My Plea to the Street Preachers

How do I do this? I want to preface this letter with my most earnest plea for it not to be taken the wrong way. I know some of the things I’m going to say in it are not going to be well received, but there is a burning in my heart to make this plea to the street preachers of America. Please as you read these know that I am prayerfully and carefully writing this to promote street preaching and not to counter it in any way, I want us to continue to preach the gospel in the open air, I just want to see us do it better.

Better? What do I mean? I know right here would be where you would check out and dismiss me as one of them liberal Christians, who are ashamed to lift up their voice like a trumpet, please...I am not! God had graciously saved me, and called me to preach His Word, and that is inside, outside, in the pulpit, or on the street corner. I’ve done parades, pageants, bus stops, festivals, and more, and God has always blessed, not because of me, but because His Word is quick and powerful.

Every time I do one of these events there are other street preachers who are trying to do the same thing I am. They are trying to turn people from their sins and turn them toward God. I have no misconceptions about why they are there, and I love these folks in Christ. They are there to preach Christ and Him crucified! Amen! They are my brothers and sisters in the Lord, and this is not meant as a rebuke, but a desperate plea from the heart of one of your fellow laborers…Preach with a Broken Heart!

I’m not asking anyone to tone down their message;
I’m begging some to change their tone!

We all agree that we are out there primarily out of Love and Obedience to our Saviour, and secondly we are out there out of concern for souls. Are we on the same page?
If so, can I implore you to preach to them like you are concerned? Too many times I have heard preachers move from preaching to name calling, too many times I’ve head a preacher almost sound glad that a sinner is headed toward Hell, and that ought not to be the case! I’ve seen good signs, and bad signs, I’ve heard people who know how to use a bull horn and others who are so shrill that you want to plug your ears. Please guys…Preach with a Broken Heart!

I know Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all the prophets preached hard, about sin, righteousness, and judgment, but something tells me it was with a broken heart. Jeremiah we know as the weeping prophet, and my guess is that the others wept as they preached as well. George Whitefield was wet with tears as he preached, but when he preached God came down!

Now I’m not saying that we should work up some emotion and try to cry like them TV preachers, I’m saying we need to take time to prepare our hearts for street work. I have never found it so easy to get in the flesh as when I’m doing street ministry, but when I have prepared myself by spending time with the Lord, and in His Word, I can feel the compassion that I don’t have when I go unprepared.
I know it concerns you that people without Christ go to Hell! I know it does, but sometimes I can’t hear it. I think we ought to tremble as we preach Hell, it’s unimaginable, and lets face it as street preachers most of our audience is headed right for an eternity there. Doesn’t that Break your Heart? Then Preach with a Broken Heat!

We can preach to homosexuals without calling them Sodomites, and you can preach sin, righteousness and judgment. I have no qualms with telling them that unless they repent they will all likewise parish, but I don’t need to call them fags!

We can preach to Mormons without calling them Morons, and still in compassion tell them that the Jesus they worship is not the Jesus of the Bible and will take them to Hell.

The lost girl who is dresses immodestly, does not need to be called a whore…she is lost! How do you expect her to dress? What rules is she following without Christ in her life?

Do you hear what I’m trying to say, or have you written me off as a compromiser?

Please understand my deep respect for all who stand out on the “front lines” I really believe that God has given us a high calling in Christ Jesus to preach the Word. Also I know we don’t preach out in public to be popular; we do it to be obedient.
(If you’re upset I didn’t spell “public” with a “K” right there, check your heart! You’re trying to find fault)

All I’m saying is that each one of us will give an account for every idle word, moreover we will be accountable for what spirit we preached in, and for who we were trying to please when we did preach…again I am not trying to get anyone to tone down their message…I begging some of you to change your tone!

Consider this quote from Henry Scougal and with an open heart examine yourself…

“There are but too many professing Christians who would consecrate their vices and follow their corrupt affections. They pass their ragged humor and sullen pride for Christian severity. They call their fierce wrath and bitter rage against their enemies, holy zeal. Their distain toward their superiors and rebellion against their governors they call Christian courage and resolution.”

This quote weighed on me and made me stop and examine myself, will you allow it to do the same for you or will you just try and look up how you can dismiss Scougal’s words by examining the flaws in his theology…come on…be real, and ask God to show you where you may be getting in the flesh, it only hurts until you repent.

Like I said this is not a rebuke, it’s a plea from the heart of a fellow laborer…I’m nobody special, and I do not even have the credibility to make this plea, but God had burdened me with this and I must be obedient and encourage you all to Preach with a Broken Heart! Don’t tone down your message, just examine your tone, and we’ll continue to call sinners to repentance together.

Psalm 126:5,6 - They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.