Mass Evangelism and Missions

It was in the early 1990's when I sat at the great International Amphitheater in Chicago, Illinois and listened to Curtis Hutson preach the gospel to a crowd that I recall was more than 12,000 in number. Many of those in attendance were delegates of the national Pastors' School, and a substantial number were from the inner city and were bused in for an evangelistic night. Brother Hutson had served as the editor of the Sword of the Lord for fifteen years and was a favorite preacher to many. Jack Hyles had often commented that if he could gather the entire world to listen to one sermon on salvation, he would ask Curtis Hutson to preach the sermon. Hutson had a two-volume collection of gospel-centered sermons complied which he called, "Salvation Crystal Clear". He was a simple preacher that would have the people laughing over his humor and crying with conviction all in a matter of moments when listening to his sermons. He was eaten up physically with cancer and as he stood in Chicago, his voice was strong but bodily he was weak. 

I will forever recall as the invitation began people came from all over the massive auditorium to be saved. Five baptisteries were erected on the platform and assistant pastors from the First Baptist Church had been appointed to carry out the ordinance on those who came receiving Christ. As the choir sang, Dr. Hutson would plea for others to come. Hundreds were coming in an altar call that lasted from dozens of stanzas. I remember as people began to be baptized there were eruptions of shouting around the spacious bowl-shaped center. A young man with great zeal began to run around the exterior of the ground floor waving his Bible and praising God for the salvation of the lost. After he circled once in what took a couple of minutes due to the size of the space, I vividly remember Curtis Hutson saying into the microphone, "Son, take a lap for me". The people again shouted at the enthusiasm of a dying preacher. It was a night to remember as hundreds were born again and many of them followed in believers' baptism. 

Occasionally, well-meaning brothers in the faith will oppose this type of soul-saving ministry. They will explain it away by reasoning that those who make 'professions of faith" are ignorant of the gospel when doing so, and that they are drawn by emotionalism, and that those conducting such meetings are only in it for "the numbers". While there may be a fragment of truth to each of these points of reason, it is foolish to discount the power of the gospel when preached clearly. I also maintain that there is a biblical mandate and precedent for both individual soulwinning and mass evangelism. 

Jesus as well as Peter preached to large crowds. On the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 we are told that 3,000 souls were saved and all of them followed immediately in baptism. It cannot be more plain as to what transpired. These were people from various cultures and ethnicities and in a moment they all believed in Christ as their Savior. 

In Acts 8 we see a man going through the desert on his way to Gaza and one of the early deacons, Philip shares the gospel with this searching soul. The Ethiopian man not only gets saved but then stops at a pool of water and he is baptized. There is no follow-up, but the deacon is carried away by the Spirit. The black man continued his journey home with rejoicing. Jesus and His disciples cared for individuals such as the Samaritan woman, Zacchaeus, the dying thief on the cross, but they also were burdened for the multitudes. 

We live in a world of people who are hopelessly lost and need Jesus. There are few churches and fewer soulwinners who have a passion for preaching the gospel. God has enabled us to preach the gospel to multitudes over the last 18 years since the creation of All Nations Outreach Ministry. God has been gracious to allow us to see over 288k people come to Jesus. The majority of these have been won to faith through two main avenues. Public school ministry and the Jesus Film outreach have been the two greatest tools God has shown us in getting the gospel to the lost. At times crowds as large as one or two thousand people have stood in front of one of our missionaries or members. At other times gatherings as little as fifty people at a time have heard the Word of God in their own language. These ministries are not the end of the Great Commission but the beginning. We also have seen hundreds and thousands baptized and been a part of planting hundreds of churches where people are being discipled. 

To discount the power of the gospel or discourage the heart of the servants of God who proclaim the message of truth is to cause great harm to the salvation of the world. We need more who will go. We need those who go to have greater passion and vigor. We need more to hear and believe and be saved. The peril of our hour is great. God has given each of us a calling and even a command to go. Let us not use mindless criticisms of those who believe the unadulterated gospel by asking silly questions such as, "How many of them really meant it?" Let us not question the motives of those who may just be more sold out than ourselves. Let us not start a conversation after hearing about people being saved from Hell by inquiring, "How many of them showed up in church?". This approach is of no value and likely stems from jealousy. 

To be fair, some do preach Christ with vanity and pretension. Some professions of faith are doubtless false. Some soulwinners and evangelists are shallow in their approach to the gospel. We ought to handle the salvation of unregenerate men with care. However, it is the authors strong opinion that some of the gospel is better than none. Most men will perish and have little or no opportunity to hear a message from Scriptures that will give light to his soul. If a man boards an airplane and deplanes in a pagan or hardened spot and attempts to preach Jesus, let us all be for him. If he rushes the process of explaining the gospel more than we would choose to do, let us still be for him. If he stands and prays with school
children who have lived their young lives and never heard the gospel of grace, let us be for him. If he travels into a dusty village and preaches in the darkness to crowds of people sitting in the dirt and they are exposed to even the simplest form of the message, let us be for him. If a pastor reads but one verse such as John 14:6 and tells his congregation in some broken language that Jesus offers the only hope of heaven, and the preacher fumbles through his version of the sinners' prayer, in the name of everything holy, LET US BE FOR HIM!!