Comments on: Should “Bullhorn Guy” Really Shut Up?

By: hardcorefaith

hardcorefaith — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 19:03:05 +0000

Thanks for your honest reply. It's true that many forget to include grace and forgiveness instead preaching a message of condemnation. There needs to be balance… we can preach challenges and even rebukes when needed, but we must always come from a place of love and mercy.

By: @legacy_dad

@legacy_dad — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 02:30:58 +0000

The context of Rob Bell's video is not the manner in reaching the lost (open-air preaching) but the demeanor and vernacular of the preacher. He states the man was spewing words of like ‘burn’ and ‘hell’ and ‘repent.’ Was this Jesus' message? Or was it a message of love, peace and acceptance? Most atheists I know these days were once Christians but left the faith because of people like the bullhorn guy. Instead of being loved and offered Gods grace and acceptance, they were somewhere along the line judged and ridiculed by someone claiming to be Christian.

This hypocrisy and legalism is the reason we are losing people ages 30 years and younger, at alarming rates from our churches. Everyone remembers John 3:16 but forgets John 3:17.

Bell is simply trying to illustrate that condemning the world is not effective and many Christians, myself included, feel it gives us a bad name. I say pick up the bull horn but preach a message that is congruent with that of Jesus.

By: Sam.

Sam. — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:14:35 +0000

The whole premise of 'if one person is saved, then it's worth it' argument, can't really be justified if to get to that one person, the speaker puts off hundreds from ever wanting to hear another word – how many people had Bullhorn Guy effectively 'condemned' by doing this?I think that is where Bell is coming from.
As the author does identify, the scripture isn't really prescriptive in what evangilising looks like – which means that it'll take different methods to reach different people and in this day and age, shouting at them through a megaphone just isn't going to cut it for the majority.

By: Christian St John

Christian St John — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:29:23 +0000

Hey Jackie, Thanks for your comment. Wow! You’ve really given this some thought. I love your interaction on this issue. I agree that just being nice to people can be a compromise… there has to be a time in our “being nice” where we share the Gospel with those we are being nice to. And therein lies the hard part as, like you say, the Gospel is offensive. Just look at Jesus – many found him offensive! And that’s what turns so many people away from sharing, because they want to be buddies with everyone and fail to realize that time is short and we are (to quote the Blue’s Brothers) on a Mission from God!

You are right in saying that God saves… we proclaim. Isaiah 52:7 says, “How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”” What a beautiful image and I’m sure it includes more than a few “bullhorn guys.”

By: Jackie Gilliam

Jackie Gilliam — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:40:59 +0000

What is more loving A.) To never speak of sin, the penalty of sin – death and eternal just punishment in hell; but be nice and “loving” to people so you can at some point share how Jesus will make their lives better…

or B.) Risk offending (the cross is offense) by speaking the truth in love that we are all under God’s wrath because we all sin and are considered sons of disobedience (John 3:36, Eph 5:6, Col 3:6) and that unless we recognize our sinful state, repent and put our full trust and faith in the finished work of Christ that we will reap the full reward of our disobedience by spending eternity in hell because we have sinned against a holy and just God or eternity in heaven because we are bad people forgiven by an amazingly good and kind God.

Bullhorn guy should never stop and more of us should find our voice to join him with or without a bullhorn!
Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
Acts 4:20 “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Jesus didn’t live a perfect life, die the death of the cross and rise from the dead to show us a better way to live and give us our best life now. He lived a perfect life to fulfill the requirements of the law that by our sin nature we never could, He died the death of the cross to pay the just penalty of our sin so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God and He rose again that we might share in eternal life with Him. I do not find the command to make disciples to be vague I would say in reading the NT the how of Christian life and Christian discipleship is laid out. Preach the cross, see men saved, teach them the word of God and send them out to do preach the cross, see men saved, teach them the word and so on and so on. God through the NT writers has given us clear instruction on how to proclaim the Gospel, how to live the Christian life by the Spirit and not by our own strength and how to die to ourselves and live unto God.
I will end with this salvation is God’s work – proclamation is ours. Oh that we would all rise to the challenge and open our mouths one on one or to a crowd.

By: Christian St John

Christian St John — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:27:50 +0000

In my experience, the bullhorn guys I have come across have been genuine believers with a heart for the lost. I remember one guy in Hyde Park, London, on a warm Sunday afternoon preaching perhaps one of the best messages of hope I have ever heard. In his message he spoke about hell, damnation, sin, darkness, and it would have been easy to listen to a couple of minutes of this and think, “wacko!” However, listening to more of his message he turned the whole thing around and spoke of heaven, salvation, newness, and life. Sometimes we cut people off mid sentence because we think we know where they’re going with their message.

With that said, I do agree that if someone is preaching from anger, fear or ignorance then it can be detrimental to the cause of Christ.

It’s funny but reading some of the old sermons by Westley, Edwards, Whitfield, and the like – they had no problem preaching hell, sin, wrath, and all that jazz. And what’s more, the people got it and were saved in their hundred’s if not thousands as a result. Reading some their sermons I would take a guess and say we would probably class them as bullhorn’s in this day and age.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:55:20 +0000

While I agree that if even one person has reached salvation through a bullhorn guy he is a success, I disagree on the likelihood of the existence of that person. A lot of the bullhorns I’ve come across seem to be out there with a very angry, confrontational attitude which sours and sometimes poisons the message being put across.

They do serve the purpose of getting the seed of the Word out there (like in the parable of the various soils) but, again, their method leaves a lot to be desired. Instead of being more like a gardener, preparing the soil, caring for the blossom, showing that they (the evangelizer) and God care about the person and the result they just throw it there and walk away. Hopefully that wasn’t as convoluted and uncomfortable to read as it was to write.