Hecklers and Good Responses – Portsmouth Evangelism
It was bitterly cold in Portsmouth, but the city was still busy with people. After setting up our open-air board and literature table, we prayed and began handing out tracts. There were seven of us on the team today, and we were all kept busy sharing the good news.
Since I was the only preacher, I thought it best to start off with tract work and one-to-one witnessing. There was a good uptake of literature, and several people made their way over to the literature table, where Jim and other team members were able to speak with them.
At 12 p.m., I started preaching. My message was on “Steps to Peace with God.” I challenged those walking by to consider whether they had peace with God. As I shared, a lady stopped and then began to heckle. She was a friendly heckler and a joy to interact with. At first, she objected to my preaching by saying, “God is love!” I agreed that God is love, but humanity has chosen, by our sin, to run far from Him. She struggled to grasp the concept that we have willingly chosen to sin against God.
Hecklers draw people in to listen, so rather quickly, we had a crowd gathering to observe the back and forth. This was great, as the lady (who told me she is Polish) would ask a question and then allow me to answer. We discussed the issue of human sin and God’s justice. I stressed that salvation is not achieved by any works we do but is instead freely given by God as an act of love.
Soon, others began to ask questions. An older man asked about God’s existence, so I answered him. He quickly backtracked from his atheism and admitted that God must exist. Another man asked about morality and loving our neighbour, while yet another asked about loving and accepting all people. These were all good questions, but I remained mindful that apologetic answers alone do not bring people to salvation—I had to keep returning to the good news (Romans 1:16). As I answered, I consistently pointed back to the work of Jesus, calling on those listening to repent and believe.
The only ‘bad’ heckler I encountered today was a man who insisted that King James invented the name ‘Jesus.’ He wasn’t open to answers, but the crowd dealt with him and sent him away. In the end, several people took copies of John’s Gospel, including two of my hecklers. The first heckler shook my hand and expressed appreciation for the answers provided.
One particularly encouraging moment was seeing a lady in the crowd who had stopped to listen last week. She had been amazed to hear that Jesus had risen from the dead (read the report here). Once again, she stood listening to the good news today.
Another encouragement was witnessing many of those who had listened to the preaching making their way over to the literature table to request more information. We ran out of Bibles and New Testaments today! Many pieces of literature were taken, and we pray that all who received them read their way into the Kingdom.
One man who had heckled stayed behind to chat further. He has been on a spiritual journey from nothingness to Nordic Paganism. I jokingly told him that he should do what all good pagans did—convert to Christianity! He laughed, and we had a long conversation. He was very open to hearing the good news and was intrigued by the truth that God came down to interact with humanity (John 1:14). He took several booklets and asked if he could return another week to continue the discussion.
I wish I could tell you everything the team was doing during this time, but it was so busy that I didn’t see all their activities. However, what I did see was that everyone was actively handing out tracts and engaging people in discussion. I’m very thankful for all of them! Many heard the good news through our combined team effort.
Finally, we had one more encouragement. Last week, I spoke with a young man who described himself as ‘spiritual’ (read the report here). As I shared the gospel with him, opposition arose to distract him from the message. Today, he returned to continue the conversation. He told me he couldn’t get what had happened out of his mind and was still processing all he had heard. He took more gospel material and said he would return to talk again another day. I was also able to refer him to a local church and introduce him to a team member who attends that church.
The Lord did a wonderful work in Portsmouth today. Please take a few moments right now to pray for all those who heard the good news.
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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