My Response to Those Who Disapprove Of Street Preaching

Posted by Troy Eckhardt on February 24, 2008 at 8:57 pm

An article recently appeared in the local paper highlighting the disapproval on the part of some regarding the street preaching practices of my church. The article dealt with one of the locations chosen by a few of the younger men of the church, which is on the sidewalk in front of a local restaurant/bar. They talk to the college students and others of the younger set who are entering and exiting the establishment on Friday nights, starting around midnight. For as long as the article lasts, it can be found here. The online version of the article attracted the comments of people who are less tolerant of my religion than I am of theirs. The following is my response to their comments:

This response is to all of the theophobes who’ve spewed their opinions, not just the Hecate worshippers. Some of you have alluded to fear on the part of the street preachers. That’s silly, really. I DO preach at tougher bars, as well as at two Main Street (Daytona) biker bars. I preach at the Brickhouse in order to talk to college students. When I want a biker, I go to a biker bar. Don’t question the bravery God gives the street preacher until you’ve been persecuted for doing it yourself. I love your soul enough to tell you how much God loves you. In return, I’m attacked and abused by some, both physically and verbally. Some who would not speak to me personally hide behind the anonymity of the internet and type pithy words about my lack bravery. For what have you stuck your neck out lately? Whether you agree with my message or not is not the point.What have you tried to give me? I’m trying to impart to you the way of salvation. Does the thought itself count for anything? You probably wouldn’t even tell me if my shoe was untied, yet you screech like a Banshee from behind your keyboard when I tell you that there is one way to Heaven, and that his name is Jesus Christ. Do you think I’m telling you this for MY gain? It’s gain to me only if I like to be spit on, punched, and degraded. I do it because my God told me to love you and him enough to do it for both your and his benefit.

If I told you how great the Boston Albatrosses or the Atlantis Falcons are, would you be so offended? Could it be that something in your being KNOWS that the gospel is true, and that something in you is fighting as hard as it can to reject the message because you are afraid to submit yourself to your maker? After all, you have no personal stake in whether my choice of sports teams is appealing to you. Your soul, however is the wager if my savior is your only hope. Maybe, just maybe, Romans chapter one is correct. (Are you going to read it, or are you going to continue to belittle me and my ilk without doing any research?)

Whereas I have a right to publicly preach on a sidewalk (for which I pay), you do NOT have the right not to hear things you do not like. I do not like to hear the music or the language I hear coming from various places downtown. Should I call to police? What do you imagine they’d do? You don’t like my banner that reads “Jesus Saves?” Well, I don’t like your bumper sticker, or the sign you placed in front of my church house. I don’t like the obscenity you’ve allowed to remain on my TV by watching while Nielson was counting, or the filth promoted by your t-shirt. I have not been granted the right to not be offended, and neither have you. Tough cookies, I say to you. I don’t like your preaching either, but I don’t cry about it. If you don’t like what’s playing outside the bar, change channels.

I am an accountant. Several of the business owners downtown are my clients. I know first-hand that their businesses do not suffer from the presence of street preachers. You have absolutely no argument here. I see the figures; I know the facts. The street preaching does not affect business. Period. One of you claims to have walked out of the bar because you couldn’t stand the preaching. Did you demand your money back? Will you never return? Are you going to quit drinking at all if I preach in front of every bar in town? Why don’t you demonstrate your support and solidarity for the bar owners by staying in spite of the awful racket outside? What sort of a soldier are you?

The members of The BIBLE Baptist Church have been preaching downtown for over 14 years. That’s longer than some of you commenters have been dressing and feeding yourselves. That’s longer than others of you have lived in the area. We are not going to go away. We have watched business come and go in the downtown area. We have the support of the police and the city government. The city council has sided with the church several times. We do nothing illegal. There is nothing you can do to stop us from telling people about Jesus. Stop dreaming of some sort of bizarre retribution for the “evils” we’ve forced you to encounter. Don’t be such a baby. A little preaching might make the devils inside you squirm, but it isn’t going to kill you.

I will give you a small clue, though, about business longevity downtown: No business owner that has been consistently and outwardly vocal against the preaching has managed to keep his business open for very long. Now, that could be a result of the supernatural, or maybe the vitriol of those who preach against our preaching manifests itself in other areas of their lives, and it just doesn’t make for good business.

I’m truly sorry if you’ve rejected the word of God. That does not make your deity viable, be it a goddess, a tree, a planet, or your own flesh. Practice some open-mindedness and tolerance, would you, please? I have the right to preach in public. I have the right to offer you a tract. You have the right to disagree, even at your own peril.

My freethought led me to Jesus Christ, mainly because it didn’t exclude him from the start. That’s TRUE freethought. Why do you hate him so much? Why does his name offend you so severely?

Perhaps you have accepted the Lord’s salvation, but you don’t like my tactics. If so, you haven’t read very much about Jesus’ methods, have you? And please don’t preach to me about love. Jesus didn’t love you enough to die for you, just to make sure it was the best kept secret in the universe. He wants you to know about his sacrifice, and so do I. That’s love. He died doing it, and I’d die telling you he did it. Jesus died for you, and his death is the only means of salvation. You can like it; you can lump it. What you think about it has no bearing on whether or not I will obey my savior. Jesus was a public preacher, and he told his church to do the same. For the record, the owner of an establishment mentioned in this article conceded that we are only doing what Jesus did, i.e., public ministry. Jesus didn’t go to so-called “free speech zones” to spread the gospel. He went into the public and spoke to those who didn’t ask to hear. Some were saved, and others were not. In the end, the choice is yours, no matter what your fickle flesh wants to hear. Will you accept his gift of salvation by bowing the knee and confessing that he is the Lord God, your maker and your only hope, or will you reject him for the last time today? One day, you will confess that he is the Lord. Please make it on this side of eternity.