Some Thoughts on Open-Air Preaching...

In the coming week, I will be sharing some thoughts that have been mulling around in my head concerning the practice of preaching the Gospel in the open air. This practice of "open-air preaching" used to be quite common, but--as evangelicalism has slipped further and further into cultural irrelevancy--it has been all but abandoned.

Lately, though, the Lord has used faithful men to revive the practice. But we still have a long way to go before the Gospel is proclaimed faithfully in the public square on a consistent basis (in both urban and rural areas).

The concept is a simple one:

Stand up before a crowd (the exactly size of the crowd will vary), and preach (that is..."proclaim," "herald" or "announcing") the good news of salvation of God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

The first and most obvious question is...

"Is there Biblical precedent for proclaiming the way of salvation in public to a crowd?"

Yes.

According to the Scriptures, the very first "open-air preacher" was Noah. God saw that the world was evil (Gen 6:5). God told Noah that He was going to destroy the world (Gen 6:13), and instructed him to build a way to escape the destruction (Gen 6:14).

It took Noah approximately 120 years to build the ark. Did he ever engage the wicked culture during that time with the message of impending judgment? Did he ever preach repentance so that this judgment could be avoided?

Peter calls Noah a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5). The author of Hebrews tells us that Noah "condemned the world."

Noah knew of the impending disaster; he had God's word on it. For 120 years, Noah labored out in the open in building this immense structure. Most certainly, the progress of the ark was clearly seen by those wicked souls who passed by. Noah did indeed preach to them. In fact, he preached to them for 120 years.

And how many converts did he see in 120 years?

None.

That being said, look at Noah's ultimate fate...

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
(Heb 11:7 ESV) (emphasis mine)

What can we learn from Noah's experience as an open-air preacher?

The number of converts does not determine the effectiveness of the preacher.

As we continue, we'll look at a few other examples of open-air preachers in the Bible and see what we can learn from their example.

Until next time...don't stop proclaiming.

- Shane