About a year ago, the mere thought of street preaching made me tremble….literally. I would feel a tightness in my chest and my hands would shake and I would want to curl up in a ball.
So how did I go from that to preaching outside movie theatres, and bars?
Very simple, the Holy Ghost has to be with you. I am certain, absolutely positive I could never have street preached if the Holy Ghost wasn’t with me.
However, before I actually got out there and preached, I didn’t rely on the power of the Spirit, I thought I needed the wisdom of men.
And that’s what I want to talk about today in this article.
Not relying on the wisdom of men when preaching.
That’s the biggest tip I can ever give anyone because that’s what the Bible says.
1 Corinthians 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
STREET PREACHING DON’T:
Try to convince someone God exists through evidence during a street sermon.
Giving someone evidence so that they believe in God is not Scriptural. Nobody needs evidence of God because God already made Himself known to all men. (See Psalm 19, Romans 1:18-22)
So debating with a passerbyer about whether or not God exists is not going to help. All men know the God of Scripture exists because He says so.
STREET PREACHING DO:
Tell them about the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We’re called to preach the gospel. Not our opinions, not politics, not social issues, not hurl insults at people, just the gospel of Jesus Christ.
THEY’RE SMARTER THAN YOU:
Chances are, the average person at a college campus knows philosophy, biology, debating, and all other things that I used to be afraid of.
Until I UNDERSTOOD 1 Corinthians 2. ALL street preachers need to understand 1st Corinthians 2. The power of God defeats the wisdom of men….EVERY TIME. Read 1st Corinthians 2 in the King James Bible and understand what Paul is saying. Paul street preached to some of the smartest Greeks and Romans in his day.
So my point? DON’T get into an intellectual debate, get the Gospel out there.
Our job is not to intellectually convince people that Christianity is the most logical option in the market of religions. Our job is to preach the power of God, the gospel. The preaching of the cross is NOT logical to the world (1 Corinthians 1:18) and our job is not to look or sound smart. Now that doesn’t mean we cant win a debate if someone is challenging us, but don’t engage in the first place. Because that’s what the world wants.
THEY WANT YOU ON AN INTELLECTUAL LEVEL! Stay on a spiritual level.
STICK TO SCRIPTURE:
When Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness, He could have done anything to get Satan to flee. instead, He quoted Scripture.
We are not better or smarter than Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ used the Scriptures as His only source of “ammo” against Satan, and we need to use only the Scriptures as the sword of the Spirit against the world.