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 PrintableVersion The Great OutdoorsSeven questions to gospel ministers about open-air preachingBack in the 1920s, the then Secretary of The Open-Air Mission, Frank Cockrem, wrote a pamphlet to challenge preachers of the gospel not to confine their invaluable ministry to the four walls of their churches. Such a challenge is needed even more urgently today. Since far fewer people attend church in 2008 than they did back then, out-door or open-air preaching is even more vital. Below is an updated version with seven questions which is written neither to offend nor discourage, but with the sincere desire that more needy sinners will hear the glorious gospel, and be saved. Q1. Is there not a large portion of our population who never hear the gospel? Perhaps we are so used to the statistic that over 90% of the population never attend church that it fails to move us. But move us it surely must! If it is true that Christ came to call sinners to repentance, then no such call comes to untold multitudes. If faith really comes by hearing, most people will never come to faith in Christ because they never do hear. The vast majority of people live pretty godless lives, with little or no thought that one day they must give an account to their Maker. Many, because of either prejudice or simply because they have no sense of their spiritual need, refuse to enter a church where the gospel is believed and preached. For the vast majority of Britons, church is only necessary to hatch, match and dispatch. In fact the typical funeral service adds weight to the belief that ‘I’m all right as I am’. So how will that attitude in people’s hearts ever change, unless someone explains the gospel truth to them? Q2. Did not the Lord Jesus intend that the gospel be preached to all? That this was the Lord’s intention is clear from his own words: ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed, and the lame and the blind.... Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled’ (Luke 14.21,23). ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’ (Mark 16.15). It is as if the Lord is saying that no stone should be left unturned in order to find places where people are to be found with whom we should share the gospel. Q3. Would not those who never attend our churches listen to a message if preached in the open-air? Now certainly there are many who would not and do not. However, ample experience has shown that there are many who will and do. One of the benefits of open-air preaching is that it is a good means of identifying those who are interested. Virtually every day of the year there are people in many different towns and cities who allow the gospel to break into their day. We rejoice that in some cases it breaks into their very hearts as well. Let us be willing to prove that we really do believe in the power of the Word of God, wherever it is spoken! In a sense it should surprise us that anyone should ever stop to listen to an open-air preacher. After all, few ever leave home and head to a town centre for the purpose of hearing a man talk about Jesus. However, there are those who are so taken with what they hear that they allow their business to be put aside for a while. There have even been occasions when individuals have allowed themselves to be late for job interviews because they so wanted to hear what was being said or had questions which they urgently wanted answering. Q4. How much less value is a soul in this country than abroad? Isn’t it strange that we gladly invest much time and money in training missionaries to go overseas with the gospel, but easily overlook or even ignore the man in the street here! He, of course, is equally lost and hopeless and yet could be reached with almost no expense at all. We can encourage our churches to be right behind missionary endeavour in the furthest corners of the earth, and quite rightly so, but perhaps we have overlooked our ‘Judea and Samaria’. Is this not the forgotten or at least neglected mission field today? There are literally millions of pagan Brits in spiritual darkness who need to hear the gospel. And there are not only these people, but also the multitudes from other lands who have come to live here. Do we not realise that we are living right in the middle of a great mission field? Q5. Is it a lack of courage that keeps us indoors? A man once said to an open-air preacher after hearing him preach in a church, ‘How I admire your courage. You could confine your ministry to going from your study to the pulpit and back again, but you are willing to go outside with the gospel instead’. Perhaps it is lack of courage that hinders us from being willing to face what might be an indifferent or even hostile congregation. In the face of great opposition the apostles gathered the church together to pray that the Lord would grant them the courage they needed to fulfil their ministry: ‘…grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your Word’ (Acts 4.29). Surely we can do exactly the same. We can ask others to pray for us as we go. And, of course, we can ask others to go out with us and brave the sneers of the world. Q6. Is it pride that keeps us from condescending to preach out of doors? Do we feel that somehow it would be beneath our ministerial dignity to preach in the street? Oh brethren, a disciple is not above his Master. May we ever remember that vital truth! If the Lord Jesus himself was willing to go wherever there was an opportunity to reach people, should not we have the same mind and burden and concern? If the Lord of glory was willing to preach under the canopy of heaven, can’t we do the same? There may well have been those we have seen preach badly in the open air, and we don’t want to lower ourselves and risk being thought of in any way like them. But can we afford to write off out-door preaching because of them? After all, we sometimes hear poor preaching indoors, but we don’t decide to jettison preaching from our Sunday services as a result. Q7. Is our call to preach meant to be governed more by where we preach than to whom? We can be content to read books and hear lectures on the great importance of preaching and somehow presume that it has only ever been an activity that either has or should take place indoors. Only a cursory reading of both biblical history and church history should convince us that out-door preaching has always been one of God’s chief means of reaching the masses. Charles Spurgeon’s two chapters on the subject in his book Lectures to my students make helpful reading. He goes as far as to say the following, ‘No sort of defence is needed for preaching out of doors; but it would need very potent arguments to prove that a man had done his duty who has never preached beyond the four walls of his meeting house…’. Objections answered1. Is open-air preaching not just ‘casting pearls before swine’?We need to make sure that this question is not more of an excuse, rather than a legitimate concern. Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles were willing to risk what the response of their hearers might be, because they were more concerned about lost sheep than unsavoury pigs. The outdoor preacher must look to the Lord for wisdom to deal with all sorts of people, including those who persistently reject and even mock the gospel message. It will even be necessary at times to withdraw from such individuals or groups of people who may seek to trample precious truths under their feet. However, that must not prevent us from going out to those who in the main are no different from the Ninevites who couldn’t discern between their right hand and their left. 2. Doesn’t open-air preaching just put people off?No doubt our approach when preaching in a shopping precinct has to be tailored accordingly. Yes, if a preacher shouts or even uses a loud speaker, this may well unnecessarily annoy people. Coupled with this can be the impression that we are angry and harsh, and conveying this will have the effect of keeping people away. However, by just using our own voices and speaking up without shouting, by seeking to be simple and understandable, gracious as well as bold and forthright, we will be far more likely to draw people to us and to the message we are seeking to present. Using a preaching board with headings and Bible verses will help those who come along part way through to pick up more easily what is being said. The board provides a focal point for the outreach and is a good means of advertising who we are. It also provides a display of free literature, to which people can simply help themselves. Two other things we must bear in mind. The first is that we are going out among people who are already ‘put off’ the good news of Jesus Christ without any help from Christians. Naturally, people’s very hearts reject the Saviour and his marvellous love. The second is that preaching is God’s appointed means of softening hearts and drawing people to himself. Andy Banton,
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