How to Draw a Crowd

One of the most difficult things to do is draw a crowd to hear the gospel. Today’s society has been programmed to want immediate action, and open-air preaching isn’t too attractive to guilty sinners. Therefore we have to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. A serpent gets its heart’s desire subtly. Our desire is for sinners to gather under the sound of the gospel.

Ask people passing by what they think is the greatest killer of drivers in the U.S. This stirs their curiosity. Some begin calling out “Alcohol!” or “Falling asleep at the wheel!” Tell them it’s not and repeat the question a few more times, saying that you will give a dollar to the person who gets the answer. Tell them that they will never guess what it is that kills more drivers than anything else in America. A few more shouts emit from the crowd. People are now waiting around for the answer. What is it that kills more drivers than anything else in the United States? What is it that could be the death of you and me? You won’t believe this, but it is “trees.” Millions of them line our highways, waiting for a driver to kill. When one is struck, the tree stays still, sending the driver into eternity.

Then tell the crowd that you have another question for them. Ask what they think is the most common food on which people choke to death in U.S. restaurants. Over the next few minutes, go through the same scenario. People call out “Steak!” “Chicken bones!” Believe it or not, the answer is “hard-boiled egg yoke.”

By now you have a crowd that is enjoying what is going on. Ask them what they think is the most dangerous job in America. Someone calls out “cop.” It’s not. Someone else may name another dangerous profession like “fire fighter.” Say, “Good one...but wrong.” Give a suggestion by saying, “Why doesn’t someone say ‘electrician’?” Someone takes the suggestion and says, “Electrician!” Say, “Sorry, it’s not electrician.” The most dangerous job in the United States ...is to be the president. Out of forty or so, four have been murdered while on the job.

Then tell the crowd you have another question. “Does anyone in the crowd consider himself to be a “good person”? By now you will have noted who in the crowd has the self-confidence to speak out. Point to one or two and ask, “Sir, do you consider yourself to be a good person?” The Bible tells us that “every man will proclaim his own goodness” (Proverbs 20:6), and he does. He smiles and says, “Yes, I do consider myself to be a good person.” Ask him if he has ever told a lie. Has he stolen, lusted, blasphemed, etc.? That’s when all heaven breaks loose. There is conviction of sin. Sinners hear the gospel, and angels rejoice.