Comes from Dave Black on Rhino Evangelism?
Someone has said that a Christian needs the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros. The greatest danger of confrontational evangelism is that along with toughening our hides we harden our hearts. I urge all of us who share Jesus' love with others to let our Christ-like actions speak as loud as our words. You lose nothing by protecting the dignity of non-believers. In fact, you may even gain a friend -- and ultimately a brother or sister in Christ.
Certainly there are examples of “open air preaching”, “street preaching”, “spontaneous evangelism”, etc. in the Bible. That is a legitimate form of evangelism but so is evangelism that takes place in homes, at work or anywhere you have developed a relationship with another person who is receptive to hearing the Gospel. Open air preaching is not necessarily the best method nor is it the only method that fulfills the Biblical mandate to spread the Good News. I have to admit that while I have seen examples of "good" open air preaching, I have also heard some horror stories of street preaching gone awry.
Confronting people with the Gospel doesn't mean we have to be confrontational. The offense of the Gospel should not be lost by the offense of our behavior.
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