Why is it that many Christians are opposed to open air/street preaching? Some common objections are, “We should not shove the truth down anyone’s throat like that,” “We should be careful not to be ‘Bible bashers’,” “It is unloving to yell at people we don’t know,” “It will only turn people off and away from the Lord.” Two principle reasons why many Christians are against open air/street preaching are:
One, they have seen bad examples of preachers on street corners who preach nothing but condemnation and never preach the love and cross of Jesus Christ.
Two, they have been influenced by a popular teaching that says Christians should befriend someone for a long period of time before they can effectively share the gospel with them (a.k.a. “Friendship Evangelism”)
In this brief sketch I would like for us look at some Scriptures which speak on the subject at hand, beginning with the Old Testament.
Proverbs 1:20-21 declares, “Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings”
I would like to point out a few Old Testament prophets who clearly seem to have been open air/street preachers:
Isaiah was an open air/street preacher.
In Isaiah 58:1 the Lord says to Isaiah, “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.”
Jeremiah was an open air/street preacher.
In Jeremiah 11:6-7 the Lord says to Jeremiah, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; hear the words of this covenant and do them.”
Jonah was an open air/street preacher.
In Jonah 3:1-4 we read: “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you." So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.”
Now let’s look at some examples from the New Testament.
John the Baptist was an open air/street preacher.
Matthew 3:1-2 says, “Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself was the greatest open air/street preacher.
Matthew 5:1 tells us, “When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them…..” And He went on to preach that famous Sermon on the Mount. And there are many other accounts of our Lord preaching to crowds in the outdoors.
The Twelve Apostles were open air/street preachers.
Luke 9:1,6 says, “And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases….Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”
Philip the evangelist was an open air/street preacher.
Acts 8:5-8 declares, “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was much rejoicing in that city.”
At this point I would like for us to look briefly at church history, beginning with the protestant reformation. Charles Spurgeon said, “Where would the reformation have been if its great preachers had confined themselves to churches and cathedrals? How would the common people have become indoctrinated with the Gospel had it not for those far-wandering evangelists….and those daring innovators who found a pulpit on every heap of stones, and an audience chamber in every open space near the abodes of men?”
I found an article online which gave a brief history of street preaching, as I am doing here. The article states, “the earliest protestant reformers necessarily had to be out door preachers, since… the churches were at the hands of the papacy (Catholic pope and bishops).
Now let’s consider for a moment the First Great Awakening, which took place in the mid 1700s. The article I just mentioned states, “After the reformation other great movements were started by street preachers. The Methodist Church, co-founded by George Whitfield and John Wesley, is an example of this period. These two were Anglicans, but being banned from speaking in churches since they were not licensed, they took to ‘field preaching’, boldly proclaiming God’s Word to large crowd in streets and markets. They traveled throughout England and the American colonies and were instrumental in the Great Awakening… The Methodist Church was started by street preachers.”
And there are many more examples, even in modern times, of how God has greatly used this method of open air/street preaching. Sadly to say, the Church of today, to a great degree, has forgotten and forsaken this proven biblical method of evangelism. And yet we do see today that God is stirring up many of his people and raising them up to perform this awesome task of publicly proclaiming His glorious, everlasting gospel. May He continue to stir us up and send us out, and bring a glorious revival in these last days. Of course we also need to seek Him diligently in prayer and in His Word, otherwise our preaching will be in the flesh (our own ability and strength) and futile.
