A Paintboard In Times Square

The summer after my freshman year in college I took part in an open air evangelism missions trip. Almost two of those weeks were spent in a city that was part of Ukraine (formerly Russia). And two of those weeks were spent in New York City. Interestingly I had more fear when ministering in New York than when I was overseas. Part of this was because I am not an outgoing person who has the gift of boldness. Giving a tract to someone in my small town of Winston Salem, North Carolina was hard for me. Handing out tracts in New York City was something I honestly did not look forward to.

God did help me get over my fears during the two weeks in New York. I vividly remember the day we went down into the New York City subway system to share the gospel. I was supposed to share use a simple magic trick using three ropes to portray all of our sinfulness in the eyes of God. The first time I did it the only thought on my mind was, “I wonder if I could defend myself with one of these ropes if somebody attacks me”. But by the end of the day I was actually enjoying myself!

I had the opportunity near the end of my second week to share the Gospel in times square. That is the main road through downtown New York that has all of the broadway shows and businesses on either side. It was amazing what God did in my life during those two short weeks. Even though my experience in New York took place eleven years ago in the summer of 1996 I still remember it as a time when God used me powerfully.

I believe with all of my heart that God used me during those two weeks in New York. Although I was not able to lead someone to the Lord I did see many unsaved people come forward and take a tract out of my hand so they could learn more about Christ. But times do change and with changing times our methods for ministry must change as well. If I was ministering today in New York city I would not rely upon an open air evangelism ministry. Nor would I use a rope trick to share the Gospel in the subway stations.

I view things like open air evangelism as good ways to share the Gospel. They can definitely be used by God to lead a lost soul to salvation. But these methods do not work as well as they did eleven years ago. We live in a culture that has dramatically changed since the year 1996. Television, movies, and music have completely changed as well. Why even we are very different people than we were eleven years ago!

Society has changed in so many ways since that Friday night I ministered at Times Square. And we must change with it to impact the lost for Jesus Christ. Our Theology will never change for any reasons. But our methods must be changed so that they are relevant to the year 2007.