Evangelizing

Does anyone here street evangelize or anything? I think it would be pretty interesting and just curious how you would go about doing it if anyone here does it. Anyways I think it is awesome because it is getting out the Gospel and knowing my life personally I never heard the Gospel until I searched for it, but wouldn't it be cool if Christians took the initiative? As of this moment i'm seriously considering making some of my own Gospel tracts or something and getting on the scene so people can hear the truth. Besides let's be honest, I think it would help me personally in some areas also.
 
Does anyone here street evangelize or anything? I think it would be pretty interesting and just curious how you would go about doing it if anyone here does it. Anyways I think it is awesome because it is getting out the Gospel and knowing my life personally I never heard the Gospel until I searched for it, but wouldn't it be cool if Christians took the initiative? As of this moment i'm seriously considering making some of my own Gospel tracts or something and getting on the scene so people can hear the truth. Besides let's be honest, I think it would help me personally in some areas also.

I have seen street evangelizing done on YouTube, and I admire people who respond to that call when they are called by God to do so. I used to think I would like to do that; but now I realize it is not my calling. If you look up Ray Comfort on YouTube you will see a very talented street evangelizer, IMO.
 
I used to be part of a Street Evangelism team in high school. It was, what a few of us call, machine gun evangelism. Say as much as you can as quickly as you can.

Oddly enough, I run into the same group quite a lot these days -- though of course a new group of students -- in the downtown area when I'm out on a Friday night. We often have common ground and disagreements as I don't hold the same exact beliefs I used to. But these are good kids who seem to really have a heart for God.

I've begun a relationship with one of the youth leaders named Zane, who happens to know my dad since both work at the same Christian school. When we bump into each other, we like to challenge each other, question each other, and also encourage each other. Street Evangelism can go sour extremely quickly and easily, but one way to keep it sweet is involve one-on-one discussions with people who have something to say. This creates relationships, a chance for skeptics to respond and ask questions, and a chance for those evangelizing to not just say speak the gospel of love, but to show it, even if it is only for a few minutes.

I don't think Street Evangelism is the ideal, but provided it is done carefully and thoughtfully, I don't think it's entirely wrong. The group I run into (which was my old youth group in fact) put more emphasis on the periods of conversation, which I think is absolutely the right way to go.

But I've also run into Street Evangelism that has been an embarrassment.
 
I hate when somebody on the street offers me something that I don´t want or I´am not interested. That´s why I am not excited about street evangelizing.
But there was established a nice Easter event in last few years in our country (it was probably taken from other countries, I don´t know) that Christians read Bible in some public place where lot of people appear during the day. I think that reading The Word of God is the easiest and the most powerful way how to do street evangelizing. Non-believers are often surprised what nice truths can be found in Bible.
 
I have seen street evangelizing done on YouTube, and I admire people who respond to that call when they are called by God to do so. I used to think I would like to do that; but now I realize it is not my calling. If you look up Ray Comfort on YouTube you will see a very talented street evangelizer, IMO.
I love Ray Comfort's approach. He is what got me thinking about street evangelizing.
 
I love Ray Comfort's approach. He is what got me thinking about street evangelizing.

Yes! He is gentle and polite, while logically walking his contacts through to their own conclusion. He knows how to help them recognize how their thinking they are "good" people eligible to get in Heaven without accepting Christ, is wrong thinking that will actually take them to hell. I love is approach as well.
 
I agree that we should evangelize by living as an example of the Christian life. The next question for me would be, what is an example of the Christian life? I suppose the best examples would be from Christ, and other Godly folks in the Bible.

Christ said to go and make disciples of people. Then in Acts 20:20 it appears they did more then just "street preach", but they were actually going door to door.

I've seen people that have been very successful in street preaching, and people that have not been so successful. I think the difference is the intentions. If the goal of street preaching is to bring someone to Christ, perhaps the reason some are not successful is because they do it with the wrong motives. Maybe the main reason they are doing it is to look a certain way in front of their Christian friends, instead of the main reason being to please God. It's the same as the verse "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full." The hypocrites pray to appear Godly to other people, and the verse says they have received their reward in full, which is pretty much nothing. The same can be said for street preaching, if someone is doing it "to be seen by others" then they'll receive the same reward as the hypocrite who loves to be seen praying.

James 4 is another good example showing how ones motives can affect their results. "When you ask, you do not receive,because you ask with wrong motives." So in my humble opinion, is street evangelizing good, or affective? It depends on the persons motives.
 
When I think of evangelizing, I think of Jehovah's Witnesses, and the single biggest strike against them is that people find their intrusions by going door to door to be highly annoying. I don't think that's the best approach to use.
 
I read that Jehovah witnesses have an average of 50k missionaries, and convert about 300k people per year. I guess compared to how many hours they are all putting in and how many people it takes to reach that number, that's not a very good conversion rate. But what if all the Christians do the same thing, and they each only got 1 person per year? It does sound like a horrible conversion rate, but then I think of the parable of the lost sheep.

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
 
I read that Jehovah witnesses have an average of 50k missionaries, and convert about 300k people per year. I guess compared to how many hours they are all putting in and how many people it takes to reach that number, that's not a very good conversion rate. But what if all the Christians do the same thing, and they each only got 1 person per year? It does sound like a horrible conversion rate, but then I think of the parable of the lost sheep.

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
You might then end up with a situation where all Christians who do this have the same reputation the Jehovah's Witnesses have. I'm unsure if that would be a concern, I suppose there are worse things than reputation. I guess it comes down to personal taste and my feeling is that it isn't worth annoying all those people who aren't receptive to the message.

I think back to being a little kid and being forced to sell chocolate bars from door to door and the feeling of utter rejection I had every single time I was told "no". It was really crushing and it took it personally. I don't imagine for me or people with my personality type things would be much different now.
 
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I used to do street evangelism. I did occasionally have some good talks. I found that the most willing people to talk to were groups of people that were kind of just hanging around, bored with nothing to do, especially teenagers. I think groups seemed to work best, because it's not so intimidating for the people you're talking to if they're with their friends. If they were just kind of hanging around in a group outside, there's a good chance they'll be there again in later weeks, so you have a chance to develop a bit of relationship with them as well. I think street-type evangelism has the most potential if you keep going to the same area and you get a chance to get to know people over the weeks. Sometimes it takes a long time to get to know people before they're comfortable enough to have an honest conversation with you. You'd probably get to know the homeless crowd pretty quickly, and if you talked to foreigners you'd probably get invited to some homes for meals. Mostly, I think, street witnessing is a "plant the seed, then walk away" type of deal, but there's a lot of opportunity for other things as well, especially as you learn what sorts needs are in a community and you start thinking about how you might serve those in need. Looking back on my street witnessing days, I experienced a lot of growth personally, in learning to articulate my experiences with God and give an answer to common questions and challenges, and especially in learning how to read between the lines and listen to what people are really saying.
 
You might then end up with a situation where all Christians who do this have the same reputation the Jehovah's Witnesses have. I'm unsure if that would be a concern, I suppose there are worse things than reputation. I guess it comes down to personal taste and my feeling is that it isn't worth annoying all those people who aren't receptive to the message.

I think back to being a little kid and being forced to sell chocolate bars from door to door and the feeling of utter rejection I had every single time I was told "no". It was really crushing and it took it personally. I don't imagine for me or people with my personality type things would be much different now.

If you came to my house with chocolate I would not reject you. :D
 
I find that most evangelists don't know HOW to follow the Lord's guidance in these matters.

#1
Matthew 10:11 (KJV)
And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

#2
Matthew 10:12 (KJV)
And when ye come into an house, salute it.

#3
Matthew 10:13 (KJV)
And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.​

Most people don't even understand what these verse mean. #1, to whom do they enquire on one's worthiness? The Holy Spirit. #2 how does one salute a house (and it's not those in "it"). Not household, but the building, yes the building. #3, how can one let their peace come upon the house, and then take it back? These things are done via the Holy Spirit and cannot be taught in word, only in deed to a heart that is sensitive to walking in the Spirit. So before all of this, one must learn to obey the Spirit to know to go left or right, straight or back. It is useless to speak to anyone who is not ready to receive the truth, pearls before swine, remember?
 
I find that most evangelists don't know HOW to follow the Lord's guidance in these matters.

#1
Matthew 10:11 (KJV)
And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

#2
Matthew 10:12 (KJV)
And when ye come into an house, salute it.

#3
Matthew 10:13 (KJV)
And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.​

Most people don't even understand what these verse mean. #1, to whom do they enquire on one's worthiness? The Holy Spirit. #2 how does one salute a house (and it's not those in "it"). Not household, but the building, yes the building. #3, how can one let their peace come upon the house, and then take it back? These things are done via the Holy Spirit and cannot be taught in word, only in deed to a heart that is sensitive to walking in the Spirit. So before all of this, one must learn to obey the Spirit to know to go left or right, straight or back. It is useless to speak to anyone who is not ready to receive the truth, pearls before swine, remember?

There are many on the streets whose heart is ready to receive the truth. How will they know how to receive Jesus if they are not told? Surely also many are NOT ready. So...do we stop trying to reach the ready hearts for fear we will encounter those not ready?
 
I used to tag along with friends who used to do street evangelism. Many of them were rejected. Often, people won't even pay attention, open doors or even stop to look, but once in a while they get someone who is willing to receive the Lord. The reason why they stop because someone called the police saying they were "soliciting" in the area. They were not arrested or anything because they were at a public place. Still, it was a bit scary that people will go through a lot just to shun people away. It's sad to say I am one of them, when someone knocks on our door or leave a piece of paper, it goes straight in the trash.

I find that making friends and inviting them to your home and SLOWLY introduce the Gospel works a lot better than slapping them in the face with scriptures. I know it sounds harsh that I used the phrase "slapping them in the face with scriptures" but that's how most of them feels and they tend to turn around and run away.

I don't know much about the Bible, I am studying and still learning everyday. I ask guidance and help whenever I need it. Also, before I became a Christian, it was hard for me to accept and go through with it. Christians sometimes don't realize that WE WANT to be a part of Him but we feel that we are not worthy enough to accept, we feel the pressure and we like to take the easy way out - not pay attention. Instead, we are stuck with listening to a mighty monologue that we don't understand, and are often embarrassed because we know nothing about the Bible or Jesus Christ. I feel that this is the reason why street evangelism is usually shun away, we need to be taught like children, we are scared of learning and meeting someone who is new to us.
 
There are many on the streets whose heart is ready to receive the truth. How will they know how to receive Jesus if they are not told? Surely also many are NOT ready. So...do we stop trying to reach the ready hearts for fear we will encounter those not ready?
Did I say that or even remotely imply that? No. The problem isn't the message, it's the messengers. If someone isn't ready to receive and they're approached and hammered by a "christian" what's that going to do? Reinforce their despise. There's no justification for doing wrong to do right. That's dogmatism and unrighteous. Jesus said what to do, and you just proved my point. Please reread what I wrote above.
 
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