Tony Miano: Qualifications for Ministry

Tony_Miano

Tony Miano is a full-time evangelist that regularly engages in open-air preaching on the street. He first joined me in December 2012 to discuss Biblical Evangelism, and returns this month to discuss the qualifications that a Biblical evangelist should hold. Inspired by an ongoing series of articles he is currently writing at GospelSpam.com, Tony makes the case that many in the open-air preaching subculture are doing more harm than good during their public proclamation of the Gospel. Tony makes the case for a minimum standard that he would like to see such evangelists live up to before engaging in public ministry; and while is case is made primarily for open-air preachers, he argues that such standard should be applied to anyone engaging in parachurch ministry.

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An Outline of the Discussion

Tony joined the open-air preaching explosion following Ray Comfort and the release and popularity of “Hell's Best Kept Secret.” With that explosion, a lot of mistakes were made. Tony takes responsibility for some of those mistakes. Among them, Tony claimed a high view of scripture, but now feels that he did much to undermine the local churches and their responsibility to ensure that the people under their care were qualified to be engaging in the ministry of open-air preaching.
Not everyone exhibits the character of an elder, but those who seek to herald the truth of Christ should aspire to the same qualifications as those of an elder. However, the local church should ultimately be the ones to decide which of their men will be out on the streets, and why. The preachers themselves shouldn't be the sole deciders of such qualifications.
Tony has gotten more grief and push-back over his stand on qualifications of street preachers than he did over his book “Should She Preach”, making the case for women's roles in evangelism.
- His original view of women was that the prohibition of women to teach (1 Timothy 2:12) applied only to the local church. His book expressed his repentance of such view, and his case that such command is not limited to the local church, but is universal.
- He expressed three reasons why women should not open-air preach:
  - Paul was drawing from the created order when making his statement to Timothy. The desire of women to express authority came with the Fall.
  - This order extends beyond the walls of the church.
  - Women must sacrifice their God-given femininity in order to preach in the open-air.
- There is a role for women in evangelism, just not on a box preaching in the open-air. She can (and in many cases should) be engaged in one-on-one evangelism with other women.
Why must an open-air preacher meet the qualifications of elder, and not deacon? Tony explains that there is one important qualification that elders must meet, but isn't required of deacons: the ability to teach. Preaching the Gospel requires the ability to teach. Not only is the Gospel itself something that must be taught, but answering objections and questions even more so requires the ability to teach.
Tony explains the importance of open-air preachers being under the authority of a local church. Not only does he teach this, but he practices it as well. Everything he does in ministry is under the umbrella of the authority of his church's elders, and when he travels, he places himself under a local church in the place he finds himself.