“Don’t Mention Sin!” – Reading Evangelism
It was a busy and good day of outreach in Reading. Even before we had fully set up, a young man came over to speak with Rich Baxter. He shared that he had been looking into religion and was interested in finding out about God. Rich spoke with him about the Bible (we gave him one too) and then used his testimony to present the gospel. The young man was intrigued and took an invitation to church. From the earliest minutes of the outreach, the Lord was bringing people to hear the good news!
Throughout the day, there was a constant stream of people stopping to listen to bits and pieces of the open-air messages or taking literature from the table. It was really encouraging to see people from all different backgrounds hearing the gospel.
Bill was our first preacher of the day; he spoke on “What Did Jesus Say About Himself?” As he explained the teaching of Christ, an older man heckled, shouting, “What colour was Jesus’ hair?” It was a random question, but the man wasn’t interested in sticking around to find out the answer (see Revelation 1:14 for the answer!).
I was next up to preach; today I spoke on “Death: Is It the End?” Last week, I received the news that my brother in Australia had gone home to be with Jesus, so I used that event to explain the shortness of life. A few people paused to listen, with one or two of them speaking with team members afterwards.
One of the blessings of the Reading team is that we have so many preachers – we can basically go one after another. Next up was Rich, who used an illustration of a conker shell to explain God’s design and care – he then pointed out that God cares much more for us. It was a good way to use the natural world as a bridge to sharing the gospel.
An encouraging part of this work is seeing new labourers raised up. Today, Jacob preached for the first time in the open air. He was nervous but keen, so he took John 3:16 as his text and began to explain the good news. By way of encouragement, a man walking past stopped to shake Jacob’s hand as he preached. However, in an effort to discourage, a lady came up after the message to ‘correct’ him.
At first, this lady seemed like a well-meaning but rather soft evangelical. She spoke about how lovely Jesus is, and how people should hear about His teaching, but said we shouldn’t speak much about sin, death, or judgement. She was quite clear: “Don’t mention sin!” Since I was standing next to Jacob, I asked her, “For what did Jesus die?” The lady replied, “Yes, I know, our sin, but people don’t want to hear that.” She then said that her favourite verse was John 3:16 as it is all about love, so I asked, “It says in John 3:16 that we are perishing. Why do people perish spiritually?” Again, she said, “I know, it is about our sin.”
Then the lady shared how she had been a missionary for over twenty years and had travelled all around the world teaching people how to evangelise correctly. Both she and her husband had been endorsed and sent out by the Pope to help Roman Catholic churches do a better job of reaching out. Now it all became clear – this lady wasn’t an evangelical; she was Roman Catholic, and she wanted us to conform to Rome’s view of how to do things.
She was very friendly, and we had a bit of a back-and-forth chat. She boasted about her works and deeds, even saying that Mother Teresa once attended an event they had organised. I made sure to share the gospel with her, and then I gave her a tract designed for Roman Catholics. She gladly took the tract and said she’d consider the message.
Around this time, Trevor preached on the biblical call to look to Jesus. As he proclaimed the good news, an older lady walked past saying, “We need to be saved from people like you!” When you think about her words, you realise just how sad they are — soon she will be standing before God to give an account for every word she has spoken (Matthew 12:36). Instead of heeding the call to trust in Jesus, she mocked and rejected the gospel.
The final preacher of the day was Bill. He finished the outreach by speaking on “The Way to Heaven.” He had a couple of people listening quite seriously as he explained that Jesus is our only hope.
As we packed down at the end of the day, we noticed that lots of material had been taken from the literature table. The Lord truly was at work in Reading!
SDG!
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Josh Williamson is a full-time evangelist with The Open-Air Mission. Since 1853, OAM has been sharing the good news on the streets of the United Kingdom. To stay updated about the work of the Mission, please sign up for the free quarterly magazine and monthly prayer notes.
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