He was hurriedly walking down the street when he stopped to listen. He heard the message of the love of Jesus and trusted Him as his personal Saviour. When counseled, it was revealed that this man was on his way to commit suicide. His comment was that had that group of Christians not been there, he would have killed himself.
In a crowded project in Harlem, the eight-year-old boy shared with the preacher that a man in one of the buildings took a gun, shot and killed himself. In the same breath the young boy explained about a man who shoved a woman backwards into an elevator and fathered her child. Most would call that suicide and rape. Christians should call it a shame.
These scenes are very common in our cities. The hurried pace of life in the city is brutal. Henry Van Dyke wrote, “The very things that make the church most needed in the city are the very things that make it hard for the church to survive there.
The throng and pressure of multitudinous life; the intensity of business competition and social emulation; the extravagance of wealth and the exigencies of poverty; the scarcity of time and the superabundance of pastime; the presence of crowds and the absence of fellowship; the avarice-chill and amusement fever; the vitality of vice and nervous prostration of virtue; the rush and whirl and the glare and busy emptiness of life at top speed–in these things the church finds its opportunity, its call–and its danger.”
Interesting fact about Mr. Van Dyke’s comments: they were written in 1905. His depiction is as accurate today as when he perceived them then. By the way, in the last census (1990), the United States population was 76% urban. That is a shift from 72% in 1980. This is probably true of Canada as well. People are moving to the cities. Our two countries are becoming increasingly urban.
With that urbanization comes increased crime, heartache, misery, and lawlessness. For the Christian, these issues beg the question: How do we reach these precious lost souls with the gospel? How do we care for the untold millions that inhabit our cities? We are commanded to go into all the world and preach the gospel, but how and by what means?
For some in the church the Great Commission has turned into the great omission. We focus on entertainment to arouse the interest of the lost (some don’t even call them lost or sinners anymore, referring to them as “unchurched”) to get them into the building. They then water down the gospel and the issue of sin because they don’t want to “turn them off.”
The pattern for evangelism is simple, the resources are inexpensive, and the training available. We, however, must have a heart for it. If we, as believers, don’t reach out, those readied tools in harvesting the lost for Him lie useless. Passion is the need of the hour if we are to have a sustained thrust in reaching the lost. All the techniques in the church’s arsenal will never make up for a lack of zeal and passion. One with zeal and knowledge is a formidable instrument in the Saviour’s hands.
People on this planet crowd our cities. The best way, the least expensive, and probably the most efficient way to reach them is by way of the street. Who can afford TV or radio time? Not the common Christian! However there is available to us a biblical ministry that meets the needs of both Christian and non-Christian alike. For the Christian, it is low cost, highly mobile and very effective. For the non-Christian, it is attractive, interesting, and brings clarity to thinking that is often cluttered with bias and misunderstanding. This ministry is open-air evangelism.
Before you panic, we are not talking about a “foaming lipped” preacher screaming himself hoarse as people go by. We are talking about communicating the gospel in clear, intelligent, and unmistakable terms that the common man on the street can truly understand. This is the goal of the open-air communicator–or it should be.
For much too long the idea of preaching on the streets has been defined by those who were relegated to the streets because they could not get a hearing anywhere else. This too, should change. If there is any excellence to be shown, it should be shown on the streets, for that is where the people are–in the streets, parks, campuses–and they are there in abundance.
The employment of the simple sketch board has revolutionized the street meeting. Open-air evangelism has gone from the lone voice talking to passers-by, to an actual gathering of people from all walks of life, all financial backgrounds, varied educational accomplishments, varied ethnic backgrounds and ages, and even (sometimes) the very famous, all in one meeting. Really? Absolutely!
How can this be, one may ask. It happens because the Christian communicator is on their turf. It’s not a threatening place like a church building, but a neutral platform from which people listen to the message which many have never heard before. They listen to a preacher share words from the heart and see on the sketch board a graphic that illustrates the spoken word. This is very effective.
The use of illusions like the three-rope trick and the disappearing red ball trick also attracts people to this gathering.
A well told testimony has been a hallmark of this type of meeting. “Madison Avenue” has known this form of communication in selling their wares to the world. There is nothing like a person’s own experience, in confirming the life-changing power of the Lord in our lives. The public listens and rarely argues, because of the ring of truth regarding what has happened to you.
Distributing well-produced literature should never be underestimated. Some saints seem to think that the public distribution of literature is just a source of litter. This, of course, could be a possibility, but if the literature is well-produced, i.e., colorful, eye-catching, and meaningfully relevant (taking the reader from what they know to what they don’t know), the literature will rarely be thrown away. It will be read and, in many cases, kept.
Open-air evangelism can be done alone. Actually, the old adage, “One with God is a majority!” is certainly true. However, it is better to have a well-trained team, working and “…standing in the gap together.” Encouragement in the work is one of the benefits of a team. Team members can render multiple contributions such as singing, instrument playing, unusual testimonies, and other offerings that will attract a crowd and give variety to the ministry in the open-air meeting. A well-trained team can be a blessing to newcomers who want to see this viable ministry first hand.
Open-air evangelism is certainly a ministry for today. It helps the church reach out to a lost world efficiently and with effectiveness. If done correctly, it can be a long-term ministry for the local assembly, reaching the lost where they are.
What if the first group of Christians never went into the open-air that day? What if the group mentioned in the first paragraph would have decided that fellowship was more important than witnessing? What if that man would have never heard and quite possibly killed himself? He would have found himself in hell.
The question is, do we see the way the Lord Jesus Christ sees? Do we love the way He loves? Do we care the way He cares? These are questions that we must personally address in our own ministries. Do we really care about the lost?
Bill Hanks, Jr., wrote a song that should depict the heart and conscience of the church:
Lonely voices crying in the city,
Lonely voices sounding like a child.
Lonely voices come from busy people,
Too disturbed to stop a little while.
Lonely voices fill my dreams,
Lonely voices haunt my memory.
Lonely faces looking for the sunrise,
Just to find another busy day.
Lonely faces all around the city,
Men afraid, but too ashamed to pray.
Lonely faces do I see,
Lonely faces haunt my memory.
Lonely eyes, I see them in the subway,
Burdened by the worries of the day:
Men at leisure, but they’re so unhappy,
Tired of foolish roles they try to play.
Lonely people do I see,
Lonely people haunt my memory.
Abundant life he came to truly give man,
But so few His gift of grace receive.
Lonely people live in every city,
Men who face a dark and lonely grave.
Lonely faces do I see,
Lonely voices calling out to me.
Will we answer? We must! There is no option. We must share the gospel with them where they are.
For more information regarding this form of evangelism, you can contact The Ezekiel Project, an assembly ministry dedicated to reaching the lost where they are and to training the saints to do the same. We are here to serve you so that you can serve a lost and dying world. Let us “Stand in the gap!” together.