can we expect people to act like Christians if they aren't in the first place? I feel very sadden at the hurt that these students felt when a so called one of my own brothers accused them of burning in hell. The only one in the Bible that did that was Jesus, he had the authority to, since he was sent from God to teach. We are not Jesus, nor do we have the authority to judge like he did. Street preaching imo, is done by pride of yourself, thinking of preaching YOUR type of gospel and shoving that opinion down others that don't want it. If you want a genuine street preaching, take ours for example. We stand out on a busy party street on friday night and pass out pancakes. FREE pancakes! people ask what or why are we doing this, and we tell them b/c Jesus told us to. some ask, some dont... but the point is.. THAT is real seed planting there, not some bullcrap ur going to hell, thats just digging out the seed and keeping it to urself.
and to Neiblung, I'm sorry you see us this way and if you were hurt by those nincompoops out on the street, i'm also sorry that we portray ourselves as that. I just hope for forgiveness
@GodlessLiberal@xanga - Qur'ran... thats by muslims... not christians :P.. u know.. the same muslims that are taught if they are a martyr of faith (ie. blowing themselves up at a marketplace) they go to heaven w/ a set number of virgins...
I have seen a LOT of ineffective street preaching. One man stood on a corner with a group of prostitutes and hollered about fornication and all sorts of other things until he got tired or they left.
Another was droning on and on, reading the Bible over a loudspeaker in a monotonous voice.
One man was yelling about sin and hellfire.
SO INEFFECTIVE! The coolest streat preacher I have ever seen was a woman sitting on the ground barefoot wearing all white. Very ascetic. She sat there reading and when someone would walk by she'd smile and say hi. When I walked past, someone was asking her why she was there and i heard her say "God is my rock" and that was all I heard. But that struck me so much more than someone yelling about hell and damnation.
Honestly, I don't think screaming and shouting on the street that we're all going to hell if we don't believe or if we're damned in this wicked world -- it really discourages the person not to come to Christ.
If effective street preaching, it should be one to one (or two)... and really prayer is essential right on the spot to give us courage to spread the gospel and to plant that person's heart to come to know Christ.
@Power_Ranger_Freak@xanga - "I think, if done properly, it can be an effective tool. You have to give people both the law and grace. If you only give them the law, then you're not doing any good. If you only give them grace, they won't understand why they need it."
kudos! power ranger freak's absolutely right.
i think that, when telling non-Christians they'll just go to hell, it tends to drive them away. but if you relate to them with simple things, such as the manner in which you go through your morning rituals or similar tastes in music, and then try to bring them to God, it may be more effective.
:] nice post.
@Power_Ranger_Freak@xanga - Right, we need to preach the law and grace. We need to preach the law to show people that they are helpless to keep it, to save themselves, that our righteousness is filthy rags. Only then will people come to see their need for God's grace in Jesus Christ and run to the cross.
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miss magnolia wrote: "However, I'm not sure if Jesus told them they were going to hell if they didn't repent."
A couple instances where Jesus did tell people just that:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ...41 Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels...46. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Matthew 25:31-33; 41, 46.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:14-19
I think the problem with some street preachers is that they may preach with a "holier than thou attitude" and forget that they too are saved only by the grace of God. As we speak of the Gospel we must remain humble, but it's too easy for us to slip into a wrong attitude. We have to remember that when we were powerless, Christ died for us–that we were saved by God's grace alone (Rom. 5:6; Eph. 2:1-9).
I talked to some street preachers once. They told me that they had been doing it for 12 years and I asked them how many people came to their church from it. The answer. Zero! That's 0 in 12 years.
@bamfness__xx@xanga
- @Nieblung@xanga -
kinko what bamfness__xx says.
nieblung, though some people may be criticizing you for your choice in where you stand religiously, the Christians who are true to their faith will not contradict you for your beliefs. so please dont contradict us for ours, and for crying out loud, "hopefully the world will get so tired of Christians soon as they got tired of the nazis." ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! that was unneccessary.
this is a christian blog site. you're offending us for the life we have chosen. if all you have to say is things that will bash our religious decision, please don't post.
I'm all for street preaching. I've seen many lives changed b/c of it (those listening to the preacher, and those actually doing the preaching).
Did you know that Jesus talked more about hell than he did heaven???
Building a relationship with someone is great, but I don't have to be friends with someone for 6 months before I tell them about Jesus.
You may not like it when some street preachers tell ppl that they need to repent or they will spend eternity in hell, but it IS the truth. People need to know the truth. Not everyone knows that there's a hell...not everyone knows that they need to repent...not everyone knows that it even MEANS to repent. Someone has to tell them.
@shane_y2@xanga - Yes, I know the Qur'an is the text of the Muslim faith, that didn't stop the preacher from grabbing it and hitting women with it.
Not all street preachers .... "stand in the middle of where everyone walks and tells them that if they don't repent now, they'll go to hell." I went to Penn State and the guy there often speaks like that and insults people by yelling that they are sinners. That has always bothered me. A friend of mine who was an atheist at the time started listening to him, became his friend, and later believed b/c of this man though.
My pastor preaches on a campus near us and he never says anything other than the gospel: Jesus Christ is God the Son who came as a man because of His great love for us, died for our sins, rose again bodily from the dead, and is the promised Messiah. He also spends lots of time talking with individuals on campus and having dialogue back and forth.
I think that street preaching can be effective in getting the message of grace out to many people, but that it should be done in a biblical way. Repent or you will go to hell is not the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ given for us to proclaim in love today.
@GodlessLiberal@xanga - huh... thats weird..
I think street preaching is great! The people I know that do it have a lot of guts and definetly fire in the belly and I think that is a wonderful thing. Some of the best preaching I ever heard was done on the street.
i'm a street preacher.
do you want my phone number, i'll talk to you.