Hello Brothers and Sisters,
I just wanted to see others opinions on “Open Air Preaching”. I’m am two fold when it comes to this. On one hand, the Gospel is peached. On the other, some Preachers go too far with speaking of condemnation. I believe if it is done by the Holy Spirit it can be very powerful and convicting. If it is done by a man or women because of their own omission, I think it can give unbelievers the wrong impression of Jesus’s grace and the Fathers wrath. Please let me what you think. May the Lord of Hosts bless us.
I don't have an issue with it, but there are a large number of Pelagians who are doing street preaching.
You might want to consider whether the criticisms you have are about individuals who are on Youtube who really are not Christian but are Pelagian.
Jesse Morrell, Kerrigan Skelly, Micah Armstrong, Mitch Metzger, Clarence "Bro" Cope, Dean Saxton, and Jed Smock are not individuals who hold a Christian worldview. They deny core Christian teachings such as original sin, justification by faith alone, imputed righteousness, and penal substitutionary atonement. Many of them are sinless perfectionists.
To those who do not have a good understanding of theology they may appear to be Christians, but they are not. No Christian is going to deny these elements.
You didn't elaborate much on the "Jesus' grace" and "Father's wrath" part. However, the fact that sinners are under the wrath and condemnation of God is an important part of the gospel message. This is what I would call "law". The fact that Jesus died to appease the Father's wrath, and that we can receive forgiveness is the "grace" part. The cross is the intersection where God's wrath and the love of God meet.
I consider an evangelistic message missing either component to be a half-baked cake. My grandpa used to fry pancakes for us in the morning when we went fishing. He often would not fry the pancake enough and it would be half-raw. I would try to eat around the edges where the pancake was not raw because I hated that part. Additionally, he wouldn't always mix it up very well and it would have flour lumps in portions of the cake.
That is basically how many people talk to others about salvation. They really don't have a well-structured presentation. People get saved under such presentations, but I think they can end up holding all kinds of bad understandings because of it.
I believe the first step is in nailing down what you are going to say before you talk to someone. It isn't whether open air preaching is bad or good, but nailing down your message.
You will also find people who insist that you really aren't evangelizing if you don't do open air preaching. It's a form of self righteous elitism. There are other ways to witness to others, including one on one conversations as it is appropriate.
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