ANDREW RAPPAPORT The Open-Air-Evangelism Approach
Summary
The words street preaching often conjure up the image of screaming evangelists shouting arrogantly through bullhorns at their opponents. While some may give a bad name to open-air evangelism, it is possible to efficiently and lovingly share the gospel in public if humility, not pride, is the main motivation.
Introduction
At the annual Mormon Miracle Pageant held in 2016, I watched a man standing on a public street with many Mormons walking by as he condemned them for the sin of homosexuality (not an issue most Mormons struggle with). As he was talking to someone afterward, I saw a woman waiting to speak with him. I asked if I could answer any questions she had. “Are you with that street preacher?” she asked.
When I responded that I was not, she informed me that she was a Christian who wanted to chastise the man for preaching on the street. While more than a hundred Christians were using a variety of strategies to evangelize thousands of Mormons, she felt that this one strategy of publicly calling people to repentance was wrong.
Many Christians would agree with this woman. It is true that some people do not do public preaching (or, as I will put it throughout this article, “open-air evangelism”) well, seemingly motivated by pride and not love or passion for the lost. However it can also be done right! When I told this woman that I planned to proclaim the gospel publicly, she was not happy. In fact, she said that if I did, she would stand in front of me and warn the bystanders that I was not a Christian. If they wanted a pleasant conversation, she would invite them to talk to her. I asked if she would at least listen to what I would say before she condemned me for my approach. She agreed to give me 30 seconds.
I stood on a box and told those who were listening how much I loved them and how I wanted to give them the truth of Jesus Christ. I pleaded with them to repent of their sin. I cried out that many of them were probably far more moral than I am, yet I added that morality cannot make anyone right with God. What people heard that day was the gospel of Jesus Christ from a man who was willing to look foolish because he cared where they would spend eternity.
As I stepped down, the same woman approached me. Here it comes, I thought to myself, fully expecting a tongue-lashing. Instead she requested forgiveness. She told me she had never heard anything like what she just witnessed. She then thanked me and apologized three more times.
The manner of delivery made all the difference. The other man preached condemnation, but it was probably not the message these people needed to hear. Instead, I proclaimed the truth by allowing the gospel to be the only offense.
Answering Objections to Open-Air Evangelism
Like the woman I met at the pageant, many people perceive open-air evangelism as an outdated method to communicate the gospel. While respected apologist Greg Koukl is committed to training Christians to have confidence with clear-thinking skills to tackle any situation, he has stated that he is not a fan of this strategy.1 However, he also admits that it can be done right, pointing to the examples of California evangelist Ray Comfort2 and me.
What are some reasons for the negative impression so many Christians may have? Perhaps they associate such an approach with loud-mouthed evangelists screaming condemnation in arrogant pride to bystanders who are not listening or, even worse, getting angry. Those who have attended the General Conference sessions in Salt Lake City, Utah, held two weekends every year may have observed certain street preachers who angrily condemn those Latter-day Saints streaming past while making their way into the LDS Conference Center.
In the past, some of these evangelists have even antagonized the Mormons by taking special LDS undergarments or their unique scriptures and desecrating them. One evangelist tied a chain to the three combined scriptures, throwing the book to the ground and dragging it around, to the dismay of faithful Mormons who watched.
Some see drawing opposition from or disagreement with unbelievers as ungodly. But Jesus, Paul, and many others in the Bible practiced open-air evangelism, even when those to whom they spoke disagreed! The most successful open-air evangelism includes opposition, as many people will gather around to hear a conversation taking place between an evangelist and potential hecklers. That dynamic can be used to share the gospel, shut the mouths of the ignorant, and provide biblical answers to challenging questions.
Other Christians may perceive this approach as “intolerant” because it involves telling others their views are wrong. But Christians should not allow their culture to affect biblical methods of evangelism. I would never claim that it is the only successful approach. Evangelists use many strategies; this book demonstrates that we should not limit ourselves (or others) to only one method. Open-air evangelism is appropriate and can be successful when it is done well. In fact, I can share the gospel with more people in one hour of open-air evangelism than when I hand out gospel tracts or do one-on-one evangelism.
Why Do Open-Air Evangelism?
If the culture disapproves of open-air evangelism, why should we do it? Because it is an example given in Scripture. Like many other things in the Bible, God commands that the gospel is proclaimed publicly. The Greek word for preach is used 61 times in the New Testament and means to proclaim or announce publicly so people can hear, as described in Matthew 4:23; Mark 6:12; Luke 8:1; and Acts 9:20.
As a regular open-air evangelist in New York City, I often see people who will listen for hours to open-air evangelism, but once someone hands them a gospel tract or tries to start a conversation, they walk away. Many people are fearful or just private and don’t want to have to defend their view of spiritual things in a public place. While they might not accept the gospel message that night, there is a chance they could hear the gospel preached clearly, maybe even for the first time. If God’s Word does not return void, as Isaiah 55:11 says, there is value in publicly proclaiming to everyone that there is hope even for the hopeless.
How Not to Do Open-Air Evangelism
We cannot discuss open-air evangelism without addressing the common errors. The greatest hindrance to open-air evangelism is pride. A simple search of YouTube reveals that many open-air evangelists appear arrogant in their presentation. To help keep pride in check, open-air evangelists should be part of a local body of believers. The local church is the means God instituted for evangelism, including open-air evangelism, and an authority in a person’s life gives them the trait of submission. The goal in open-air evangelism should never be to win an argument or embarrass an unbeliever. Instead, we should always seek to share the gospel, doing whatever we can to remove ourselves as an offense.
I have two goals when I do open-air evangelism. The first and most important goal is to share the gospel. Secondly, I want to conduct myself in such a way that one unbeliever will tell another unbeliever to stop talking so they can listen. I want unbelievers to respect my behavior (Titus 3:1-7; James 2:13; 1 Peter 1:15,17; 2:12) as I proclaim a biblical gospel message in a manner that does not betray my message. The Christian’s conduct must match the gospel message. We do not do open-air preaching to proclaim ourselves but to declare Christ.
I believe there are three elements of ambassador evangelism:
1. Disarm the defenses of the unsaved
2. Disarm our own defenses
3. Use the law
Disarm the Defenses of the Unsaved
Salvation is a personal subject. Therefore, a person is bound to get defensive in a discussion of where he or she will spend eternity. But a defensive person is not open to discussion; he or she seeks to defend a position rather than understand someone else’s. A defensive person is hard to persuade, but the evangelist can disarm people with politeness and humor.
It is important for the evangelist to be polite even when the hecklers are heated up. One way to do this is look individual agitators in the eye and refer to them by their names. (Learn their names at the very beginning and offer to shake their hands while giving them your name.3) Additionally, I hope to have an observer in the crowd publicly tell a heckling unbeliever to be quiet so he or she can hear what I have to say.
The evangelist must also keep in mind that any evidence used to show how Mormonism is not the same as biblical Christianity can turn the nicest Latter-day Saint into a bulldog. “What, are you saying we’re not Christian?” someone might complain. “What makes you better than we are? We are Christians too.” A natural reaction when someone disagrees is to use a raised voice in response, which can easily end up turning into a shouting match and makes the Christian the biggest loser in the eyes of the public. The better approach is to keep calm and remain polite, which allows the evangelist to disarm an objector’s defenses as well as maintain the crowd. As Proverbs 15:1 puts it, “A soft answer turns away wrath.”
Humor is another tool that can lower the defenses of the unbelievers so the Word of God can pierce their hearts once they are listening. It can make the conversation more enjoyable for all who stay and listen. Those with whom you dialogue may remain skeptical and hard-hearted. But others may be watching closer than you would ever know, especially with larger crowds. Humor even allows the open-air evangelist to appeal to the crowd if a heckler acts rudely.
In the past, I made the mistake of poking fun at other people, offending some observers. But very few people get offended when I make fun at myself. This approach has been beneficial, and many nonbelievers have told me that I do not seem to be the typical Christian they expected. They apparently anticipate believers to be full of themselves. Making myself the butt of my own comments communicates that I am humble, which makes me a better ambassador for Jesus Christ since my method is not viewed as prideful. When I laugh at myself, it relaxes the person to whom I am speaking and opens up the discussion in a way that otherwise could not have been possible.
Disarm Our Own Defenses
Evangelists can also struggle with defensiveness, so we need to disarm our own defenses. A powerful means to calming our defensiveness is to ask excellent questions. Greg Koukl provides four uses of questions:
1. To gather information
2. To get off the hot seat
3. To reverse the burden of proof
4. To exploit a weakness in someone else’s argument4
If we are going to ask well-placed questions, we must first learn the importance of good listening, which can serve two critical purposes. First, listening is an important means of gathering information. Second, listening earns respect. An evangelist who thoroughly and attentively listens to someone’s arguments often earns the right to ask the other person to do the same.
It is possible to get defensive when someone challenges us with a question. What should be done if the evangelist doesn’t know the answer? Of course, there is nothing wrong with admitting we don’t know every answer to every question a Mormon might ask. Using a question in response shifts the burden of proof while providing a way to get more information from the other person. Most often the person making the challenge has not even thought through the issue enough to have an answer in defense of their claim.
Once at Union Square in New York City, a man named Jason challenged me with the statement, “God cannot exist because there is evil in the world.” In order to show him how God must exist, I asked how he would explain evil without God. He had never thought of that before, so I was able to explain that evil is the absence of good, and the nature of God defines good. Questions not only shift the burden of proof but help us understand the issue.
Use the Law
The difficulty in evangelism is not “getting someone saved”; it is “getting someone lost.” Most people think that they are “good” and do not need a Savior. It is easier to get people to see their need for a Savior after exposing them to their sinfulness before an all-holy God. The purpose of God’s law is to expose the inability of people to attain to God’s standards and, thus, highlight their need for a Savior who can forgive all their sins. According to Romans 1 and 2, God has written His law on the hearts of all people; therefore, no matter where we go and no matter whom we talk to, we can always use God’s law to expose our need for Christ without having to use language that only Christians understand.
Someone without a church upbringing may not understand terms such as sinner, repentance, and washed in the blood of the Lamb. And even with Mormons, the same terms might be used, but with much different meanings. Yet everyone has a God-given conscience, which we can use to help people see what sin looks like before a holy and just God. Getting the sinner to understand this will help bring a person to true repentance and turn them from sin to Christ.
A simple way to do this is to ask questions using the Ten Commandments. For instance, ask if the person has ever lied, stolen anything, or used God’s name in vain. Point out that lying makes someone a liar while stealing creates a thief. Church attendance will not fix this predicament. About 160,000 people die every day. Ask, “If you were one of those today and were to face the judgment throne, would you be found innocent or guilty by God’s standard?” A temple recommend does not work in the Mormon’s favor.
The advantage of using the law with open-air evangelism is that nobody can complain that the evangelist is being judgmental; after all, the law is the standard—the mirror for people to judge themselves. When the unbelievers in the crowd complain that evangelists are being judgmental, Christians can boldly announce that they did not judge. They merely allowed the person to judge themselves by God’s law (James 1:22-25).
Evangelists Are Ambassadors for Christ
To be effective at open-air evangelism, it is vital to remember that, above all, Christian evangelists are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) and must be marked by humility and love. It must be kept in mind that everything done in Christ’s name reflects back to Christ. As His ambassadors, Christians must act like Him and not like the world. Those who are listening should see that the Christian in the open air has true compassion for them, even if listeners do not believe the Christian message.
Conclusion
It is typical to be nervous about standing in front of a crowd of people and proclaiming God’s Word. Even though I have been using this approach since 1992, I still feel nervous every time. But we must overcome our fears and obey what the angel of the Lord told the apostles in Acts 5:20: “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” So go, stand, and speak in the open air, and rely on God for the results.
To see some examples of Andrew in action, go to his YouTube channel (StrivingForEternity) and look under “Open Air Evangelism.”
Andrew Rappaport (Jackson, New Jersey) is the founder and president of Striving for Eternity Ministries (www.StrivingForEternity.org). Andrew received his master’s degree in theological studies from Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of What Do They Believe? (Owosso, MI: One Million Tracts, 2015) and What Do We Believe? (Owosso, MI: One Million Tracts, 2017).