I go back and forth all the time with wither or not I should tell others about my evangelism efforts or just keep quiet about them. When I do tell about them it is always for 1 of 2 reasons:
1. I believe others should take part even if only by prayer.
2. When I'm feeling down and in need of a supporting word.
Most times I do not tell what I'm doing for 1 of 2 reasons:
1. I do not do it to be noticed by men.
2. It seems that when I do tell no one really cares so why bother.
After a conversation I had yesterday afternoon I thought that it would be good and fitting to show and explain my evangelism efforts. The above video shows and the following words explain.
Yesterday there was a large family visiting our Sunday school class and church. The discussion in class was over 2 Corinthians 3:18-4:6. There was much being said in class about how we as Christians should reflect Christ into the world and how people should see Christ in us. As I often do I gave my perspective from my open-air preaching mindset. I said; "If anyone expects to see Christ in me they will be mistaken. I am not Christ nor do I look anything like Him. So how do we explain this verse in 2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." (NASB, 95). "I agree with what has been said that the veil is a metaphor for unbelief. We go from unbelief to belief, but I see the mirror in this passage as being the word of God, not a reflection of us but Christ. I cannot see the Lord now dimly, as it says in 1 Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. Mirrors in the first century were likely dim (as was explained by our class teacher) so you could not see clearly in a mirror as you would face to face. Now we know Jesus through reading about Him in the scriptures, but there will come a time when we will know Him fully face to face. So we look at this reflection of Jesus given by the scriptures to see if we are being transformed into His image. We do not hope that people will come to Jesus by looking at our lives, our good works are but filthy rags, we tell them about Jesus through the scriptures."
Our teacher then told the class being that there were a great many visitors with this large family and others that I was an open-air preacher. After class the wife of this large family approached me, a bold woman, she began to question me if I knew a man named Ruben Israel and several others of that same group. I told her that I knew of them. She talked about how people get in their face and argue and spit on them and things like that. I told her that I knew of them but did not personally know them.
First of all, I do not think that open-air preaching is a method for evangelism, it is a principle. Examples of open-air preaching are found all throughout scripture and throughout church history. Now while I believe that open-air preaching is a principle and not a method I do believe that there are many methods employed in open-air preaching. The method that Ruben Israel uses and the others that she mentioned is not a method I use, and sad to say I don't believe to be a good one. But when someone hears about open-air preaching what these guys do are what most people think of.
So what method do I use in open-air preachng? Plagiarism is when you take a sermon that belongs to someone else and either quote it word for word or paraphrase it and pass it off as being your own. There is nothing wrong with quoting another man's sermon word for word or paraphrasing it just so long as you give the author credit. This is what I do in my open-air preaching. Here's the deal, I did not live in the first century when Jesus walked the earth; I did not see Him, I did not hear Him, I did not see His miracles, I did not witness His trial and crucifixion, and I did not see His resurrection from the dead. His apostles did, so it is their witness that I give into the world.
God is so gracious to me, He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ in human flesh to live a righteous life and die in my place for my sin. Therefore, I am dedicated to telling people about Him through the eyes and ears of the Apostle John, by publicly reciting John's first hand eye witness account of our Lord. I usually conclude a reciting of a portion of the Gospel According to John with a combined brief summary and other direct quotation from scripture about creation, sin, righteousness, and Salvation vs Judgment.
In Christ alone. May the Lord bless you and keep you all. "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account." (Rom 4:8 [NASB]).
