Street Preaching

Before I let anyone start thinking I am normal or main stream I have another entry that will tell you I am not.

There is so much teaching today that talks of how the Christian must strive at building relationships before they even begin to think about sharing the gospel with someone.
My question is where do you see this in the Bible?
Is this a strategy taught in Scripture?
How long did Jesus and the woman at the well know eachother before He shared the Gospel with her?
If our teaching is not based on the Bible what are we basing it on?

What bothers me the most about this relational evangelism method taught by so many is that the people advocating it feel it necessary to come against people who have been called of God to proclaim the Gospel in the streets to complete strangers. I believe that the gospel should be proclaimed radically in the streets of America, and here is why.

"What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear,that preach ye upon the housetops." Matthew 10:27

When Noah Webster defined the word "PREACH" this is what he said........"Preach" comes from a Latin word meaning to "proclaim publicly"… a message"urging acceptance or abandonment of an idea or course of action."

Jesus told us in Mark 16:15 to Go into all the world and PREACH the Gospel to every creature.
I truly do not mean to run down another persons ministry, but where do Christians get the idea that if some guy is Preaching on a street corner that he is way off base. The scriptures seem to be full of encouragement for us to do just that.

Here are a couple of verses in Proverbs chapter one that encourage people to Proclaim the Gospel as well as the counsel of God in the town square and the market places

Proverbs 1:20-21
20 Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares.
21 She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words:

The next time you see a person in pulic, proclaiming the Gospel pray for God's anointing to be strong on him as he is ministering. It takes great courage to obey God in this way and most public preachers will testify to the hassle they get from other believers.

Old testament prophets often preached at the gates of the city. The gates were the busiest place in town and it was here that all kinds of activity took place:Preaching at the gate would reach large crowds without much expense.

AMOS WAS A "GATE" PREACHER:
"They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. (Amos 5:10)

ISAIAH WAS A "GATE" PREACHER:
They "lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate…" (Isaiah 29:21)

JEREMIAH WAS A "GATE" PREACHER:
"Thus said the Lord unto me, Go and stand in the GATE of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; and say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that enter in by these gates: Thus saith the Lord…" (Jeremiah 17:19-20)

These men of the Old Testament did not use nice gentle friendly approaches. There were no literature tables, tract distributions, invitations to religious meetings, traveling Gospel singing teams, puppet shows, barbecue's, motorcycle jumps or drama teams. They simply stood up publically with the clear message of God's mind and preached it!
Preaching the Gospel in Public to crowds who do not want to hear it and are even opposed to the message can be very easily supported using scripture. It makes me wonder why more Christians are not doing it.



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