The other day I walked out of class and what did I see… not a bird, not a plane, not superman but a crowd of around two hundred students around a street preacher. Inside of me something leapt for joy and at the same time fell with sorrow as I saw a man holding a sign saying God hates homosexuals, fornicators, immoral women, etc. and wearing a neon green shirt proclaiming “Turn or Burn.” Immediately red flags came up so I stopped to listen. As I watched and eventually spoke to one of three men who was there proclaiming salvation I observed a few issues that I had with the preachers.
1. The crowd was more offended at the presentation than the actual Gospel Message
2. The preacher said that babies were not born sinners
3. Our repentance was emphasized MORE than the work of Christ.
4. Two out of the three evangelists would not admit they fall in to sin.
Interestingly enough the preacher used a style that is regularly used by Ray Comfort of Way of the Master and Wretched Radio’s Todd Friel. Now I happen to like Way of the Master, Wretched Radio, Ray Comfort, Todd Friel, street preaching, and above all the gospel message, but the fact that the crowd was more offended at the presentation concerned me greatly. In his recording “Witnessing to two Lesbians at the State Fair” Todd Friel mentions that when witnessing, or street preaching for that matter, one must be cautious to bring up homosexuality because when one does it is as if they attack the identity of their audience. Now if homosexuality comes up it comes up, but if we bring it to the table before sin such as hate, lust, and lying then it comes off as an attack. I also found it intriguing that those in the crowd were more irate about the attack on homosexuals than anything else.
Now when the preacher mentioned that babies were not born sinners I became very concerned. After all sin nature is at the core of orthodox Christian beliefs. It was explained to me upon inquiring with one of the preachers farther that because we have “free will” we chose to sin when after we were born. This ignores the imputation of Adam’s sin onto all generations as stated in Romans 5:12-14 and Romans 5:18. Now the chief argument of the man I was conversing with was that if we are born into sin then that would mean babies go to Hell. I am not a theological scholar and I have not researched the age of accountability or looked into one of many theories about what happens to children that die at a young age, but I do know that God’s judgment is just and that apart from the judgments that have been revealed to me from his written word they are also “unsearchable.” (Romans 11:33) However, I do know that Paul clearly states in Romans 5 that because of Adam’s sin all are under the condemnation of sin.
For those that are familiar with Ray Comfort’s style of evangelism you may know that repentance is stressed, and that is not a bad thing. Repentance is a sure sign of salvation. However in the “gospel” proclamation that I experienced the work of God’s Salvation through His son Jesus Christ was drastically minimized. What do I mean by that? Though God’s mercy was mentioned it was not made clear that Jesus bore the wrath of God for the sins of all those who placed their trust in Him. Instead repentance and right living were emphasized and the evangelists went as far to say that if we do not live a holy life style God will judge us and send us to Hell. Whatever happened to the concept of justification where Christ died once and for all for our sins, past present AND future? (Romans 3:23-26, Hebrews 7:27)
To be honest I was pretty heated up with a lot of the issues that these “preachers” were bringing up but the issue that really brought out my concern and frustration was the preachers did not believe that they sinned any longer. One of them said that he surrendered to the cross daily so he did not sin. This is to ignore 1 John 1:7-10. Of course he would say that John was talking about someone who was not saved, but the context hints this is not the case.
So, what point do I want to make through this blog? Well, when I am looking at these men who are proclaiming the “gospel” and examining their lives I must also examine my own. When witnessing, do I offend others with my presentation instead of the gospel? How often do I remember the world’s depravity in sin and does that move me to have compassion for the lost? Do I emphasis repentance more than Christ when I witness to others or even in my own life? Am I willing to admit that I still have a problem with a thing called sin and it is only through Christ that I am being rescued from it? I am just happy to say that though I may not pass this test, God is still Sovereign and what he wills will be accomplished despite my flaws or the flawed proclamations of certain street preachers.
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