A Heckler Objects to the Biblical Jesus – Reading Evangelism
We had many Christians out on the street sharing the good news in Reading. It was encouraging to see believers from several churches coming together for the purpose of making much of Jesus.
Due to repair works, we couldn’t set up in our usual preaching location, but the Lord provided another spot for us to preach. As the outreach got underway, it was incredible to see a steady stream of people heading over to the literature table and many others taking tracts.
I commenced the preaching by speaking on “The Big Picture of Easter.” I had a few heckles, but no one really stuck around to engage in depth. Interestingly, I had two different hecklers raise the issue of the historical Jesus. Both claimed Christ never existed—an argument rejected even by secular historians, as there is ample evidence for the historical Jesus (for more, see: Did Jesus ever exist?). One of those who objected spoke with Rich at length, and it seems some progress was made.
Another man who heckled me said, “It is time to get down to the business of being good!” He thought he was good but hoped he wasn’t good enough for Heaven, as he didn’t want to go there. He wasn’t keen to get down to the business of God, so he quickly moved away.
Next to preach was Rich, who spoke on the uniqueness of Jesus. He did a good job of showing biblically who Christ is. One older Englishman stood close to listen, then walked away. As he left, I engaged him in conversation. The man took a tract but then told me he wasn’t a big fan of Jesus, as in his mind, Christ was ‘soft.’ The man then went on to praise Muhammad as being a ‘strong man.’ I reasoned with him from Scripture and explained the gospel, but the older gentleman was well and truly mixed up. Still, the gospel seed was sown.
Next to preach was Bill, and this was when things got ‘passionate.’ As Bill preached from Colossians 1 on “Who is Jesus Christ?” a few people stood to listen. Then a young black man yelled out, “I have a question!” He quoted John 17:3 and tried to use that verse to disprove the divinity of Christ and the Trinity (for how to answer, see: John 17:3, “The only true God.”). This is a standard argument used by Jehovah’s Witnesses and Oneness heretics, but he was neither; the man also objected to the message of Jesus dying for sinners. We later found out he was a Muslim, and very passionate about his religion.
Bill did an excellent job engaging the Muslim and answering from Scripture. What really annoyed the man was when Bill explained that Jesus, on the cross, became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). At this point, the man walked away, but he did have a longer conversation with a team member.
One of the blessings of Reading is that we have so many preachers that, like today, we don’t all get a chance to preach. I wish I had this ‘problem’ in all our teams. Next up to preach was Fergus, who spoke about how we all have a standard to live by; then he showed that we’ve fallen short of God’s standard. Straight after him was Richard, who preached on “The Message of the Cross.”
The final preacher of the day was Jack, who spoke on, “Is Easter… Misleading? Nonsense? True?” He did a great job explaining the claims of Christ and the truth of His message. He used team members to hold up different questions, which attracted some attention. People listened as the biblical gospel was expounded.
So much happened in such a short space of time. Please pray for all those who heard the good news—may the Lord save many 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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