Sanctified By Street Outreach

Will you be with God in heaven when you die? 

The past few months, i've been going out to the streets of Waterloo, Kitchener, and Guelph periodically with the street outreach team at Harvest Bible Chapel Waterloo Region asking this exact question. This ministry focuses on the fourth pillar that Harvest is founded on - "sharing the good news of Jesus with boldness". At Harvest we believe that the preaching/speaking/sharing of the Gospel is the primary means God uses to save the lost.

"and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth and boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak." - Ephesians 6:19-20 

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heart? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" - Romans 10:14-15

All that being said, this was not something I looked forward to.

Spending your Friday nights out on the streets.
Talking to complete strangers about your faith.

No way.

I remember when I was younger hearing that "your actions speak louder than your words", "all you have to do is live out your life faithfully to Christ and people will ask why you are different". Yes, although actions and a changed life should result from our faith found in God, no one ever asked me "why I was different". Evangelism had always been a terrifying thought for me, I didn't want to cause uproars or controversy, I made excuses about my adequacy and my ability to speak, but this summer and past semester, one of my friends had persistently encouraged me to go to street outreach with him - and after many "no"'s and "i'm busy"'s - I finally decided to go. Even the sermon series at the time was all about being bold for Christ, preaching Christ crucified - so I could not suppress the convictions anymore and so I went.

Thankfully, God was already at work, preparing me for this. I remember watching a Matt Chandler sermon hours before we headed out and he talked about evangelism and one striking point he made has stuck with me and has brought me a lot of peace and comfort.

So many times we think or are deceived to think that we are the saviours - we are the ones that will change those we talk to, we are the ones that will persuade them - but no, God is the one who changes hearts - we are only the messengers. Matt Chandler put it this way - as God commands us to go out to share the good news, on missions, both locally and overseas, he's inviting us to play with Him. He invites us to join Him on the journey and experience as He "woos" a lost soul back to Him. As we share the gospel we get to be the hands and feet of the LORD, we get to first-hand experience God's mighty power at work! It's not our works or efforts that saves, but God who saves! And with that I remember praying on the way to that first outreach "LORD, let's play, thank you for letting me be your hands and feet tonight - so who are you going to woo today?"

And as I've gone to outreach more and more, i've not only found that God has been at work wooing other people to Him, but He was wooing me to Him as well. Here is how God has been using street outreach to sanctify me.

Growing My Heart For The Lost I remember going to my first night, and though I was excited that God was inviting me to play, my mind was set on one thing and one thing only - get those tracts out to people. Honestly speaking - I didn't want to be there, it's uncomfortable, it's challenging - so I thought, "as long as I get those gospel tracts out, i'm good". My heart barely cared for the people that were passing by, I wasn't going to see them again anyways right? But slowly and surely, the LORD revived my dead and hardened heart. Week after week, I saw change. I realized that each person that said "no thank you" or that those who heckled at us were people who were rejecting the truth, who were rejecting God, and by doing so they were placing themselves outside of the wealth of joy, peace, satisfaction, and blessings of knowing and having a personal relationship with God! My heart went from not caring and wanting to only pass out tracts, to praying that God would open the hearts of the lost, and show mercy to those who didn't know any better. There is an uncountable number of people that do not know the LORD, and they need to hear the good news! Therefore go and make disciples of all nations! Yes it may be challenging and uncomfortable, but i've learnt time and time again that it is only in such circumstances that you will grow and be sanctified!

Learning To Share The Gospel Better Will you be in right standing with God when you die? - and how do you know that? Or if I only had 10 more minutes to live and wanted to know the gospel, would you be ready and able to share it with me? The Bible tell us to be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15) - so are you? I wasn't - probably not until I started going to street outreach. This ministry has helped sharpen my ability to share the Gospel - as Christ followers, this should not problem for us! This is the basis of our faith! Not only has going to outreach helped me share the Gospel more effectively - but simultaneously, I am preaching the Gospel to myself over and over and over again - which is crucial for the believer! Of course i'm far from perfect, but I am incredibly thankful for the progress i've seen in this area just in the past few months. And I want to challenge myself to familiarize myself with God's Word more so that I am ready to speak and recite truth when appropriate.

Out of the handful of times i've gone out - i've encountered many different conversations, perspectives and beliefs, and each one is different and each one is a new challenge. I always compare it to say, a video game. I've felt like I work my way through the levels, but every once in a while you encounter one you've never played and have never been on and you learn as you go and eventually learn a way to approach it. I thought of it as - level one: handing out tracts. level two: initiating and probing conversation etc... Someone who believes in reincarnation? How do you approach that? Someone who thinks that as long as you do good you'll go to heaven? How do you approach that? The possibilities are endless but it's also important to remember that it isn't about "beating the level" or proving them wrong, but rather about redirecting and navigating the conversation back to the Gospel - the core of it all.

Confidence and Boldness This is quite linked to the previous point but I have been pleasantly surprised with the lack of fear and nervousness that comes with going out on the streets and talking to strangers - and I can only attribute that to the work of the LORD. A combination of knowing the importance and purpose of outreach and evangelism, the lifted burden of thinking your efforts are enough or that you are the one saving others, and knowing that God Almighty is on your side - should bring peace and comfort but also a confidence and motivation!

I remember one time we had a heckler who was just yelling and humiliating us - calling us false prophets, spitting on the gospel tracts (he licked one and stuck it on someone's head), and I recall the thought "well, guess that's that - no one is going to listen to us now" passing through my mind only to quickly look around to see that though we were being mocked and ridiculed, though we seemed insignificant and foolish - we knew the truth and we knew that our Father stands behind us. This is exactly what Jesus experienced on the cross. More than that, He bore our sin, our penalty, the worst of it all - we are victorious and are justified in Christ and thus we can stand and continue in faithfulness knowing what He has done.

My perspective on outreach has completely changed - in fact i'm looking forward to the next time we get to go out, and the outreach event at Niagara Falls in August.

God could've just written something in the sky to prove his existence, He could've sent angels and creatures to bring His kingdom forward - but no - He chose us, He chose the Church, the people of God. He chose you and He chose me, He chose the mere broken people we are as the main means to bring the Gospel to the lost. We are plan A and there's no plan B. God has invited you to go play, to experience first-hand His saving grace, to be His hands and His feet - will you go?