Why The Message Natural Gas Explosion
On October 9, 2013, I posted a message titled Natural Gas Explosion. The reason for the message was that four different professing Christians came up to us after open-air preaching and told us that we “were doing it wrong”. We weren’t loving people to Jesus. The one that stuck out the most to me was a young lady and several of her friends that were attending a Christian college and she said she appreciated our willingness to talk about Jesus, but that we were going about it the wrong way. So I politely asked her what the right way would look like?
She gleefully said, well, we are out handing cups of coffee to people. Then she excitedly pointed to a man sitting by the fountain on the square and said, “Do you see that homeless man?” “Yes, I see him.” “Well, we just went over to him, asked him how he was doing, listened to what he had to say and then offered him a cup of coffee, which he gladly took.” Then I asked her, “How was that sharing the Gospel?” “We told him they were giving him the cup of coffee in the name of Jesus.” She obviously felt very good about what she and her friends had done. I asked her if they shared the Gospel with the man and she replied that they hadn’t earned the right to do that yet. She believes they have to become friends with someone before they do that.
The Building Might Blow Up
Thankfully, God gave me an example to share with the young lady. The fountain where the man was sitting was on the East side of the square and we were on the West side, near the Old Heers building that was being remodeled. I told the young lady that her way of witnessing is like seeing a man smoking in front of the Heers Building and you know there’s a gas leak. You go over to him and ask him if he wouldn’t be more comfortable moving over to the fountain where he can sit down and relax. You even offer him a cup of coffee if he will go over there. Even though you point out how pleasant it would be sitting near the fountain, the man tells you he’s perfectly fine where he’s at. Then you tell him have a nice day and you go on your way, leaving the man in danger. That’s the polite way of witnessing like her giving the man a cup of coffee in Jesus’ name.
I told her open-air preaching is where I see the man smoking in front of the building where there’s a natural gas leak and I run over and grab his arm and tell him that he has to move NOW! There’s great danger; you are in danger of dying if you stay where you are at. The building could blow up at any moment. Instead of telling him how pleasant the water fountain is, I’m grabbing him by the arm and dragging him across the street. Does his arm hurt? You bet it does. But a little pain now, is better than dying in a gas explosion.
Better Understood Each Other And Prayed For Each Other
After giving the young Christian this example, she better understood why we do open-air preaching. I don’t think she was totally convinced that open-air is the right method, but she understood why we do it. I further explained to her that I wasn’t knocking her giving the man a cup of coffee. In fact, I encouraged her to keep doing so. But I also explained that it would be so much more beneficial to also share the Gospel with people.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say we have to “earn the right to share the Gospel.” We are to be ready in season and out of season (at all times) to share the glorious Gospel with this lost and dying world. As Christians, we can always tell people how God saved us. We can tell people how we repented of our sins and put our faith in Jesus. I told her that If she wasn’t comfortable in doing that, then at least she should give people a Gospel tract to read while they drink the coffee.
After we both stated our positions, she asked, “Can we pray for you?” I told her absolutely. They prayed a very nice prayer that God would bless the open-air messages and that people would receive them with the heart they are intended. Then I prayed for her and her friends, that God would bless them and empower them through the Holy Spirit to be bolder witnesses for our Lord. It was actually a great way to end the night of witnessing and that was the reason for the message: Natural Gas Explosion.