In the fall I started connecting with a man of God named Daniel. He has a zeal and a calling as an evangelist. He wants desperately to see the church effectively reach the lost and snatch them from the grip of the enemy. He and I have been meeting together regularly downtown to go through a book called The School of Biblical Evangelism. It has 101 lessons on apologetics and evangelism with many practical and inspirational challenges built in.
We discuss what we are learning and then we canvass Pioneer square handing out tracks, reading scripture, praying, and open air preaching to whomever is around the square. Mostly Daniel preaches, but as of two days ago, now I can say I have given it a whirl.
Monday I preached on destiny. It was very short but to the point. "Do you know your destiny?" I yelled several times to get peoples attention. "Do you know where you will go when you die?!" "I would like to tell you what the bible says!", "God is Holy!", "God is Righteous!", "God is pure!" "Heaven is a place of absolute holiness, righteousness and purity!", "Unless you are pure and holy and righteous, you cannot enter heaven because God and sin cannot co-exist !" Then I want on to explain that we are all sinners (Rom. 3:32), that without holiness we cannot see God, and that the cost of sin is death. I went on to say that Jesus is the only one who was pure, and he made the sacrifice for us. That he paid for our sin, and that by repentance and faith we can receive his purity and then enter heaven.
The whole thing was quite a rush. I was quite nervous right before. I almost bailed at the last minute. But my brother Daniel encouraged me. He said, "you can do it, the first word is the hardest." (so true)
I have preached before, but never to a crowd of unsuspecting pagan strangers. I learned that yelling your sermon is a whole different animal. You have to have short clear statements that you can belt out and that connect to your "big idea."
In seminary they prepare us to think, and to study, but it is abstract. It is a fantastic exercise to take profound theology and boil it down to a few fundamental, easy to digest bits. It's so challenging and such a blessing to re-work your presentation in such a way that it makes sense to people with no, or little church background.
It is a sad thing indeed when this Christian who has been genuinely saved from the fires of Hell, who is Holy Spirit filled, spiritually transformed, made pure and fit for the holiness of God's presence, slip into the life of maintenance. I don't want to serve the Lord with my spare time. I don't want to be a half Christian. I want to be wholly used and effective and fruitful for the Lord.
Thank you Jesus for wanting to use simpletons like Daniel and I to glorify yourself. Please cultivate the words that Daniel and I spoke on Monday. The Asian lady by the pole who was listening intently. The student on the bench who was pretending not to hear us. The security guard walking by who had the advantage of hearing the gospel multiple times. The little group of 20 somethings waiting for the MAX who were listening and heckling at the same time. For the three high school age homeless kids who called us homosexuals and screamed at Daniel that they love Satan (Daniel's brilliant response was that Satan loves them too). For everyone who has taken one of the tracts home and set it on the kitchen counter or taken a moment to read it. Bring your Spirit and others in the body to bring conviction and contrition to their souls so that they could become mighty and effective children of God.
Amen
-Rod
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