THE HEART OF MINISTRY
The Ministry of EVANGELIST
When we think of evangelists probably the first person that comes to mind is Billy Graham who went to be with the Lord in 2018 at nearly 100 years old. He preached the Gospel live, to some 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories—and hundreds of millions more through radio, television, and film. But as wonderful as that is, and there are many things we can learn from him - not least his often repeated phrase: “The Bible says,” Billy is not the ideal role model of an evangelist in the New Testament sense of the word because his achievements are unattainable to the likes of ordinary Christians and even most preachers.
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The word euangelistÄ“s – evangelist, appears only 3 times in the New Testament and means: “One who announces glad tidings; an evangelist, preacher of the Gospel” (Strong’s Concordance). In that sense, anyone who brings the good news of the gospel to another is being an evangelist, at that point. When this is understood in the context of the early Church who met in homes with a plural leadership of elders, it can be assumed that one or more of those leaders could be an evangelist by gift (Ephesians 4:11) and it would be their job to inspire the whole group to be involved in evangelism in various ways.
The supreme evangelist is Jesus.
He came as an evangelist in the first instance!
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom … when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:35-38)
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Notice he went through “all” the towns and villages: there were over 200 of them! This was an ongoing planned strategy of His to give everyone the opportunity to hear the message. We see this deliberate plan being worked out on other occasions, not least in the sending out of the Twelve (Matt 10:5-8) and the sending of the Seventy two (Luke 10:1) whom he sent: “ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.”
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Let us take a moment to examine the message and Jesus’ method of presenting it. Notice firstly that his ministry was motivated by COMPASSION for the people.
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In John 3 and 4 we see Jesus in two very explicit evangelistic situations with individual people - a man and a woman: Nicodemus and the woman of Samaria. In both cases these people were interested, and Jesus picked up on that, but He did not impose his agenda on them.
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He started where they were at; He listened to them and then took them further. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless he was born again, he would not see the kingdom of heaven. He told the woman that she would never have her thirst quenched until she came to the source of living water.
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He spoke with them in a challenging but loving way because He wanted Nicodemus to move from empty religion to a vital relationship with God and the woman to be truly satisfied not with human ‘love’ but with heavenly love.
With both of them Jesus had great success. Nicodemus became a follower and was present after the crucifixion, helping prepare the body of Jesus for burial (John 19:39). The woman was transformed by Jesus and immediately became an evangelist to the people in her village who then came and experienced and believed in Jesus for themselves! (John 4:39-42)
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Paul said: “I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God that brings salvation
to everyone who believes.”
Romans 1:16
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The world needs this message but many Christians are very intimidated with the idea of evangelism and they avoid it at all costs. That is why the Church needs those who are the gift of an evangelist to model how to do it and inspire others to join them in reaching out to their community with the powerful message of the gospel.
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A good starting point for “ordinary Christians” is to simply tell others what Jesus has done for them when the opportunity arises. We do not need to have a theological degree to share how God has answered prayer and how Jesus is real. People can argue with theology but they can’t get around what another person has experienced – they may not believe it - but most of the time they will say “Oh that’s nice for you,” which probably means they don’t want that for themselves! That is their responsibility – ours is to be witnesses in a gentle and loving way.
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“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”
that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim:
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
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For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
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As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—
the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for,
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
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How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
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Romans 10:8-15
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“Our challenge is not the hardness of society but the shortage of workers
– not just clergy but believers prepared for the labour of evangelism.
There’s no shortage of evangelistic opportunity for we are surrounded by unbelievers.”
Richard Coekin senior minister of Dundonald Church, London
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“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
Pray to the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Matt. 9:37-38
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We will not all be evangelists by gift,
but we can all do the ‘work of an evangelist in a way that fits our situation and personality
and our prayer can still be:
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“LORD SEND ME”
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