Hecklers

Daniel preached the 2nd meeting in December. A man walked across the square and sat down to listen. The was quiet for a while until Daniel said, God sacrificed His son for our sins. The the guy erupted. He said, "God killed his own son?!" "that's wicked" He didn't kill his own son !" Daniel would normally ignore a heckler, but this time he turned to the guy and said, the bible says that it pleased the Father to give up his son to death." "It doesn't say that !" he said. Daniel replied by reading Isaiah and quoting the verse. The heckler said, "the bible is a wicked book and it was written by wicked people!" "You guys are wicked, you're so self righteous preaching down here..."
Daniel quieted and walked over slowly to the man and said in a quiet voice, "I'm self righteous?" "no, no, I'm a sinner." The man said "you sure sound self righteous." but he spoke more softly this time. He eventually walked away yelling about the wickedness of the bible and calling us closed minded, but the exchange about self righteousness was pretty amazing. The guys aggression dissipated when Daniel spoke softly and conveyed humility.

I wonder how much of the bad-rap of previous preachers we are wearing when we are down there. I think there is a certain number of passerbys who equate us with the guys with the sandwich boards that say "queers go to hell." They assume that we are down there with the motivation of looking down our noses at them. Stroking our egos. I think it is wise for us to convey a merciful and loving spirit as we preach. As much as we can as we yell at the top of our lungs. It must be what Ray comfort calls pleading. The reality is, that we are there because we care enough to warn them of what is to come. We want them to go to heaven and experience life with Christ. Like Dan Mayhew says, if your going to speak like a prophet, you need to cry like one.

Lord give us soft hearts as we testify of you. And go before us and soften the hearts of the people we will encounter.

Amen

-Rod