Today’s religious landscape is full of church buildings, like the synagogues, where God’s Word is opened and read. Yet, like the Jews of the first century who rejected Paul’s teaching, they continue to read but continue to reject its application. Our attendance in their gatherings is not giving acceptance to them any more than Paul’s attendance at the synagogues gave his approval. We are merely looking for opportunities to teach the truth. In some cases, what started as a public forum can lead to a private study. You may be shut down as Paul was and no longer allowed back, but you may be bringing disciples out with you. Some would call this “sheep-stealing.” Yet, preaching Christ does not result in people coming out of one denomination only to go into another one. For this reason, it is hardly “sheep-stealing.” Paul went to the synagogue in Ephesus and spoke boldly for three months, “disputing and persuading.” Verse 9 of chapter 19 reads, “But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.”
Among public buildings, are schools and stores. As noted in the above quote, teaching in public schools is another forum for the public proclamation of the gospel. I have used college classrooms for such purposes, but it works best with advertising in the school papers, student centers, and bulletin boards. A community grocery store is not the same forum that allows a captive audience, but it compares to the open market places where people came to buy their daily food. You would be amazed at how many conversations have started at a food store. If you are known, you may even experience people initiating the conversations. It was especially useful to have a weekly or daily radio program and someone would invariably say something about hearing you at a certain time on-air. This provided an occasion for a discussion or a future study to be scheduled in the near future.