Reach Out and Touch Them!

Many of those reading this know what I refer to as "Downtown Street-Corner Preachers." Others may remember the Facebook Post from last summer after my first encounter with them. For the record, they do seem to believe that they are on a mission from God. They preach a kind of "in repentance... is your salvation," (See Isaiah 30:15, read it in context!) but as many of us well know... even though the words they preach seem like truth from God's word, it just doesn't sound quite right.

It had been a long day at work and I, while disembarking from the light-rail station, decided to take a stroll through Downtown last week. Sure enough, there they were preaching the same, message as always. "God hates your sin!" It's a message they proclaim over a listing of select sins according to the book Leviticus. They wear this listing on themselves like those of a "LIQUIDATION SALE" sign on a poor furniture store employee. When I saw them, a kind of fire flared up in me -- don't get me wrong, it wasn't so much anger as a desire to set things right -- so I approached one of the preachers.

It turned out that a nicely dressed, older gentleman had reached the preacher just before me. He was calm, collected, and not especially bothered by this wild eyed instrument of God's judgement. I walked up beside them and decided to listen a while as I waited my turn. This is more or less how the conversation went:

"Hello, brother," said the businessman to the preacher, "how are you?"

"I'M OKAY!" shouted the preacher for all to hear, "HOW ARE YOU???"

"I'm doing well," the business man quietly, for I could hardly hear him myself. "Say, why do you shout all the time?"

"I'M NOT SHOUTING! I'M PROCLAIMING, more like PREACHING!"

"Well I see that, but it's coming across as a little offensive, do you think you could tone it down a little?"

"NO, I DON'T BELIEVE I CAN DO THAT. YOU SEE, These people's SINS need to be EXPOSED through the LAW! Is it offensive? YES, because GOD's WORD is offensive to this culture of PHARISEES! It's a kind of RIGHTEOUS anger."

"Pardon me, sir." said the businessman very politely, "I'm a brother in the faith--"

"OH, that's GOOD!!!!!"

"Yes... er... right, I'm a brother in the faith and I'm still working through some of the sins that your preaching against. I don't claim perfection yet, but I'm working on it. Anyway, I just think you need to tone it down and be a little more polite."

"WELL, even JESUS had RIGHTEOUS ANGER TOO!"

"I understand that... in certain cases, but I just think you are coming off as offensive. I have to go now--"

The businessman then looked at me and smiled as though to say, Your turn! I shook his hand, and he sped on his way.

I can't really give you a step by step relay of what went on after that. But suffice it to say that within the verbal boxing match which ensued, I was interrupted, misunderstood, and accused of being a "PHARISEE!" as well as one who "BEARS BAD FRUIT!" After about 2 minutes of trying to make sense of the situation, another preacher joined and the two proceeded to ram me with scriptures... which seemed to have no discernible Biblical context. One of these Scriptures in particular was Romans 2:8 which I will get to in a bit.

After about five minutes, they decided they had enough of me and said, "This guy doesn't know what he's talking about!" As they hurriedly left to cross the street, I decided not to give up just yet. "Hey!" I shouted and stretched out my hand, "Thanks for talking with me, I really appreciate it." The second preacher hesitated only a moment, "Yeah... uh, no problem," and he shook my hand.

Now the story takes another turn, because on the journey home I saw an older, disheveled, gentleman holding a sign which read, "Just Need Food." I felt compelled towards him (which doesn't happen very often mind you) and said, "Hi! How are you?"

"Eh? What did you say son?" He answered.

"I said 'hoooow... aaarrreee.... yoooouuuu."

"Oh! Doing well, doing well."

"Is there anything I can do for you today?" It was amazing how naturally I formed those words. Only a moment before I felt so flabbergasted that I could hardly get a word out. Wouldn't you know it? Maybe it's because I work in customer/food service! Just goes to show that one never knows when his/her trade will can be used for God's purposes.

"Oh, well it's just food that I need," said the man.

"Okay," I said motioning with my left hand, "Target is right across the street. Can I get you some food?"

His eyes brightened up and the sound of that, "OH! Yes! That would be great!"

"Do you have any dietary needs, sir?"

"Well, I have diabetes, you know. So any kind of fruit... er... um... BANANAS! I could use some bananas!

Sure enough, I found myself grabbing two bunches of bananas and a cup of coffee, "With cream and Sweet&Low!" After bringing him his food and drink, I asked if I could pray for him.

"Ah, now that would be great, thank you," he said, bowing his head. I laid my hand on him and prayed something like this:

"Dear Father in Heaven. I thank you for stopping me to help my friend today. I pray that these things would be nourishing to his body. Lord, I also pray that you would continue to compel people of Truth to help him. Surround him with these people. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen!"

"Thank you, son. What is you name?"

"Jacob," I replied with a smile.

"Oh, well I'll remember that," he winked, "That's from the Bible!"

And it was true. What I did was from the Bible. In fact it was exactly what Jesus did in the Bible, and also what the real Pharisees refused to do: to see, to touch, and to provide for the poor in heart, health, and spirit... on a personal, day by day level.

Who are the real Pharisees of today? Well, Jesus described them as loud, burdensome, arrogant, deceitful, and overall hypocritical. Need I say more?

What is truly needed is people with sound conviction of the heart and mind to reach out and touch the people in this culture. For those of us with a heart for culture change, I think it starts right here with our touch. Did not Jesus touch the leper, and yet still retain his righteousness?

Now that you have trekked through this amazing journey with me. Read Romans chapter 2. Remember the preachers used Romans 2:8 to justify their wrathful, angry preaching. I actually chuckled when I read the first few verses. Can you tell why? Read the whole chapter and always, always test the way people use the Word by putting it back into the context of what was actually written!

Blessings!