While I was in Las Vegas I had a nice conversation with a guy who was street preaching on a soapbox. We talked for a long while and this is some of our conversation. Regardless of your stance on this method of evangelizing, I think this video can be helpful to gain a little more insight, understanding and perspective of others. I also hope that it encourages and inspires us to be sharing our faith more with those who God has placed in our lives; to be unashamed of the Gospel and bold for Christ. Furthermore, I think this video shows that not all open-air preachers are these angry, prideful and hate-filled people that we may often see on the internet. But rather there are people who share the Gospel in the open-air that do bring glory to God through it.... My Thoughts on Street Preaching:
Christians are commanded to evangelize. To share/preach the Gospel (the good news of Jesus Christ) with others. Street preaching is just one of a few Biblical methods and approaches to evangelizing/sharing the Gospel. Jesus did it, Paul did it, Peter, Noah, every Prophet of God was an open-air preacher, the Apostles and so on.
In Mark 16:15 Jesus says to “...go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” The word “preach” comes from the Greek word 'kerusso' which means to publicly proclaim, to declare, to announce, or to herald a message. This is what a street preacher does.
In Matthew 10:27, Jesus speaking "What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops”
Isaiah 58:1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.”
In Luke 14:23 Jesus said “And the Lord said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”
These are just some of the commands that are consistent with what an open-air preacher does.
I know people personally who have come to faith in Christ through a street preacher. If it is done right, it does bear fruit, even if it is merely planting a seed in a person. 1 Corinthians: 6-8 tells us that God is the one who will sovereignly bring about growth in a person through the proclamation of the Gospel when we share and that we may not see the fruit immediately in that very moment. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth...” Even when the apostles and disciples preached, people were turned away and not every single person had ears to hear or came to faith in Christ.
“You do not preach the Gospel by the way you live your life. You PROVE the Gospel by how you live your life, but to preach it you have to open your mouth.” - Jason Cunningham
Be encouraged :)
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