1) he did not go to public places and preach to uninterested parties
2) he did not threaten with hell
3) he did not recite the 10 commandments
4) he did not insult sinners or confront them publically about their sin (other than the self-righteous Pharisees)
G'day Todd,
I have to disagree with a few of them.
1. When He (Jesus) went into Galilee, He was openly proclaiming to the people weather they were interested or not "The time has come,” he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”Mark 1:15
2. I'll just give a few off the top of my head - Mark 9:43-48 says, If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where
"‘the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’
Matthew 5:22, But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Matthew 8:12, But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 10:28, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
3. Mark 10:18-19, Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. "No one is good””except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.
4.He said to the woman caught in adultery, "Go now and leave your life of sin." John 8:11. And He said to the man healed at the pool "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." John 5:14. Both were in public and people heard what He said, if only His disciples.
Blessings Steve
In regards to #1, the parallel in Mt 4:23, he was proclaiming this in the synagogues.
In regards to #2, in those cases the people came to hear him (this was in the sermon on the mount). On other occasions he mentioned hell privately to his disciples.
in regards to #3, it clearly states that the rich young ruler came running to Jesus, not vice versa.
In regard to #4, this was not evangelizing. he told her this privately.
The "Foolishness of Preaching" is a way to itemize sin, proclaim the Godly alternative, and warn of consequences. Doing this publically is a way for the Holy Spirit to reach those with an ear to hear, and assure those who reject the message that they have been condemned- all without personally embarrassing any individual. Seems to me that Jesus did this very publically both in the streets and the houses of worship.
Jesus was not a street preacher as we understand that term. He either taught in the synagogue where people expected to hear teaching or the masses came to him with the intent to hear what he had to say. He obviously also spoke privately with his disciples and other persons (the Samaritan woman; the woman caught in adultery).
Then you have the example of Peter after Pentecost who challenged one and all...
Sandra
But the crowd was seeking an explanation of what they were seeing and hearing.
TMK are you simply saying that just setting up a place in the public byways and loudly proclaiming the gospel or quietly handing out tracts is not a NT practice?
Pretty much!!
Some people might bring up John the B but he actually was out in the wilderness and people went to him.
Todd, regarding public preaching of Jesus, just from remembrance I can think of quite a lot of examples where he did this. The temple cout was the place of general meeting and comerce for multitudes of people, the field preaching on the hills around Galilee, on boats on the shore of the lake so many could hear. In houses open to the general public, etc, etc. You cannot equate exactly streets as there were not really streets where folk would congregate like today, but He certainly did the equivalent in that He went where the people were. Social life was different then to today, so you have to take that into account. The priciple was He went out to where the people were.
I think all your 4 points have already been countered and shown to be incorrect. Respectfully, you should go back and re-look at the scriptures again that have been given.
1. When He (Jesus) went into Galilee, He was openly proclaiming to the people weather they were interested or not "The time has come,” he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”Mark 1:152. I'll just give a few off the top of my head - Mark 9:43-48 says, If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where
"‘the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’Matthew 5:22, But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Matthew 8:12, But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 10:28, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
3. Mark 10:18-19, Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. "No one is good””except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.
4.He said to the woman caught in adultery, "Go now and leave your life of sin." John 8:11. And He said to the man healed at the pool "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." John 5:14. Both were in public and people heard what He said, if only His disciples.
Blessings Steve
It would also take me a while to compile all the testimonies I've either personally seen or heard of people getting either saved or heavily convicted by the Holy Spirit through militant, frontline, street evangelism.
Heydave-- in every case the people flocked to Jesus. I am not saying he taught in private. I am saying that the people went to him, meaning they wanted to listen.
The same is true for the apostles.
I think you need to take a closer look at the scriptures.
Neither Jesus nor the apostles were "militant evangelists."
We are to be militant about many things in our Christian walk, including evangelism. Are you not aware of the scriptures that speak of us being soldiers in a war?
This vid came to mind on the kind of timid "jesus" many are preaching today:
Todd, what do you mean by 'militant evangelism'? It's not a term I am familiar with. If you mean forcing people to listen against their will, like in preaching at them in an enclosed situation where they can't get away, then I agree (I have heard of some of that) it is wrong.
I may be wrong, but I think you may have a specifc issue in mind that concerns you, but you are generalising by making statements about Jesus and the scriptures in a way that is causing folk like me to disagree with your stance, because it is not correct. It may be better for you to say exactly what your beef really is. You may then find that we may agree in some with you.
I did not mean to offend you by saying you need to go back and read the scriptures. It's just sometimes we get an idea in our heads and it is not what is actually recorded.
John makes mention more than once that he was the disciple that Jesus loved. I believe he came to that conclusion because the love that shone forth from Jesus was absolutely compelling. John, and obviously others, could feel the radiation of His love whenever they were near, and His voice made the love explode in the room. When He was there, they came to listen like thirsty sheep come to clear cool water.
I believe the secret of His evangelism was that love, the love of the Father emanating from the Son. While we quibble about methods, He just rested in the essence of love and the Spirit drew them in. The Pharisees, at least most of them, loved other things and scorned the genuine love standing before them. People like that still do, but like some of the Pharisees a few make that 180 turn and fall at His feet.
Our most essential need, by the Father's design, is to be loved. Humble common people get that, and hear Him gladly.
Maybe our evangelism would work better if we actually loved the people we're preaching at? Just a thought...
Oracio wrote:
We are to be militant about many things in our Christian walk, including evangelism. Are you not aware of the scriptures that speak of us being soldiers in a war?
///
Militant definition:
combative and aggressive in support of a political or social cause, and typically favoring extreme, violent, or confrontational methods.
"a militant nationalist"
synonyms:\taggressive, violent, belligerent, bellicose, vigorous, forceful, active, fierce, combative, pugnacious;
///
I don't see anything in the scripture that supports a militant gospel.
Lisa
TMK wrote:
1) he did not go to public places and preach to uninterested parties2) he did not threaten with hell
3) he did not recite the 10 commandments
4) he did not insult sinners or confront them publically about their sin (other than the self-righteous Pharisees)
God bless,
Lisa
Hi Dave-- I don't really have a beef per se and I am certainly not against evangelism.
Time may be short and I think we need to figure out how to reach the most people in the quickest and most effective way.
You know the old adage of you can't do the same thing over and over and expect different results.
I don't have a a great answer as to what to do other than what Jesus did. So what Lisa mentions is a great place to start.
If street preachers started healing people they would get better results, for sure. Maybe it's time to start believing for such things. After all that is how Jesus started revivals.
What I mean by militant evangelism is being proactive in sharing our faith; being on the offensive mode as opposed to being apathetic and passive, cowering at the thought of actively evangelizing the lost; and coming up with a million and one excuses for not caring about sharing our faith with the lost. What I mean by frontline street evangelism is going to where the lost congregate and reaching out to them with the life-saving message of the gospel, as opposed to simply waiting for them to come to us or waiting to build a relationship over a long period of time before feeling we have earned the right to share the gospel, which is completely unbiblical.
The famous missionary C.T. Studd said, "Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop, within a yard of hell.”
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