A new technique for me: something new, something different - any thoughts?

The past few times I have gone street-witnessing, I have tried something new, something different. Last Saturday, I used a mic to do this, this week, I just used ‘Let Freedom Ring’ gospel tracts and a notepad. (A special thanks to Chris Owens for getting this idea started!)

I mingled with the crowd and handed out the tracts and said ‘Let Freedom Ring. Did you get one?’ If they took it, I said, ‘Hey we’re also taking a survey – What is freedom?’ It was surprising to me that a lot of people wanted to give their opinions. Depending on the reactions, I would interact with them and then ask them ‘What is Ultimate Freedom?’ I would let them answer and work with them, and then mention the latest statistic, 10 out of 10 people die. So, then I pointed out that because we are going to die, then the freedoms we enjoy here aren’t going to last forever, and that as I see it, spending eternity with God is the ultimate freedom, because He is perfect, loving, beautiful! Then, I asked them how someone gets to Heaven. I would let them respond and then lead them toward the point where I could take them through the 10 Commandments, pointing out that the 10 Commandments is God’s standard of perfection and that if we keep those, then we can get to Heaven, if not, then we have a problem… A lot of people that I talked to thought that apologizing or confessing sin saves us, I pointed out to them that if a criminal is standing before a judge, and he apologizes, the judge still has to issue judgment, there are still consequences for the crime, and if he is a good judge he will still issue the judgment. I would take them through the 10 Commandments and then use the illustration of a criminal in a civil court who owes $20,000 that he can’t pay, and that as he’s being led of to prison, someone he doesn’t even know, goes up to the judge and pays his fine for Him. Then, I pointed out that the man wasn’t freed because he was sorry, but because his fine was paid. If they had further questions about it, explain about how we are going to have to jump out of a plane at 20,000’. If we are going to have to jump, are we going to just hold onto the parachute or put it on? We are going to put it on! It’s the same thing with us and God, we broke His Law and He paid our fine, if we receive it. Then on several occasions, I read John 8:31-32 to them : “If you abide in My Word [obey Jesus’ teaching], you are truly My disciples [followers] and you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” – pointing out that knowing God’s truth sets us free, and salvation is more than just believing in Jesus. Right before Jesus explained that we shall know the truth and the truth will set us free, Jesus pointed out that we have to follow Him – following Jesus is part of getting eternal life. On a few different occasions, I mentioned how 2nd Corinthians 5:17 says: “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” Then I pointed out that if we truly repented and accepted what Jesus has done for us, then God will be building something new in us – a hunger for Him and His Word. If that’s not there, then we need to check to see if our prayer was genuine. I then talked with them more and/or gave them more information if they were interested and thanked them for talking with us and wished them a nice evening.

It was amazing to me to see how many people were willing to talk to me and many people loved giving their opinions! It was also very encouraging to see the ‘RCCR principle’ work in this too…

a servant of Christ, Steven : )