Overcoming Fear
Over the past 25 years, I have asked many Christians why they don’t witness. By far, the main reason they give is “fear.” What are we afraid of? Persecution may soon come to our nation and we should be willing to suffer and even die for our faith. But right now this is unlikely, at least in the U.S. Sometimes, Christians fear physical harm while witnessing on the streets. Again, this is very unlikely. In over 20 years, nobody involved in this ministry has ever been hurt in a significant way, nor has anyone had to spend more than 12 hours in jail.
The real fear Christians face is fear of rejection. Whenever we witness‑‑whether to friends, family members, people at work, or strangers‑‑there is a possibility of rejection. No matter how tactfully we present the Gospel, some people will get angry at us and reject us because of our faith. “The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also” John 15:20. Jesus was rejected by many people, including the religious leaders. Even His relatives thought He had lost His mind. Ultimately, of course, He was crucified.
It is especially hard to witness to people we have known a long time and never witnessed to before. We fear most being rejected by our friends, co‑workers and relatives. While we want to see these people saved and often pray for them, we hesitate to witness to them because we don’t want to damage our friendships.
Witnessing to strangers is also difficult. Most of us were told as children not to talk to strangers. We often fear that a person will think us weird if we witness to them. Even though it doesn’t really matter what this stranger thinks of us, and even though our message is the most important message they’ll ever hear, we often are afraid to speak with them.
Like others, Christians tend to conform to the standards of those around them. If those in my church don’t do much witnessing, and witnessing is seldom talked about in my church, I may think that I don’t need to witness either. It is also hard to break long‑ standing habits. If I have been a Christian for many years and have never witnessed to anyone, it is hard to start. If no Christian leader has ever rebuked me for my failure to witness and my pastor does not preach that this is a sin, I may feel justified in not witnessing.
How do we overcome fear? We are all familiar with 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear; because fear has torment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.” It is our love for God and for others that enables us to overcome our fears. Because we love God, we want to please Him and keep His commandment to preach the Gospel. It is only natural to want to tell others about the person you love. We also love our friends and family members and want them to be saved. God can give us love even for those we do not know, and a desire that they be saved. If you saw a blind man about to walk off a cliff, you would try to stop him even though he was a stranger.
Often, a new believer will be excited about Jesus and eager to witness, while those who have been saved many years no longer witness and have developed elaborate excuses for not witnessing. We need to return to our first love, to the place where we are excited about our relationship with Jesus and want to let others know about Him. We need to repent of our sins, including the sin of not witnessing, and be renewed into a right relationship with God.
“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord” 2 Tim. 1:7‑8. Fear of witnessing certainly does not come from God. Satan does not want us to witness and our flesh does not want to receive rejection. We need to believe God’s word and trust that He will give us the power to boldly testify for Jesus Christ.
On the Streets
Fisherman’s Wharf is one of the busiest areas of the city. It is also the area where there has been the greatest freedom to play amplified music. Almost any day, several secular bands with full PA systems will play music there without permits. We have tried to get permits there, but have been unable to get them. The police never bother these bands, and have not bothered us when we use our maximouse amplifier.
However, on Friday January 19, two policemen approached us. They threatened to arrest Eric Livingston and confiscate our equipment if we didn’t leave immediately. When we asked what law we were breaking, they said that we could find out when we went to court. Eventually I learned that the police have begun cracking down on at least some bands that didn’t have permits. They showed me a letter written by permit officer Fred Crisp saying that permits were required for all amplification. When I said that 10 watt bullhorns were exempt from the requirement, they didn’t want to hear about it. We went home early rather than face arrest.
I spoke with Officer Crisp the following week and attempted to resolve the matter but was unsuccessful. Please pray that we will continue to have freedom to minister at Fisherman’s Wharf and would not be arrested when we return there.
January 20 was Inauguration Day for President Bush. In San Francisco, a massive protest was scheduled to meet at UN Plaza at noon and march to Civic Center, two blocks away. Our outreach at UN Plaza began the same time, so we were able to preach to a thousand protesters as they arrived and left their rally. Two bands and a youth mime group from Church of the Open Door, Marin County, ministered that afternoon, along with Children of the Rock. Most of the people in the area are homeless, and we gave out sandwiches and prayed with over a dozen people that afternoon. We referred people to churches and discipleship programs in the area.
On February 3, the band Machaira from Sacramento ministered at Washington Square. Before we started, a homosexual man complained to the police. However, the police officer was nice, and gave us no trouble. We kept our volume low, and didn’t have any other problems that day. It was a warm, sunny day and we ministered to many people in the park. At the outreach, Eric received a call on his cell phone from Gerhard. He had mailed in a response to a tract and we had sent him follow-up information. He was eager to get Christian fellowship and Eric referred him to a local church.
SOS-San Francisco
June 22-30, 2001
We have set the dates for next summer’s SOS-San Francisco outreach. We also have been blessed with an excellent meeting location – Temple Baptist Church, 19th Ave. and Ocean (at Stonestown Shopping Center), San Francisco. We are hoping to bring together several ministries for this outreach. Please pray that God will guide us in planning this major outreach, so that many people will hear the Gospel and be saved.
Legal Update
Because of the continuing arrests and permit denials in San Francisco, we filed a Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit in 1996. The judge was totally unsympathetic to us and dismissed the case without a trial. We appealed the dismissal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is one step below the U S Supreme Court. Our appeal will be heard on March 14. Rick Nelson of American Liberties Institute (ALI) in Florida wrote the appeal and will be arguing the case. ALI is a Christian ministry that provides legal help to Christian groups. Rick has argued (and won) many appeals cases in Federal Court, so we are very happy that he has agreed to argue our case. Please pray that we will win the appeal and that the 9th Circuit will declare that our rights were violated.
Coming Events
Note: All outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531‑5325 or (510) 616-0712 (my pager number) to confirm outreaches or for more information. We witness in the rain, but our outreach location may change.
Friday March 2, 9, 30 7:30-10 PM Witnessing in various S.F. neighborhoods. (Call for meeting location.)
Sat. March 3 San Francisco “Church on the Street” worship rally. 1-5 PM. Washington Square (Columbus and Union St.) (Last Days Harvest Church, Sacramento)
Sat. March 10 Berkeley Outreach. 12:30‑4:30 PM. (note new time) Telegraph and Haste St. (Independent Community Church, Richmond)
Sat. March 31 San Francisco “Church on the Street” worship rally. 12-5 PM. United Nations Plaza (7th St. and Market).
Ministry Needs
Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We have ordered another 100,000 gospel tracts at a cost of $1300. Pray that they will be printed quickly, as we are running out of tracts. Also, we need to replace our 1973 ministry van. We are looking for a 1990 or later van in good condition to transport outreach workers and our sound system.
Over the past two years, I have suffered from back pain that makes it difficult for me to stand for more than an hour during our outreaches. Please pray that God will heal my back. Please pray also for those we have witnessed to and who have written us in response to tracts this past month, including Gerhard, Jason and Dereje (SF) and Jeanne (Walnut Creek).
Our Tape of the Month is Starting a Street Witnessing Team. This is a teaching I gave at a San Diego Evangelism Conference several years ago. Every city should have at least one street witnessing team. I hope many of you will join us in bringing the Church to the Street this next month.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
