“Nowhere in the Scriptures are evangelists (or street preachers) told to…

Nowhere in the Scriptures are evangelists (or street preachers) told to first get the world’s permission to preach, or to make friends with them. Nowhere in the Scriptures are Christians told to accommodate the world. Nowhere in the Scriptures are we told to only preach to crowds that are willing to listen. Nowhere in the Scriptures are we told to redact, truncate, replace or supplement the preaching of the glorious Gospel with tricks, gimmicks, gadgets, skits, magic, entertainment, cash giveaways, gift card giveaways, trivia questions, word games, jokes, comedy, emotionalism or sensationalism. Nowhere in the Scriptures are we told to give the heckler a microphone and a box to stand on, so they can blaspheme the Lord and use profanity. We ought to be thankful that these evangelists are out there. But when our evangelism efforts become more man-centric and less Gospel-centric; it’s no longer Biblical orthodox evangelism, it is heterodoxical. 

As I’ve said before my ‘mentors of evangelism’ are the prophets of the Old Testament, and Christ and His Apostles of the New Testament. As well as other men that have proceeded us in death, like George Whitefield, Johnathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, et.al.

Paul never said follow postmodern emergents. He said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). He also said, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16).

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were NOT WITH PERSUASIVE WORDS OF HUMAN WISDOM, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, THAT YOUR FAITH SHOULD NOT BE IN THE WISDOM OF MEN but in the power of God: (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).”

As John Gill said of Romans 1:16, “The reason why he [Paul] was so ready and willing to preach it, even where he ran the greatest risk of his character and life, was, because it was “the Gospel of Christ” he preached, and he was not ashamed of it. This supposes that some were, though the apostle was not, ashamed of the Gospel; as all such are who hide and conceal it, who have abilities to preach it, and do not: or who preach, but not the Gospel; or who preach the Gospel only in part, who own that in private, they will not preach in public, and use ambiguous words, of doubtful signification, to cover themselves; who blend the Gospel with their own inventions, seek to please men, and live upon popular applause, regard their own interest, and not Christ’s, and cannot bear the reproach of his Gospel. It expresses, that the apostle was not ashamed of it; that is, to preach it, which he did fully and faithfully, plainly and consistently, openly and publicly, and boldly, in the face of all opposition.”

Martyn Lloyd Jones said, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not popular with the natural man. He is against it. So that if you find the natural unregenerate man praising either the preacher or his message then, I say, you had better examine the preaching and that preacher very carefully.”