‘All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution’ (2 Timothy 3.12)
Every true saint of God, who lives right, will most certainly suffer persecution, just as Jesus Christ, the apostles of the Lord and all the saints throughout all the ages. It is all without exception! If you my brethren truly follow Christ, you will certainly experience persecution from sinners, in some form or another.
It is vital, therefore, that you know how to deal with persecution when it comes your way.
The subject that I want to speak about is, how to deal with insults and threats whilst engaging in evangelism and mission.
I will seek to show:
1. How not to deal with insults and threats whilst engaging in evangelism and mission.
2. How to deal with insults and threats whilst engaging in evangelism and mission.
So, first of all, how not to deal with insults and threats whilst engaging in evangelism and mission.
Firstly: You are not to be fearful.
You are not to be intimidated or frightened. The reason you are not to be frightened and intimidated is because God is on your side:
“If God is for us, who can be against us?”
And God is for us and He is also with us. So, when you are out there preaching and engaging in mission, you can be bold. When someone comes along and begins to threaten you with words, you can be secure in your salvation and secure in your God.
Psalm 27.1 says:
“The Lord is my light and my salvation, who should I fear?”
Again, in Psalm 118.6:
“The Lord is on my side, I will not fear, what can man do to me?”
…and again, in Jeremiah 20.11b:
“But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One.”
You are to have confidence in God. You are to be full of confidence whilst you are out there preaching the Gospel and not falling in to fear, for:
“The fear of man is a snare.”
So we are not to fear man. It is vital that we only fear God and not man as this will enable us to succeed when we are out there facing their insults and threats.
Often, sinners come along and begin to show hostility toward us whilst we are preaching. On many occasions, when they see that you are as bold as a lion and only fearing God; they will draw back and not proceed in following through with their threats.
Being bold and confident in God is the right attitude to have when you are out engaging in mission and evangelism.
I encourage you; do not be fearful and do not be intimidated. No matter what abusive words they use or in what manner they threaten you; simply trust in the Lord. Remember that He is by your side. Be encouraged by his presence and the filling of the Spirit and be a minister who only fears God and not the words of wicked men; no matter how tough or crazed they may act. No matter what they may say or how they may threaten you, don’t be afraid of them. Fear God and not man!
Secondly: Do not threaten or resort to abusive insults in return.
The apostle Paul said this in Romans chapter 12.14:
“Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.”
Whether you are working on a housing estate, doing door to door work, missionary work in a particular area or doing open air preaching in towns and cities; you’d better expect opposition. Opposition is certainly going to come your way and you will be insulted with words and possibly threatened too.
It is common, particularly during an open air outreach, when the preacher is preaching a strong message against sin and the need of repentance; that people are going to get offended and begin to insult and even threaten you with a variety of words.
Sinners will often insult you, using a wide variety of words and language. They will curse you, sometimes in a very angry, violent and threatening manner.
Most commonly, however, they will insult you with words such as, “be quiet!” or, “go away!” (often with a swear word attached). I am often cursed by sinners calling me an ‘idiot’, ‘brainwashed’, ‘deluded’, ‘a Bible-basher’ or told that I’m ‘not right in the head’. On one occasion I was called ‘trash’. I’ve been called a ‘bigot’, a ‘homophobe’, a ‘racist’ and an ‘Islamaphobe’. These are the types of things that are levelled at you when you are out there preaching.
So what would it be to return insult for insult in these situations?
An example of this would be; a sinner comes along and says, “you’re an idiot!’ To which you turn back and say, “You’re the idiot mate and you’re also very ugly!” or “Don’t speak to me like that you stupid fool! I do not tolerate morons like you, shove off!”
Retaliating in this way would be returning insult for insult and that is exactly what we are not to do!
So what about when someone threatens you with violence? It is not uncommon for a sinner to say, “I will come over there and knock you out!” or “Leave the street or I will remove you myself with force!” I myself have been threatened to be head butted and punched. On one occasion, whilst preaching in a residential area, a man came out of his house armed with an axe and a pointed iron pole and said, “Which one do you want?” Following this, he threatened to run me down with his car. On another occasion, an offended young man stopped in front of me whilst preaching and simply said, “I will end your life!”
So what would it be to threaten in return on such occasions?
An example of this would be, somebody threatens to punch you or throw some object at you and you then respond by saying, “You just try that mate and see what I do to you in return!” or “If you punch me, you had better understand that I will hit you back twice as hard!” This is what it would be to threaten in return. Retaliating to their threats of violence is what the Lord has called us not to do.
But why? Why does God not want us to retaliate with insults and threats?
First of all, we are out there to glorify God and not to bring his name into disgrace.
We are out there as representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ and we are to follow his example.
1 Peter 2.22b-23 writes, ‘Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth: who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”‘
So we see in the Lord Jesus Christ, that when he was reviled, he didn’t revile in return. When He suffered, he didn’t threaten and we are to be followers of Him; to represent Him.
When we are out evangelising, we are seeking to save men’s souls and not to destroy them.
We are out there as witnesses to Christ before the eyes of the world looking on at us and also, the eyes of the brethren who may be out serving with us.
So brothers and sisters, I exhort you, do not retaliate with a curse when you are being cursed and do not insult a person, when you’ve been insulted. Do not threaten when you are being threatened, instead, focus on glorifying God and following the example of Jesus Christ. Be a good witness whilst you are out there engaging in evangelism and mission.
Thirdly. Do not feel that you are limited in the ways in which you can respond to those who would threaten or insult you verbally.
You know what is prohibited. We are not to respond with insults, we are not to respond with threats. You also know what the Bible teaches you regarding blessing those who persecute you and entreating those who would defame you. These of course are all very good and right ways of responding when suffering insults and threats. Even these instructions however, on their own, are limiting and leave us in the dark regarding other ways of responding. The Bible opens up many ways in which we can respond when we are being insulted and provides us with a number of examples to follow. The key thing my brethren, is that we are to follow the way of Christ. We are to be long suffering toward our hearers; we are to love our enemies. We are to have hearts full of love towards those who would threaten and insult us and in that, there are many other ways in which you can respond.
Take for example, the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 12. You remember how a demon-possessed man, blind and mute was brought to Jesus and how Jesus healed him. Then how the Pharisees reacted by saying, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons!”
How did the Lord Jesus Christ respond to this outrageous accusation?
A. Jesus directly showed them the utter foolishness of their insulting comment by way of teaching them a simple principle. He says, “Every Kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”
B. Jesus goes on to correct and rebuke them by a way of two direct questions. Questions to which he does not expect an immediate response. He says, “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his Kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges.”
C. The Lord Jesus Christ goes on to warn them regarding the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
D. Jesus directly rebukes them by way of showing them their true character. He characterizes them as a brood of vipers and goes on to say, “How can you being evil speak good things.”
E. Jesus solemnly warns them regarding the coming judgement. He shows them how, “Every idle word men may speak, they will give an account of it in the day of judgement.”
So there you see, from the example of Jesus Christ, five ways in which you could respond to those who insult you. You see, you are not as limited as you might of previously thought.
You are free to show people the foolishness of their insults, abusive comments, false statements and accusations.
You can teach them and instruct them.
You can rebuke them by way of direct questions.
You can admonish them.
You can rebuke them by way of showing them their true character. If they show themselves to be hypocrites, it is not always wrong to say, “You are a hypocrite.”
You can warn them of judgement day, directly telling them that such behaviour will be brought into the light of God’s judgement.
So brethren, do not feel limited regarding the ways in which you can respond to those who insult you or even threaten you. The key thing, as I said, is that you remain in love. That you love your enemy, that you are long suffering towards them and that you desire their salvation. If you live this way, the words that come out of your mouth in these situations will be pleasing to God and beneficial to mankind.
Fourthly. Do not feel that you have to always capitulate and leave the area where you are evangelising, because of the insults and threats being levelled at you.
Of course, you have to personally observe and evaluate each situation you find yourself in and use discretion.
I have learnt from my experience of engaging in evangelism in towns, cities and in residential areas, that most of the insults that are levelled at you, come from people who are often walking away in another direction. You can see from their body language and by their general manner that the situation does not even come close to warrant an abandonment of your work and a retreat from the area.
A few months back, as I was setting up to begin preaching in the open air, a man, who obviously recognised me, decided to insult me as he walked close by me. A few moments later, as I was still preparing to speak, he walked past me again and once again decided to insult me. I discerned that his abusive name calling was nothing but a weak attempt to somehow ruffle me. I therefore chose to simply ignore his comments and stay focused on the task in hand. There was nothing in the situation to make me a feel remotely intimidated. In fact, as he walked on, I was left wondering what was eating him to make him behave that way. I then stood upon my stool and began my outreach and never saw him again that day. Maybe the Lord allowed that situation to test my resolve; testing whether I would stay focused on the work that he was leading me to do. I was blessed that day to draw a crowd of sinners and minister the good news to them.
A few days ago, I was preaching in the same town centre, when a young man walked past with a friend. As he was walking past me and away from my position, he began insulting me and speaking out blasphemous words. I couldn’t fully make out all he was saying, but I did perceive that there was nothing to be afraid of and certainly no cause to pack up and leave the area. On that occasion, I asked him if he would like to join us in a constructive dialogue and engage in our discussion. As he declined and continued to blaspheme Christ and insult me, I simply blessed him by saying, “May the Lord open your eyes one day young man, and save your soul!’ He and his friend went on their way and were no cause of alarm at all.
When it comes to verbal threats, they can of course be much more challenging to deal with than insults. I have learned however, that that mass majority of threats which come out of the mouths of sinners, do not materialize into action. They are simply blowing out hot air. Often, they are simply observing to see how you will react to their threats; to see if you become fretful of them. When they see, however, that you are not fearful and you are not moved from being focused on the work that you are engaging in, they will often back off and go on their way.
Fifthly. Do not feel obliged to continue ministering the gospel to those who are insulting you or threatening you whilst you are out engaging in evangelism.
Jesus instructed us plainly in the Sermon on the Mount saying:
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearl’s before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you in pieces.”
The message that you are bringing to their ears is both a holy message and a very valuable message. So when sinners show themselves to be wicked opponents by ridiculing, abusing, speaking out blasphemous words and attacking you verbally, it is time to recognise that these individuals are no longer worthy to have the good news ministered to them.
When you experience this sort of behaviour from sinners, you must recognise that it is time to stop reaching out to them with the glad tidings. You will find, if you persist, that they will continue with their abusive words, insults and blasphemy. They may even go beyond this with acts of physical violence towards you and those ministering with you.
On the other hand we must also use great discretion.
You will find that some individuals, whilst under conviction of sin, can begin to wrestle with certain points of your message. They will even begin to speak out against certain elements of your preaching. Some will go further and attempt to find fault in your character and challenge you personally.
I have, however, witnessed such individuals calming down and becoming more reasonable, well behaved and even open to receiving further instruction.
So discernment is necessary. On the one hand, when you discern that people are clearly showing themselves to be wicked opponents, it is time to withhold the glad tidings from them. On the other hand, people can show signs of hostility whilst under conviction and we must be ready to persevere with such cases.
Sixthly. Do not think that the police must immediately be involved and thus stop preaching to wait for officers to arrive.
If you did choose to adopt that policy, you will be spending most, if not all your time waiting for the police to arrive on the scene. This would only create much unnecessary trouble for yourself. The public would ridicule and insult you more and also possibly put you in danger of physical harm.
That aside, it is vital that you remember why you are out there in the first place. You are out there to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, a message that in itself is an offence to some and therefore, insults and threats are to be expected by members of the public. The Bible clearly shows this.
It is important that you bear in mind that in the eyes of the law, using abusive language and displaying threatening behaviour is a relatively minor offence in Britain. It is a public order offence.
It is also important that you recognize that if you do call the police and wait for officers to arrive, in most probability, those who did insult or threaten you will be long gone by the time the police arrive.
You will also find that members of the public, who were on the scene at the time, will often be unwilling to provide a witness statement.
Even police officers can show sympathetic sentiments towards those who have behaved abusively towards the Christian preacher and his preaching.
It is not uncommon to find that some police officers will openly show an anti-Christian bias, especially against preachers who preach an uncompromised message in the open air.
Brethren, I encourage you to simply learn how to cope in these situations and how to handle those who would insult you and threaten you.
Seventhly. Do not be quick to join forces with those who would step in to defend you from those who would threaten you and insult you.
I have found on multiple occasions that complete strangers will step in and begin defending you against those who are threatening and insulting you.
Let me give you a few examples of this:
I was preaching in the city of Preston, when a large crowd had gathered to listen and engage with me. Many of those in the crowd began to behave in a rowdy and abusive manner, when all of a sudden, a lady came out of a shop with an open box of eggs which she laid down on the floor. She turned her back and walked out of the crowd, obviously hoping that someone in the crowd would pick up the eggs and begin throwing them at me. One young man decided to pick up the carton of eggs and began to contemplate whether to begin throwing them at me.
Also in the crowd was an old lady, who decided to approach this young man and took the box of eggs from him. She took each egg out of the carton, one by one, and splattered them on the floor. She then bashed the egg box off his head.
What preacher would not have been pleased to see that young man disarmed of his eggs?
On another occasion, I was preaching in Huddersfield town centre when some young lads were behaving rowdily, abusive and getting in my face. All of sudden, two young body builders approached these lads and decided to manhandle them out of the way, telling them to cease from insulting me.
You will often find that members of the public will see you being abused and threatened and take it upon themselves to rise up and challenge those who are abusing you.
Now this of course can be very welcoming for a number of reasons.
a. Those insulting and threatening you can become distracted, subdued and even leave the area. Thus, freeing you up to speak to other members of the crowd and take the outreach in another direction.
b. It can sometimes be a very intense experience to suffer insults and threats from members of an abusive crowd. Seeing those who are being abusive towards you become distracted, can help you to compose yourself and even pray, before you begin speaking again.
c. The commotion between the stranger(s) defending you and those who were insulting or threatening you can generate interest and add new members to the crowd of onlookers.
We have to be careful however, that we do not decide to join forces with those who are defending us, for reasons such as these:
1. You cannot be sure that those who are defending you are Christians living for the glory and honour of Christ. Paul said, “What part has a believer with an unbeliever?”
2. Non-Christians will often become argumentative, insulting, threatening and will sometimes resort to physical violence. This is the very opposite of the Christian way that we are trying to show them.
3. Joining forces with those who are defending you in an un-Christian manner, will cause some in the crowd to rise up and openly condemn you as a hypocrite. Those who don’t speak out will simply see and discern your inconsistency.
Eighthly. Do not allow yourself to become overwhelmed with grief and sadness because of the insults and threats that are levelled at you.
Now I do know that this is easier said than done.
If you are of a particular temperament and the insults and threats that are levelled at you are quite severe or prolonged over a certain duration of time; this can begin to affect you emotionally. You can start to feel cast down about your sufferings. You can begin to play over those difficult incidents in your mind, which in turn, can cause you to feel dejected.
It is important that you remember that it is quite normal to suffer emotionally during times of intense hostility from sinners. On the other hand, however, you need to be careful of falling into indulging yourself with those negative emotions.
Psalm 42.11 says:
“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”
I will now show how to deal with insults and threats whilst engaging in evangelism and mission.
Firstly. You need to have the right perspective. That is, you must expect to suffer insults and threats from sinners and also be prepared to deal with this when it comes your way.
You are out there as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to preach His word. Furthermore, those you are preaching to are currently in rebellion to God and are opposed to Him. It is therefore quite reasonable and correct to expect that some sinners will choose to vent their hatred towards you with abusive words.
You will remember how those who were self-righteous and those who loved their sin more than God were offended by the Person and work of Jesus Christ. This has not changed! Many of those who will hear you preach are self-righteous and even more of them love their sin and desire to hold onto it. They are often offended at our preaching and will outwardly display this by abusing the Christian preacher with insults and threats.
You will remember the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 10.24-25, when He said:
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more with a call those of his household.”
The Lord Jesus Christ ‘expects’ His followers to experience the same hostility from sinners that He experienced.
He expects all His disciples to be fully aware that they will be insulted and threatened because of their union and commitment to Him.
You must be aware that your personal witness and the words that you are bringing to their ears (if you walk like Christ that is) will be convicting to them. Your very presence and your preaching will bring them under conviction. Therefore, because of this, some sinners will inevitably display vented hatred toward you with wicked words.
All who follow the example of Christ, need not expect any better treatment from the world than what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself experienced.
Now, this being the case, you must be prepared for this abuse and you need to be ready to deal with the insults and threats that are going to come your way from the mouths of sinners.
When a woman is expecting a baby, she doesn’t wait until the baby is born, then get to work preparing everything that is needed. No, she does all the preparation before the baby is born.
So to you, if you are going to go out there and engage in evangelism and mission, you must be prepared within yourself, ready to handle the abuse that comes from those who you are reaching out to.
Now, how do we prepare for this?
a. We need to listen well and put into practice the instructions of Jesus Christ in this regard.
For example, take the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5.10-12.
He says:
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
So, here you see Jesus instructing His disciples to both expect and be prepared for persecution. Persecution, which will come their way through sinners that would revile them and say all kinds of evil against them.
Notice, Jesus did not say, ‘Blessed are you IF they revile you’, but said, ‘Blessed are you WHEN they revile you and say all kinds of evil against you.’
And again in the same chapter, in verses 43-44:
“You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy’. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you are persecute you.”
Again, Jesus’ instruction to his disciples is to both expect and be prepared to deal with the hostility that comes from those who will oppose you.
And lastly, in Matthew chapter 10:16, Jesus says:
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
The Lord Jesus Christ took a lot of care in making sure His disciples were well prepared for the opposition and hostility that they would receive from sinners. The Lord Jesus continues to carefully instruct His followers and prepares them for such abuse.
b. It is important to understand the culture around you. Most of us are brought up in and around the culture in which we serve the Lord. Therefore, we can prepare ourselves for the type of opposition and hostility that is likely to come our way.
For example, we know that the culture here in Britain is quite atheistic. Therefore, you should expect some who are of that mindset, to insult you with comments such as, “There is no God you idiot, everything began with an explosion billions of years ago and life has evolved on planet earth over millions of years.” It is insults such as this that you should be prepared for.
Again, we know the culture around us is secular. Therefore, you should be prepared for insults such as, “God is dead! Get a life you primitive imbecile.”
You know the culture around you is very amoral. Many of the sinners you will come into contact with, will have little concern for right conduct, many will be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Therefore, you should be prepared for the most vile, wicked and disgusting verbal insults that you can imagine. Along with threats of various kinds.
You also know that the culture is very liberal and people of such a mindset do not like the values that we Christian hold dearly. When they hear you preaching Christ as the only way of salvation, or speak against the moral laxity of today’s British culture, you should be prepared to be openly cursed by calling you name like: ‘bigot’, ‘Islamophobe’, ‘homophobe’, ‘racist’ and many other insults.
So you need to prepare yourself by giving heed to the teachings of the Lord on this subject. You also need to give proper thought to what kind of verbal abuse you should expect from some sinners in the area where you plan to evangelise.
It is also important that you recognise personal preparation for insults and threats is a continual process. You always need to be expecting such hostility from sinners and always need to be preparing within yourselves, by continuing to come back to the word of God, prayer and learning from experience.
Secondly. It is vital that you remain aware of your surroundings whilst out engaging in evangelism and mission.
You are reaching out to sinners and not to saints. Insults, wicked comments, abusive and threatening words will be levelled at you. This will come to you from all angles and from all types of people. Therefore, you need to observe and listen well. You might find whilst out preaching, that your senses become heightened and therefore, watching and listening comes quite naturally to you. In fact, I have found that it is possible to preach to a crowd of sinners and at the same time, have a strong awareness of those walking past, stopping to join and those within the crowd, who are showing signs of hostility. I have learned that it is possible to continue engaging with the crowd, whilst also handling those showing hostility, during these challenging circumstances.
A similar thing could also be said in regards to door to door evangelism. You knock on a door the door opens and you begin engaging with the person standing in front of you. As you begin speaking to them, another person from within the house; maybe from a room upstairs, from the hall area or from another room, begins to show hostility by shouting insulting and abusive words. Or maybe the neighbour next door, begins hurling abuse at you from over the fence. Therefore, because these experiences are to be expected, you need to be aware of what is happening around you, in order that you can respond and deal with such situations in the right way.
Thirdly: You are to remain resolute in purpose.
You have been sent out by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and you are to be about His business. You are out there to honour and glorify God and you are out there for the good of others; for the salvation of their souls.
In Hebrews 13 verse 3, we are encouraged to consider the example of Jesus in this regard.
The verse says:
“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”
Now when we consider the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, we see the life of One who would not be moved and would never give up. He was fully yielded to the will of The Father and was going to do and say that which The Father had called Him to do and say. In the midst of much opposition from sinners, He remained focused on His mission. The Jewish authorities sought to thwart His plans, twist His sayings, denounce His miracles and ridicule His claims. Yet, He remained resolute throughout, even during their cruel dealings with Him at Calvary.
This text encourages us to consider Jesus, for by considering Him, we too will be able to endure hostility from sinners. We too will be able to remain resolute in purpose as we step out to do the will of God.
Fourthly: It is very needful to simply ignore many of the insults and threats that are levelled at you while out evangelising.
I am thinking particularly in regards to open air preaching here, but the same would also apply to other forms of evangelism.
I have found on many occasions, that sinners are simply trying to distract you or shut you down. Therefore, because of this, it is very important and essential, that you remain focused on what you are there to do, which is to preach the gospel and simply ignore much of their comments.
You will find that the practice of ignoring sinners, is a very effective way of dealing with opposition.
For example, those in the crowd watching on, will see how you don’t rise to everything that is being said to you. Furthermore, by seeing this, many in the crowd, who might have been tempted to beginning insulting and threatening you, will often hold back, thus freeing you up to continue preaching to the crowd.
Fifthly: Depending on the severity of the situation, which you yourself would have to discern, you might want to enter into dialogue with the person who is insulting, mocking and even threatening you; in order to draw a crowd.
This is important, particularly in Great Britain today. The mass majority of people are indifferent, apathetic and lethargic to the gospel. When they see a street preacher however, confident and bold engaging with someone who is opposing him, this often causes them to stop in their tracks and take an interest. A crowd always draws a crowd and within a few moments, you might have drawn a very large amount of people. By engaging with one person and having some back and forth with that person, you can grow from having one or two people, to having hundreds of people both listening and engaging with your outreach. You can then turn from engaging with that one person to begin addressing the whole crowd; preaching the gospel to them.
I came to learn this gradually and by way of experience. When I began stepping out in open air evangelism, I used to preach in a place called South Shields, in the North of England. On one occasion, I put my chair down in the middle of the town shopping area, stood on a chair I had brought with me and began preaching the gospel to passers-by. That is how I used to preach to people back then. A gentleman at this time stopped in front of me and began mocking and challenging me about what I was doing and what I believed. So, I began to enter into dialogue with this man, back and forth in a bold and confident manner. I knew the situation was safe to do this and felt confident that I wouldn’t be harmed by this person. As I looked around me, I noticed that a crowd of around fifty or sixty people had formed. Being quite encouraging and excited to see this crowd stop and come together, I then turned away from talking to the man and began addressing the crowd and preached the gospel to them. As I was new to handling a crowd situation, I managed only to preach to the crowd for a minute or so before they began to go on their way. This was my first real experience of such things.
As I have progressed in open air preaching here in Britain, I have learned to utilize this technique and began to learn how to maintain a crowd for longer durations of time.
Another occasion of this took place in a town called Rotherham. Again, standing on my chair in the town centre and this time seeking to draw a crowd by way of question and answer. As I looked over in the distance however, I could see a man who was acting very disorderly. He looked drunk and I even saw him punch a man in the face. I then noticed that he saw me standing on my stool, trying to preach and draw a crowd. He walked over to and began threatening me. Again, I felt strongly that he would not follow through on his threats. He threatened to knock me out and also threatened to use my chair to break my spleen. I began to dialogue with this man and he began to express himself as a member of the English Defence League, which is a far-right political group. He began shouting at me saying, “I’m E.D.L!” To which I responded, “I’m a Christian!” He again shouted: “I’m E.D.L!” So again, I responded, “I’m a Christian!” This interchange between us, drew a large crowd and then some in the crowd began to defend me and rebuked this man on his dreadful behaviour. There also happened to be an off-duty police officer in the crowd who warned the E.D.L. member that if he continued, he would apprehend him and take him into custody. The E.D.L. member left the area and I was left with a crowd ready to give me a hearing. I was able to speak to them and hold their interest by going through a variety of questions. Questions designed to help the non-Christian engage with the gospel message. One girl even came forward at the end to give her life to the Lord.
This situation has now happened on many occasions. I am now ready to begin engaging in dialogue with those who begin to mock, scoff, insult and threaten me, In order to draw interest and a crowd together.
To further clarify this point, take for example a situation where you choose to preach on marriage and sexuality. You should expect that this will not go unnoticed and unchallenged by the general public. At some point a lesbian, homosexual man, or a person of a liberal mindset will begin to challenge you in some way about what you are saying. Therefore, when you boldly begin to engage with that person, having some back-and-forth between you, this can draw interest from the masses and thus draw a crowd. You are then able to maintain the crowd and minister the gospel to them.
So to sum this part up. You must personally discern for yourself each given situation. If you are confident that you can engage back and forth with the one who is opposing you, then do so, thus drawing interest to your message. Once a crowd comes together, you can then begin to minister the gospel to them.
Sixthly: If the situation permits, speak gently to the one raising up against you.
They might respond well by settling down and begin to listen to what you have to say. Or, on the other hand, they may decide to leave and go on their way. Both of these responses can be helpful to your cause.
Never under estimate the power of gentle speech.
Proverbs 25 verse 15 says that, ‘A gentle tongue breaks a bone.’
A bone is an incredibly tough and hard substance, which is very difficult to break. In fact, is so difficult to break, that even the strong jaws and sharp teeth of a very ferocious dog can gnaw at it for many days, without breaking it.
Yet we are told here, that a ‘gentle tongue’ breaks a bone.
When a sinner rises up against you, full of anger, full of hate and full of wrath, speaking out all sorts of wickedness and evil against you; this presents a very tough situation for you to deal with. Yet, as the text shows us, we can overcome in such situations by a gentle tongue.
I have seen this happen on many occasions, brethren; by responding to sinners in a gentle manner, they will often calm down before your very eyes.
Seventhly: You will find, no matter what form of evangelistic outreach you engage in; there will be ample opportunity to speak a word of blessing to sinners who have decided to insult and curse you.
You must first recognise this brethren; that to give a blessing, is not to speak empty words over them. Without a true heart behind them, it is simply going through the motions. Such a blessing must come from a genuine desire for that person’s good.
Jesus said: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you.”
We are to love them all, including those who react to our gospel witness by way of insults, mockery, cursing and all manner of wicked words.
To bless such a one, would be to pray God’s blessing on their lives.
For example, a sinner raises up against you and begins to call you every devilish name under the sun. Then in response and in genuine love, you say to him, “May the Lord turn your heart towards Him, save your soul and give you life.” Or something such as, “May the Lord open up your eyes to the truth and bring you into His Everlasting Kingdom.”
This is what it looks like to bless those who curse you.
For those of us who were born again slightly later in life, our first response, when insulted, would be to insult in return. It is quite natural for non-believers to react in this way. The Lord, however, has called His followers to higher standards than this and is what we see in the teaching and example of the apostles.
Writing to the Romans, the apostle Paul said:
“Bless those who curse you, bless, and do not curse” (Romans 12.14)
And then, in expressing both his own and fellow missionaries practice of this, he said to the Corinthian brethren:
“When reviled, we bless.” (1 Corinthians 4.12)
When you practice this yourself brethren, you will find that it can have a pacifyingly effect upon the one persecuting you. Also, and most importantly, this can provide a rare and wonderful witness for others to observe.
Eighthly: We should seek to entreat those who begin speaking evil against us, slandering us when we are out there preaching the gospel to them.
To entreat means to earnestly ask someone to do something. What we want them to do, is to cease from behaving in such a hostile manner towards us and to give heed to the message we are bring to their ears. It is to their own detriment that they are behaving in this sinful way. They are firmly in the wrong by treating a minister of Christ in such a way. They are also robbing themselves of salvation by treating the preacher with scorn and disrespect.
It is therefore vital to our cause and the good of their souls, to entreat sinners who behave like this towards us.
So when we beseech them, we are first imploring them to stop behaving in this way towards us.
Secondly, we are entreating them to come to Christ for salvation.
For example, when it comes to beseeching them to stop treating you in this sinful manner, you might meekly and graciously say something like this, “Please don’t treat me like this, I am a Christian minister and here today to bring a very important message to you.” You might politely ask them to be patient with you and give you a chance to preach your message. You may say something like, “Please be patient with me. I would like to give you a chance to ask me questions about me being here and about my message.” You could also let them know that you are there to listen to them and have an open dialogue with all present. These are the types of things you might say in order to implore them to cease insulting you or threatening you whilst out preaching.
When it comes to entreating them to come to Christ, you might graciously and lovingly speak to them, by saying, “Repent. Come to Jesus Christ. He came to save you from the punishment that your sins deserve and reconcile you to God.” You might call out to them to come to the cross for salvation and life.
Functioning in this way, whilst out engaging in evangelism and mission, is so important to our cause. No wonder the apostles of the Lord were so successful in winning souls to Christ. They humbly and persistently conducted themselves in this manner, whilst travelling around preaching the gospel.
“being defamed, we entreat”. (1 Corinthians 4.14)
Ninthly: Another way of dealing with a sinner who has decided to insult you or threaten you, is to call upon an able brother or sister, to approach them, taking them aside to speak to them on a one to one basis.
I am speaking here mainly of the open-air preaching setting. Of course, you will need to inform your whole outreach team of this tactic beforehand. Everyone needs to be on the same page regarding your preaching strategy.
The reason we would adopt this tactic, is because those sinners who behave in this way will often interrupt the preacher at very important moments, during the outreach. For example, a sinner will come along and begin speaking out insults and threats towards you at the very moment that you have just drawn a crowd together and are only just beginning to maintain them. This can also happen at an important moment, after you have spent a considerable amount of time preaching to them about their sins and about the law of God. You are just about to begin pouring in the grace of God and then it happens, a sinner joins the crowd, approaches the preacher and begins abusing him verbally.
As a preacher, you don’t want to be distracted for too long during moments such as these; so to have able brethren, ready to approach such sinners and take them aside to begin talking to them, is a very useful tactic. I have also learnt that sinners are not expecting this tactic to be used on them and are quite easily immobilized from persisting in their attacks on the preacher. I have observed how they will often submit to this approach and will begin speaking one-to-one with your fellow worker, calming down or choosing rather to walk away. Ideally, the brother who approaches this sinner should try to stand in such a position which would force them to turn their back on the preacher. With the brother facing the preacher and the sinner having his back turned to the preacher.
We need to recognise the fact that the Devil wants to shut down the preaching of God’s word and this is one of the ways that he seeks to accomplish this. If you are aware of this beforehand, you will be ready to deal with this when it happens.
To sum up; speak with your outreach team beforehand, in order that you are all on the same page regarding this tactic. You should simply be able to glance over towards one of your fellow workers for them to then immediately begin approaching the one interrupting the preacher. The worker should ideally stand in such a position that would cause the sinner to naturally turn their back upon the preacher, who is then freed up to continue ministering to his hearers.
Tenthly: It is sometimes very appropriate and justifiable to rebuke sinners who oppose you with threats or insults.
I have already shown in this article how Jesus rebuked those Jews who accused Him of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.
Now we see a similar incident taking place in the gospel of John. It is the well-known passage where Jesus said: “Before Abraham was “I AM.” I encourage you to read this passage in John chapter 8.48-59.
I am, however, only going to bring out one part of this passage to make my point.
The passage begins at verse 48 by saying:
“Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
Here we see the Jews, openly accusing Jesus of being a Samaritan and demon possessed. Then in verse 49 we see how Jesus responded to this accusation.
“Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honour my Father, and you dishonour Me?”
Jesus’ response was delivered in a very clear and direct manner. He tells them straight, that He does not have a demon. Following this, He openly expresses the truth about Himself, saying, “but I honour my Father.” Then, He directly puts His finger on their sin by saying, “and you dishonour Me.”
This is another example of Jesus rebuking sinners who are in the process of speaking against Him with evil words.
I want to bring out another example, this time from the ministry of the apostle Paul.
In Acts character 18 we see Paul preaching in the synagogue, as was his custom in evangelism and mission.
From verse 5 it reads:
“When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I go to the Gentiles.”‘
Here we see the apostle Paul, powerfully testifying to the Jews in their own synagogue, that Jesus is the Messiah. Instead of his hearers receiving the Gospel however and believing in Christ; they choose rather to respond by opposing Paul and even spilling over into blasphemy. Paul did not simply pack up and go on his way. On the contrary, he first rebukes them and then goes on his way. He begins by shaking off his garments in their very sight, as an unmistakable symbolic act, showing them that his ministry among them was now over. This in itself, was a powerful rebuke of their sinful behaviour towards him and his Lord. Paul however, was not finished. He continues his rebuke by saying, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. I go to the Gentiles.” He speaks to them in a direct and unambiguous manner, letting them know that the consequences that will befall them, are only down to themselves. He is showing them that they are guilty of a great sin and only have themselves to blame. He is openly showing to them that he has done his whole duty among them and that he is not responsible for their destruction.
What a powerful rebuke by the apostle Paul and aren’t we also exhorted in a number of places in the New Testament to follow his example?
When you step out and engage in evangelism and mission, you will find yourself in situations where it becomes necessary and appropriate to rebuke sinners openly and in different forms.
For example:
You are in the city, holding an open air meeting and preaching against certain sins. Then a sinner comes along, interrupts you and begins calling you a ‘disgrace’ for speaking against such sin. You then rebuke them by saying, “No, I am not a disgrace. I am speaking the truth and you just do not like it.”
And again, for example:
You have delivered a full gospel message to a group of sinners and at the end, most of them respond negatively by speaking against the gospel. You respond and rebuke them by saying, “I’ve brought the gospel to you, you have all heard it, so it’s down to you whether you are going to accept it or reject it. Let me however warn you all this day, if you reject Christ, then He will reject you and will send you to place of the rejected. I’m finished now, I have fully preached the gospel to you and I’m going on my way to preach somewhere else and to some other people.”
There are many other situations that would call for a rebuke and many other ways you might need to express your rebuke towards them. I have provided these two examples as I believe this will be sufficient to make my point.
Eleventhly: The final principle I want to bring out brethren is the principle of leaving the area where you are preaching and moving on somewhere else to begin preaching there.
Now of course, each individual Christian and mission team must judge the severity of the situation for themselves. You are the ones in that particular field, at that particular time and only you are qualified to make that judgement. That is, whether it is right to remain preaching in that location or to move on.
This principle is explicitly taught in the Scriptures.
First of all, the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to the twelve apostles said, “When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.”
The apostles were to spread the gospel in the cities of Israel and the Lord Jesus Christ instructed them, that if they are persecuted in a particular city, they are to go to another city and continue preaching there.
We even see the Lord Jesus Christ practicing this principle Himself in Matthew 12.9-15. We see how He entered the synagogue and healed a man on the sabbath. Then we see how the Pharisees raised up in opposition against Him. Verse 14 says, “Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they may destroy Him.” Then in verse 15 we read, “but when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.”
So we see from this how the Lord Jesus Christ was not going simply hang around and allow the Pharisees to put their evil hands upon him. He rather chose to wisely withdraw Himself from that area and continue his ministry elsewhere.
Finally, we see this principle lived out in the Acts of the apostles.
We see how the apostle Paul would preach in a particular area, opposition would flare up against him and he would flee to a different area and continue preaching the gospel there.
It is clear, the Lord Jesus would have us all practice this principle in our own lives.
There are a variety of differences and benefits regarding preaching in Great Britain today that are worth considering.
There are however, certain things that are the same and will never change; Such as the world’s hatred of Christian preachers and the fact that they will always rise up in opposition against them.
We are very fortunate in our nation that our God is able to restrain sinners from persecuting us with the ferocity that they otherwise would do, if they lived in another nation or at some other time in history. You will find in Britain today, that there is a general regard among the people for free speech and even though many will disagree with what you are preaching, they will still at least respect your right to speak publicly. This works to restrain sinners from their persecution toward us. There is also a general acceptance of Christianity, as being the accepted religion within the nation, both past and present. And therefore, Christian outreaches and Christian street preachers are not too out of the ordinary for them. They are also aware, that if they break the law they can be arrested by the police and later prosecuted in court. Thus, there is a fear of breaking the law among the people and through all this, God is at work restraining sinners.
In regards to fleeing the area and moving somewhere else to preach, how would we actually do this practically? There are so many different situations and scenarios that you could find yourself in.
a. You may simply decide not to go back to an area where you have previously been experiencing a lot of hostility, opposition and rejection. It may be an area where the people have previously rejected the message that you have brought to them. So, because of this, you may decide not to go back to that area and to begin a mission elsewhere.
An example of this would be from the first location where I began preaching and stepping out in evangelism. This was a place called Blaydon, situated in the North East of England. I used to preach in their shopping precinct on a Saturday afternoon. After preaching the gospel there over the space of many months; both the business owners and many of the locals, began opposing me and behaving very hostile towards me. The last time I preached there, I left the scene unharmed however in the week which followed, the Lord made it clear to me that I was not to go back to that place. I was to cease preaching the gospel to them and start preaching in a new location; which I did.
b. Another scenario may be that you are presently being greatly opposed in an particular place, so in response, you immediately bring your gospel outreach to a close, possibly give out some final words, pack up and walk out that area, endeavouring to preach to people elsewhere.
c. In a situation where the police arrive on the scene, (which no doubt they will), cooperate with them respectfully. Allow the presence of the police to restrain, subdue and even disperse the angry crowd. This will help to create a safe opportunity for you to move on from your location. Often the police will volunteer to escort you from the area in order to keep you safe. In might be very useful for you to take them up on that offer. Move on and preach somewhere else.
d. In very extreme situations, you might have to take to you heels and literally flee from those who are seriously threatening to harm you or your mission team. Don’t feel embarrassed about fleeing; the cause of Christ demands this at times. As I said, even the apostles of the Lord fled from the hands of their persecutors on a number of occasions.
In Conclusion:
I have sought to provide for you, my brethren, in the fullest detail, the whole subject of how deal with persecution, which comes by way of insults and threats whilst engaging in evangelism and mission. I hope you have been enlightened to the reality of this form of opposition and have been helped in learning how to deal with it.
David McConnell 2.07.20