Let’s talk about street preaching. Every town that I lived in has contained at least one well-known street preacher. Invariably that’s been someone stood in a busy street, reading aloud bits of Scripture, interspersed with their commentary. Usually passers-by catch no more than a soundbite, and it can be the luck of the draw whether that would be some form of ‘Jesus loves you’ or ‘you’re probably going to burn in hell.’
Earlier last week I saw a street preacher who was, quite literally, on top of a homeless person. The preacher stood by the wall, and the homeless person was sat on the floor against it. It was an uncomfortable sight. Now, I have no idea what transpired before the preacher began. Maybe he bought the homeless person breakfast, maybe they prayed together, maybe the homeless person just wanted to listen to the preacher. I don’t know. But the image to the passing public was of a shouty preacher totally uninterested by the poverty at his feet. It wasn’t a good look.
That all said, I have seen street preaching done incredibly well. I’ve seen the traditional preacher in a black suit holding aloft a leather Bible do a terrific job of engaging people with a clear proclamation of the gospel. I’ve seen street preachers supported by a team to converse personally with passers-by. I’ve also seen creative street preaching supported by drama and participative activities. I’ve seen street preaching done well. Kudos!
When I say, ‘street preaching’, then, what I’m meaning is attempting evangelism by speaking loudly to passers-by in an uninvited public area. As a method of evangelism, we could end the conversation here with, ‘sure go onto the streets and preach, but please do it well.’ That’s not the conversation though. Many street preachers do so because they genuinely believe they’re responding to a biblical requirement. They see it as nothing less than obedience to the Bible to preach on the street. That’s where I’m going to focus my efforts today.
Is there a clear biblical mandate for Christians to street preach?
Every now and then I like to pop one of my beliefs into a test tube and re-evaluate it against the Bible. I find this is especially helpful if I’m getting too hot under the collar about something.
So this longer piece will look at the common arguments used for street preaching evangelism, followed by an exploration of the Bible passages commonly used to support it.
Let’s have a look at the arguments and evidence and go from there. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this too. Feel free to comment or get in touch!
The case for street preaching.
When I started to look into this, I was looking in the Bible for cases of public, open-air speaking to unbelievers in busy streets without invitation. Ideally, for this to be a biblical practice, it would be both modelled in the Bible, and it would be backed up through direct biblical commandments.
In my research I found four influential sources who believed that street preaching in the way we do it today is both modelled in and required by the Bible.
Sutek
In 1989, Rev. G. Sutek self-published ‘The Street Preachers’ Manual’, which has been widely used since as a biblical defence of the practice ever since. In it, he says this:
When you consider that virtually every Bible preacher from Noah to John was a Street preacher, and that more than 90 percent of all sermons preached in both Old and New Testaments were preached in a public forum, you wonder why anyone would discourage public evangelism, and why preachers, pastors, and others do not attempt to employ this undoubtedly Biblical method of gospel evangelism.
The clear command of the public communication of the Lord’s message was given to Jeremiah (Jer. 11:6), to Ezekiel (Ezek. 2:1-7; chapters 3 and 33), to Isaiah (Isa. 58), to Jonah, to Noah, to Peter and the other disciples (Mark 16:15), to Paul (Acts 9:15; 23:11), and finally passed to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:2) as an example for the New Testament ministry. Add to this the examples of Ezra (Ezra 10:9-11; Neh. 8:1-5), Stephen, and of Jesus Himself, who was first and foremost a street preacher, and you have received more than sufficient mandate from the Lord to motivate any “God-called” preacher to “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet” — publicly.
A street preacher would believe, therefore, that what they’re doing is directly obedient to the Scriptures. Although Sutek only referenced some of his examples, he could also have pointed to Peter in Acts 2, who preached on the streets at Pentecost seeing 3000 people saved.
Heralding Christ
Geoffrey R. Kirkland, a modern street preacher from Heralding Christ says,
One only needs to read through the Scriptures (both OT and NT) to find the clear emphasis on the bold, public, and even at times “in-the-moment” proclamation of God’s truth… Beginning with Noah who was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), to Ezra (Nehemiah 8:1-4), to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:2; 19:2), Ezekiel, other prophets (Jonah 3:2-4), John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-2), our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 5-7, et al.), Paul (Acts 26), Peter (Acts 5:17ff), and hundreds through Church history, an unbroken pattern of open-air preaching can be observed.
He also adds,
In Luke 14:23, Jesus commanded His disciples to go out into the highways and the country roads (or, hedges) and compel sinners to come in so that His house may be full. Open-air preachers take this verse and read it at face value and have no need to spiritualize or take this text figuratively.
So again, we see an appeal to the Prophets, Apostles, and Jesus himself, but also an addition of a command given to the disciples in Lk. 14.
Reformed Evangelistic Fellowship
Street preacher, Al Baker, from the REF, says this about the practice,
God called Isaiah and Jeremiah to preach in the open air (Isaiah 6:9, Jeremiah 1:4-10), as well as the other prophets. They generally were not welcome in the synagogues… For His own glory, God uses preachers to go to the streets to invite people to the great wedding feast because He delights in the eternal celebration of His righteous saints (Matthew 22:1-14).
There is the now familiar appeal to the Prophets, and to the same parable used by Kirkland of the wedding banquet. In a more classically Reformed fashion, however, Baker adds this,
Paul, the apostle, who taught clearly and lived out the doctrine of God’s electing grace (Ephesians 1:4,5, Romans 9:14-18) at the same time believed that people would not be saved unless the gospel was preached to them (Romans 10:13-17).
Street preaching in this sense could be the catalyst for an elect to discover their privileged position with God.
Reformation Charlotte
RC is a group of three street preachers from North Carolina and Michigan in the US. In an article responding to criticism, they defend the biblical mandate for street preaching this way,
Seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain…and He opened His mouth and taught them (Matt. 5:1-2). And He sat down and taught the people from the boat (Luke 5:3). Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that My house may be filled (Luke 14:23). Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere (Mark 16:20). So he reasoned…in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there (Acts 17:17).
The focus here is on Jesus as the model of street preacher, with a poke at the Disciples and Paul towards the end.
A couple more arguments for…
Some street preachers would also point out that the purpose of gospel proclamation on the streets is not to make the gospel palatable or likeable. In fact, a measure of doing it properly could actually be how much persecution they are be met with. We should in fact expect persecution and complaints if we are ‘doing it properly’ (2. Tim. 3:12; 1 Cor. 1:23), and are called, regardless of this, to warn the world of the wrath of God and coming judgement (Ez. 2:3-7).
Other street preachers might not push this prophecy-style language quite so hard, but instead talk about the amazing opportunities that street preaching provides which invitational evangelism or preaching purely from a pulpit doesn’t. They will example people who heard the gospel on the streets and were saved.
So, where are we heading?
What I’d like to do here, is explore this idea that street preaching as we know it today is what was happening in the Bible. Was ‘every Bible preacher from Noah to John’ as Sutek said, a street preacher? Was Jesus ‘first and foremost’ a street preacher?
I will look at the Prophets, the Apostles and Jesus himself as street preachers against the model of street preaching today.
Street preaching in the Old Testament
All of Sutek’s key examples of public address in the Old Testament (with the exception of Noah) are Prophets. Kirkland and Baker relied heavily on these examples too, so let’s start there.
An Old Testament prophet was a very specific category of person. They rarely enjoyed it, took great pains to avoid it, and we’re often lambasted for it too! Ezekiel lay on his side for 430 days, Isaiah walked around naked while preaching for three years, Hosea was told to marry a prostitute, Balaam had to compete with a donkey, Nehemiah went on a rampage – mostly pulling people’s hair, and Jeremiah wasn’t allowed to wash his pants. The point is, these were unique, very rare individuals called to a specific time.
It’s this ‘specificness’ that we need to address.
Prophets were rarely (if ever) called to speak to Gentiles – they were exclusively sent to God’s people. Using Sutek’s passages from his earlier quote as our examples:
“Jeremiah (11:6)” is sent specifically to Judah and Jerusalem. In fact, vv.1-5 is a message that only makes sense if spoke to God’s people. The whole ‘preach’ is about a covenant made with God’s people that they have broken (vv.6-17).
“Ezekiel (Ezek. 2:1-7, chapters 3 and 33)” is sent to ‘the Israelites’ (2:3). There’s no mention of preaching on the streets, but considering the content of his message, it’s seems likely that most of his speaking would have been in and around the Temple. Chapter 3 is again specifically to Israel (vv.4-5, 7, 11, 17), and Chapter 33 is ‘your people’ (vv.2, 12, 17, 30), who are ‘Israel’ (vv.7, 10, 11, 20, 23, 28), specifically in Jerusalem (vv. 21).
“Isaiah (Isa. 58)” is sent to God’s covenant people, the ‘children of Jacob’ (vv.1, 14). This is an interesting example, because Isaiah was called to speak to God’s people in the middle of Babylonian captivity – yet none of his preaching is delivered to Babylonians.
“to Jonah, to Noah…” Noah isn’t a sent preacher or a Prophet. God didn’t tell him to speak or proclaim anything – God told him to build an ark for his own salvation (Gen. 6:14; 7:1). At no point in the story does Noah proclaim to anybody. Jonah spoke to the people of Nineveh in Assyria (Jon. 1:1). These aren’t explicitly God’s people and Jonah did go into the city streets proclaiming God’s message (3:4). This would seem to be the closest link, therefore, to today’s street preacher, however because of the content of Jonah’s message, it’s likely that God had people there that Jonah was speaking directly to, rather than the pagan nation.
“Ezra (Ezra 10:9-11; Neh. 8:1-5)”, speaks to God’s people, in Jerusalem at the place of gathered worship (in the square outside the Temple. Ez. 10:9, Neh. 8:1-2) They were also invited to attend and hear the message (Ez. 10:7, 12). Ezra is speaking directly to Israel using the Law that only they would have understood (Ez. 10:11, Neh. 8:7-8).
There are a couple of notable examples outside of Sutek’s list. Moses would be the most obvious who is sent to the Egyptian Pharaoh outside of God’s people, however 1.) This wasn’t a public street address or preach, and 2.) It was a specific message for a specific time to let God’s people go, and 3.) It was accompanied by incredible signs and wonders of judgement upon Egypt.
Old Testament Summary
The Prophets in the Old Testament were a very rare and immensely specific category of people. They interpreted the past, the present, and the future and spoke almost exclusively to God’s own people (with the possible exception of Jonah). They sometimes spoke directly to kings individually, but they just didn’t street preach as we would understand it today.
Thinking of today, there is a notable difference between the spiritual gift called prophecy (with a small p), which can happen in the gathering to give a word of knowledge or edification, but with much testing and accountability (1 Cor. 12-14); and the institution of an Old Testament Prophet (big P). Similar to the Apostles (big A!) a Prophet received the exact and unquestioned word of God such that it could be included in Scripture.
If anyone claimed to be this kind of Prophet today, I would be very concerned. If true, they too would be able to add to the Bible.
The fact remains that the Prophets in the Old Testament did not do what we would call street preaching today – what they did was deliver God’s message to God’s people usually in or around God’s designed place of gathered worship. They didn’t invite people to follow God they challenged people to return to God.
I’m concerned that Sutek’s material particularly (which I’ve found to be somewhat typical of these ‘biblical defences’) treats the Bible quite disrespectfully. In every instance above, the passage quoted didn’t say what Sutek used it for. If all Sutek meant was the speaking of a God-themed message, out loud, to God’s own people, then we’d be closer to the truth – but as a defence of open-air evangelism on the streets, this use of the proof-texting is indefensible. It’s a similar story in Kirkland and Baker too – for people who proclaim to love the Bible so much, they used it quite clumsily.
I couldn’t find, therefore, a single Old Testament example of what we call ‘street preaching’ to an uninvited mass of pagan people in public area to proclaim God’s word, or to warn about judgement. It’s just not modelled in the Old Testament. This doesn’t mean don’t do it, but it does mean it’s not – at least from the Old Testament – a biblical requirement.
What about the New Testament?
Let’s begin again with Sutek’s passages, but this will also specifically address the arguments made by the other sources, most especially Reformation Charlotte.
“Peter and the other disciples (Mark 16:15).” This is part of the great commission and is a declaration of the content of teaching, not the method. Let’s break it down using its key word for our purposes, ‘preach.’ For this we’re also going to include Sutek’s claim that Jesus “was first and foremost a street preacher.”
The word used for preach is κηρύξατε. Its root word means ‘evangelise’ or ‘announce the good news’ and part of its stem means ‘herald’ or ‘one who speaks aloud’. Its Old Testament equivalent is used more broadly, for example to ‘preach freedom to the captives’ and ‘proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour’ (Is. 4:18-19).
To understand what the word means here, it’s important to connect it to how it was used of Jesus Himself. It’s the word used for Jesus ‘proclaiming’ the word of God in Matt. 4:17, and Mk 1:14 and is the word that accompanies Jesus’ parables and ministry in Matt. 4:23, Mk. 1:39, and Lk. 4:44. What you’ll notice immediately in these passages is how little actual ‘street preaching’ you see Jesus doing. In fact, we just don’t really see Jesus preaching on the streets to crowds anywhere, that’s not a feature of His ministry. Instead you see Him dialoguing with individuals and small groups and teaching his disciples, often with a crowd ‘listening in.’ If anything, we see Jesus removing Himself from crowds. Let’s look at the passages:
In Matt. 22:33 we hear that there was a crowd there, and that they were astonished. However, Jesus wasn’t talking to them, He was conversing with the Chief Priests (21:23), the Pharisees (22:15) and the Sadducees (22:23). This all happened in the place of gathered worship (21:1, 12, 23) – not on the streets of some pagan town.
In Mk. 1:39 and Luke 4:44 Jesus was preaching, but in the synagogues to Jews, not on the streets to Gentiles.
The best way to make sense of the Great Commission, then, is not to suddenly throw a new method into the mix that Jesus Himself never did.
We are to imitate Jesus in how we exercise the Great Commission – and you just don’t see Jesus street preaching in the way we think of today. You see Him conversing with individuals, dialoguing with small groups, practicing miracles, teaching His disciples, and sending them out to do the same. However, even in that case, Jesus actually tells them not to go to the Gentiles (Matt. 10:5-6).
So, back to Sutek’s list:
“Paul (Acts 9:15; 23:11).” God has told Ananias that Paul is God’s chosen mouthpiece to ‘proclaim’ good news to the gentiles. However, there is no mention here of any kind of preaching, street or otherwise. Instead you see Paul immediately debating with Jewish leaders (v.22). Again, in Acts 23:11, there is no mention of street preaching, just the testimony of the gospel. The mechanism is not given in either of these passages.
So, then what about Paul? Even without these passages, what mechanisms did he use – wasn’t he a preacher? Well not in the ‘street preacher’ sense. What we see is Paul entering synagogues to speak with the Jews (Acts 13:5, 14; 14:1; 17:2, 10, 17), making some converts who then provide a base for Paul to speak outside of the synagogues – but usually in their homes, or by a river, or in some other accepted invitational space.
There is, of course, the example of Paul speaking at the Areopagus to the Greeks (Acts 17:22-34) but at the invitation of their philosophers (v.19), and one example in the same chapter about reasoning (dialoguing, discussing, conversing) in the ‘marketplace’ (or agora, v.17). This was common practice in Athens, where philosophers (most famously Socrates) would be available to passers-by who wanted to discuss their various views individually and in small groups. It was certainly not a ‘street preach’ as it might casually sound.
Paul, therefore, doesn’t provide us a model for street preaching either.
“Timothy (2 Tim. 4:2).” Again, this verse doesn’t provide an example of street preaching or street evangelising. We’re talking about Timothy’s ministry with the Ephesian church, and particularly his ministry to refute internal false teachers.
“Stephen.” Stephen’s incredible speech in Acts 7 is again given exclusively to Jews using Israel-specific stories and language. This happens within the context of the Sanhedrin (6:12).
Outside of Sutek’s examples we could consider John the Baptist who was an open-air preacher of sorts, but he spoke exclusively to members of Israel using familiar language – and to people who came to him, gathered at the Jordan, not in the public areas of a town.
Peter, of course, preaches at Pentecost in Acts 2, but not only do many of the best commentators consider this to be the last piece of Old Testament-styled Prophecy (big P!), but it again happens within the context of Israel at a Jewish celebration – and as a one-time special part of the gospel story, the initial sending of the Holy Spirit. So even if we did concede this was something like street preaching, I don’t think you could draw a straight line from this important one-time event, and what we do today.
New Testament Summary
There are no examples in the New Testament of street preaching evangelistic messages or judgement warnings to gentiles in public spaces.
Evangelism, proclaiming the good news, telling the gospel, and going to gentiles are parts of the requirements of the New Testament, but the Great Commission points us towards doing it like Jesus did, which doesn’t include a model of what we would call street preaching today.
Street preaching, a biblical mandate, or a matter of the heart?
Street preaching certainly isn’t unbiblical but I don’t believe we find a mandate or a model for it in either the Old or the New Testaments. That said, using an iPad isn’t in the Bible either! Neither is a PA system, nor handing out of pamphlets. But like with these things, knowing there’s not a biblical mandate moves us to the better question, which is ‘how?’
The point of this piece was to carefully deconstruct the idea that street preaching as it’s often practiced today was a mandated, or even common part of the Bible. It’s simply not. Without out that weird weight strapped around its neck, we can start talking about how to do it well.
If we drain ‘street preaching’ of its absolutist mandate of biblical authority, then we can have a real conversation about how to actually do it.
Let’s save that for another time! Today, I want to end with a careful caveat question for street preachers – why do you do it?
An inordinate number of street preachers that I’ve met fall into at least one of these three categories: They don’t belong to any recognised church; they are not local to the place their preaching; or they have some history of feeling rejected by Christians.
This is not true across-the-board and has simply been my observation of the street preachers that I have interacted with. But if this is true more broadly then we need to be very careful in how we challenge or even rebuke people who actually might be quite literally ‘out of fellowship’. There is a litany of biblical material on this that can’t quite so easily be brushed aside. I don’t think church discipline, for instance, can be done in a guerrilla way, and more personally, we may find ourselves coming against a history of pain, fear, or even abuse. Like in all disagreement we need to lead with kindness and go with mercy.
One of the most important questions to consider, therefore, is why do people street preach in the first place? Is it purely because they 1.) believe they are instructed to and 2.) genuinely desire people to meet with Jesus and 3.) truly believe that street preaching is an effective way to do that? If so cool… to some degree.
Sometimes, however, the sense that I get is a great deal of street preaching content and form is motivated by fear or some idea of ultimate duty. I’ve heard it said that if we don’t do it, then the blood of those who could have heard the message (and didn’t) would be on our hands. Some of these explanations clearly cross the line of salvation-by-works. It’s uncomfortable to say the least.
This, of course, is not true across-the-board, but it’s worth asking questions about the heart and what ultimately motivates a street preacher. Again, I’ve seen some street preaching done incredibly well by people who genuinely seem to have a clear grasp of the gospel and measured motivation for why they’re doing it. So, heart-matters are subjective, but I think they’re worth flagging up as they will colour how someone reads the Bible for support.
Afterall, as much as we’d like to think the Bible is ‘black-and-white’ it’s rarely read without a multi-coloured lens on, and if we can’t be honest about and address the lens that we might wear, then we should be very careful correcting others. There are Matt. 7:5 planks in our eyes!
All the best!
Tim
Photo by Daryan Shamkhali on Unsplash
