John Hawley of the Open Air Mission provides us with 20 quotations to challenge us to get out with the gospel
1: John Wesley
‘It is no marvel that the devil does not love field preaching! Neither do I. I love a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit. But where is my zeal if I do not trample all these underfoot in order to save one more soul?
‘Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work.’
2: Charles Spurgeon
‘No sort of defence is needed for preaching out of doors; but it would need very potent arguments to prove that a man had done his duty who has never preached beyond the walls of his meeting house. A defence is required rather for services within buildings than for worship outside of them. Apologies are certainly wanted for architects who pile up brick and stone into the skies when there is no such need for preaching rooms among poor sinners down below.’
3: Paul Williams
‘I do feel we need that balance – it is relatively easy to stand in a pulpit, but a thousand times harder to stand on the pavement and speak of Christ. But I feel that if a man is called and gifted to stand in a pulpit then he needs to have the courage to stand on the pavement. We are not all called to be open air evangelists but any man who preaches in a pulpit ought to be able to at least bear testimony on the street, where people answer back or ask the tough questions. The open air is the toughest place of all, but it is a great test of the reality of our faith. How easy is it to play “church” ’.
(Paul is pastor of Swindon Evangelical Church.)
4: William Carey
‘We can never make sacrifices too great, when the eternal salvation of souls is the object, except, indeed, we sacrifice the commands of Christ.’
5: The Revd Allen M. Baker
‘I wonder if the real reason for our failure to engage in one-on-one, door-to-door, street evangelism is our laziness, cowardice, and pride. I am speaking from my own personal experience here. I suspect the root cause is my pride.
‘When I seek to engage people in a questionnaire in hopes of sharing the gospel with them, and when I am rejected or mocked I find it especially humiliating. This blow to my pride fuels my innate laziness and cowardice, and I simply find other things to do. I tend to avoid the pain of rejection at all costs.’
(Pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA)
6: Rico Tice
‘We must learn to overcome the fear of what people think of us.’
7: Charles Spurgeon
‘Twelve Qualifications for Open Air Preachers: 1) A good voice 2) Naturalness of manner 3) Self-possession 4) A good knowledge of Scripture and of common things 5) Ability to adapt himself to any congregation 6) Good illustrative powers 7) Zeal, prudence, and common sense 8) A large loving heart 9) Sincere belief in all he says 10) Entire dependence on the Holy Spirit for success 11) A close walk with God by prayer 12) A consistent walk before men by a holy life.
8: Professor Andy McIntosh
‘God may not give us many more years of witness in the open air in the UK – the winds are blowing against us. Could I encourage you to consider open air work if you have not already done so? In the UK we have ‘Christian Answer’ teams throughout the year and ‘United Beach Missions’ going on in the summer – why not consider joining one of these teams? Ring 0113 230 4362, or look at the website for UBM www.ubm.org.uk/. The Lord is faithful and stands with us when we simply speak out the great and wonderful news that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”’.
9: Lance Pibworth
‘We don’t see big results from open air work – but what does it do for those who do it!’
(Co-founder of United Beach Missions)
10: Frank Cockrem
‘Let us preach as Christ would preach, invite as he would invite, plead as he would plead, and warn as he would warn. Not with harsh unloving condemnatory tones, but with the earnest entreaties of a brother and a friend.’
(Open Air Mission Gen. Sec. 100 years ago)
11: John Hawley
Why Preach in the OA? 1) Obedience to the Lord and his Word. The Lord encouraged believers to witness at home / in their own back yard! (e.g. Legion, Luke 8.39). Many now on the mission field have started with beach mission or open airs when young. 2) People will not hear – unless we go where they are (Romans 10.14,15). 95% do not go to church in the UK! 3) Blessing from God – always comes in the wake of obedience – both to the giver and the receiver (Luke 11.28) 4) Growth as a Christian – my faith is strengthened as I sort out and share what I believe (2 Timothy 2.15).’
(Open Air Mission evangelist)
12: Anon.
‘The early disciples were ‘fishers of men’, while modern disciples are often little more than aquarium keepers.’
13: George Whitefield
‘As I go, so he (the Holy Spirit) cometh.’
14: Professor Steve Taylor
‘Why do I preach in the open air? 1) Biblical: Jeremiah, the apostles Peter and Paul, and the Lord Jesus Christ all preached in the open air. 2) Effective: in Acts 2 – 3000 people were converted at the first post-Pentecost open air. 3) Useful: where better to meet ‘the man in the street’ than actually in the street, at the open air? 4) Reaches all types: those who would / could never come to church and those who go to a different (no gospel) church. 5) Has a blessed history: God greatly blessed the field preaching of Wesley and Whitefield in the 18th-century revivals.’
(Chairman of United Beach Missions)
15: George Mueller
‘My experience as regards preaching in the open air has been very different from what I might have expected. … Perhaps the Lord has not been pleased to let me see fruit from this part of my work, though I have been many times engaged in it; or it may be that because I did not pray so earnestly respecting my outdoor preaching as my indoor preaching, the former has not been so much blessed as the latter. Though I do not consider it my work at present, yet it is a most important work, and I should delight in being so honoured now as to be allowed to engage in it.’
16: William Booth
‘To go down among the perishing crowds is your duty. Your happiness from now on will consist in sharing their misery, your crown in helping them to bear their cross, and your heaven in going into the very jaws of hell to rescue them. Now then, go to God and tell him…you are willing to spend the rest of your days struggling in the midst of these perishing multitudes, whatever it may cost you. You must do it! You cannot hold back. You have enjoyed yourself in Christianity long enough…I hardly know which gladdened me the most – the sight of the poor drowning people climbing onto the rocks, or the devotion and self-sacrifice of those whose whole being was wrapped up in the effort for their deliverance. Now what will you do?’
(Founder of Salvation Army)
17: C.T. Studd
‘Some like to live within the sound of church or chapel bell, I’d rather run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.’
18: Richard Baxter
‘If you believe not the Word of God, and the danger of sinners, why are you Christians yourselves? If you do believe it, why do you not bestir yourselves to helping others? Do you not care who is damned as long as you are saved?’
19: Paul Williams
‘How much good it would do to all the churches of Christ if every evangelical pastor took part in OA meetings whenever possible. What a wonderful opportunity these days afford – one day we, or our children and grandchildren, may look back with envy on these days when it was freely possible to share the gospel in this way.’
20: Derrick Morlan
‘God has blessed our feeble efforts in Oxford with much kindness and fruit. It is not uncommon to have weekly visitors in our small chapel who received a gospel tract at an open air meeting. Open air preaching has helped my pulpit preaching in many ways – I feel I am better able to challenge our folks to go out with the gospel if I am consistently doing the same.’
(Pastor of Oxford Baptist Church)
