For those unfamiliar with the practice, street evangelism includes; open air preaching, book tables in public places, giving out tracts, leaflets or books, and one to one conversations. The goal is to share the Christian message with those who either haven’t heard it, or who don’t yet believe that it’s true.
You might think that any real Christian would think this was a great idea and would jump at the chance to be involved. Sadly, this is often not the case as people, usually due to fear, make excuses of one sort or another, or even suggest that Christians shouldn’t be doing this type of evangelism in the twenty-first century.
There is a general move away from the more direct approach towards what some would term “friendship evangelism.” This is something that Christians should also be doing as they engage with colleagues, neighbours and friends that they meet at school, work and home. However, if churches want to reach their whole communities with the Gospel, they need to be encouraging their members to get involved in both relationship building and street evangelism.
Rather than focusing on the negative. I thought it would be good to look at the reasons to support, pray for and get involved in this vital work:
1. Jesus and His disciples did it- This is the most obvious reason as I’ve yet to meet a Christian who believes they shouldn’t try to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. They regularly went into the open air preaching and engaging one to one with non-believers.
2. Obedience to the Bible- There are clear commands in the Bible to go out into the world and preach the Gospel to every person. The vast majority of Christians acknowledge that these commands apply to all believers and not just to the disciples whom Jesus was addressing.
3. Decline in church attendance- There are many people that will never set foot in a church and who would decline all invitations to a Christian event. If we stay in our churches we are failing to reach a huge swathe of the population with the saving message that they need to hear. We can invite people to our churches personally after meeting them in the street and seek to reassure them that they won’t be forced to sing a solo, or hug everybody, or whatever else it is that people fear when coming to church. We can arrange to accompany them or collect them to make it all seem less frightening. It’s a massive deal to go into a church for the first time and we need to be easing the way.
4. Compassion for lost souls- If we really believe people are heading for an eternity in either Heaven or Hell we would do whatever we could to reach them. There is a sense in which the urgency of the message is communicated by the fact that we are out on the street in all weathers, unpaid and not selling anything. People often ask, why do you do this? Even if they are not initially interested in the message, our presence will at least make them think about it.
5. Increasing visibility of our churches in the community- Street evangelism should always be linked to a local partner church so that people who are interested can be properly followed up. A visible presence provides details of a local church for people seeking and a friendly face that they’ve already met if they decide to come to church.
6. Brings conviction of conscience- There is a sense in which being repeatedly reminded of the Christian message week in and week out works on the conscience over a period of time. It restrains sin in the same way that people may seek to avoid swearing in the presence of a believer. People are reminded that there are still many out there who believe the Christian message. Someone else’s sincere belief cannot fail to have an impact. Not everyone has been swept away in a wave of atheism. These people are not all oddballs, in fact they look pretty normal!
7. If we don’t use it, we’ll lose it- The right to preach on the streets and share the Gospel with the public shouldn’t be taken for granted. The right to free speech is gradually being eroded and if we don’t take advantage of the opportunity, we can be sure laws will be created to remove the right completely. We have been temporarily shut down in several places already this year.
8. Our streets are increasingly ethnically diverse- There are multiple nationalities and followers of other religions in our country. Many wouldn’t think of entering a church and might be in danger if they were to do so. We can speak to them in the street and pass on literature in their own language. We have easy access to people from countries where following Christianity is illegal. In the past, reaching these people would have involved sending missionaries at great expense and danger.
9. Encourages other Christians/churches- Christians often tell us they are encouraged by our witness in the street. Some don’t realise that it is still legal! Engaging in this type of evangelism as a church family can bring church members closer together with a shared purpose. It also allows as many members as possible to be involved in the Great Commission knowing that they are not alone.
10. It works!- There are Christians in our churches who have a testimony that they were saved on hearing the Gospel message through a street preacher, conversation in the street, or a tract or book that they read. We must remember that we are totally reliant on God to work in the hearts of those we are seeking to reach, but we can be sure that He will as He promises that His Word doesn't return to Him empty and He has chosen the method for us to use. We can be confident when sharing the Gospel on the streets that God is with us and will use us for His glory.
I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons, but these came to mind.
Could you get involved or ask your church leader to organise something? In the UK, organisations like The Open Air Mission, United Beach Missions and Outreach UK offer opportunities and training for individuals and churches.
Let’s get out on the streets this Christmas and remind people what they are celebrating!
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3 vs 16
