SOME TO BE EVANGELISTS. Why should a Local Church consider appointing an Evangelist?

Transcription

1 SOME TO BE EVANGELISTS Why should a Local Church consider appointing an Evangelist? A. Introduction 1. As a local church, we want to be faithful to the great task the Lord Jesus has given to His followers of making disciples of all nations. Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20) This will mean making progress in these four areas: i) Making New Disciples of Jesus in Banstead ii) Maturing Existing Disciples of Jesus in Banstead iii) Making New Disciples of Jesus Beyond Banstead iv) Maturing Existing Disciples of Jesus Beyond Banstead 2. In order to make progress in making new disciples of Jesus in Banstead, the elders are proposing that we appoint a full-time church-based evangelist who would join the eldership and lead this area of church life. Why? The current gifting of present eldership leans heavily towards those a pastor and teacher rather than an evangelist (although 2 Timothy 4:5 makes it clear that they are to do the work of an evangelist). The lack of someone whose primary focus is to reach lost people in the community with the gospel, and who will encourage the rest of the church to do the same. Roger Carswell in his book And Some Evangelists writes: My plea is for the setting aside of gifted believers to be devoted to the full-time work of evangelism, in the same way that pastors and missionaries are appointed for their task They will spearhead evangelistic endeavour in their locality and beyond Their emphasis will be the proclaiming of the gospel. Surely churches which appoint pastors and youth leaders should seriously consider appointing evangelists, who will work alongside the leadership of the church but have particular responsibility for leading evangelistic endeavour, and training the church to be evangelistic. Church leadership which ignores or rejects God s gift in the form of the evangelist, not only hinders the evangelistic outreach of the church, but hinders the equipping and edifying of the church. 3. What is an evangelist? The two key passages in the Bible that teach us about the role of the evangelist are Acts 8:4-40 and Ephesians 4: B. The Gift of the Evangelist 1. Jesus has given His church people who are apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men. It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers. (Ephesians 4:7-8, 11)

2 The purpose of these gifts is to encourage His followers to get on with the task of making new disciples by passing on the gospel, and also to encourage His followers to get on with the task of teaching existing disciples to obey everything He has commanded. It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13) 2. The gift of Apostles and Prophets the establishers of the faith. With the completion of God s Word, the gift of apostles and prophets is no longer needed today. We have their teaching available to us. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God s people and members of God s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:19-20) In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God s holy apostles and prophets. (Ephesians 3:4-5) 3. The gift of Evangelists the extenders of the frontiers. Evangelists take the gospel to lost people. Some will be sent out on missions to new places to plant new churches. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. (Acts 8:40) Others will remain within a local church. Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. (Acts 21:8) Like pastors and teachers, these evangelists in local churches are called to equip the saints for the work of ministry, and that includes the ministry of evangelism. (Warren Wiersbe) 4. The gift of Pastors and Teachers the edifiers of the flock. Pastors and teachers lead local churches by feeding God s people with His Word encouraging their growth to maturity. Evangelists are much like obstetricians, helping to bring new Christians into the world. Teaching pastors are like paediatricians, seeing that these Christians have a healthy spiritual diet, that their diseases receive proper attention, and that they get plenty of spiritual fresh air and exercise. (Ray Steadman) Every church should be led by a combination of evangelists and teaching shepherds men gifted to bring the lost in and men gifted for feeding believers and leading them in the Word to build them up. (John MacArthur) C. The Character of the Evangelist 1. In Acts 21:8, Philip the Evangelist appears to be part of the local church in Caesarea, and most likely is one of the elders.

3 With the evangelist being a leadership position, they need to have the character required of all church leaders. Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, selfcontrolled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. (1 Timothy 3:1-7) An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self- controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. (Titus 1:6-9) 2. They must set an example in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. 4 areas they are to do this in: Their Personal Life: Temperate, self-controlled, not given to drunkenness, not a lover of money. Their Family Life: Marital faithfulness; Manages family well. Their Community Life: respectable, hospitable, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome; well thought of by outsiders; avoid favouritism. Their Spiritual Life: not a new convert, spiritual growing 3. They must be able to teach. To have the ability to communicate the gospel. Not necessarily a preacher. Ideally a generalist one who can talk to people of all ages from the very young to the very old. 4. They must have a deep concern and love for lost people. People without Christ go to hell. (Rico Tice) I speak the truth in Christ I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. (Romans 9:1-4) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36) 5. They must be prayerful. Brothers, my heart s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. (Romans 10:1) Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Colossians 4:2)

4 D. The Work of the Evangelist 1. There are two parts to an evangelists work: Doing Evangelism and Encouraging Evangelism. In Acts 8 we see an evangelist in action doing evangelism. Philip preaches the gospel to a crowd of people. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. (Acts 8:5-6) But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. (Acts 8:12) Philip preaches the gospel to an individual. The eunuch asked Philip, Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else? Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. (Acts 8:34-35) In Ephesians 4 we are told that an important part of the evangelists work is to prepare God s people for works of service, which will include encouraging and training them to share the gospel. It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God s people for works of service. (Ephesians 4:11-12) An evangelist is someone who does evangelism and who encourages people in the local church to do evangelism. 2. How might an evangelist do evangelism in the setting of this local church? Door to door work: Visit every home in the community (2-3 times a year) to share the gospel and invite people to church/events. There are many people the church would never meet unless you go to them. Street work: Similar to door to door work. This is most effective in run up in Christmas and Easter. Invest in people: Join groups in the community to meet and get to know people; aim is developing contacts to invite people to events and share the gospel with. Church groups: The regular ministries can assist the evangelist. They are something to invite people to. Those who attend are people the evangelist can talk to and follow up. Note: This doesn t mean they are responsible for running the groups. Organise events: Ben Clark (Pastor of Outreach at Chessington Evangelical Church) talks about Red, Amber and Green events. Red events are friendship-building events that intentionally don t have Christian content. Amber events are gospel taster events that include a testimony or short talk on a subject. Green events are gospel preaching events such as a Christianity Explored Course or an Evangelistic Service. The evangelist would ensure that events are happening throughout the year and would be involved in organising them. Follow up: The evangelist would have responsibility for following up contacts from door to door work, street work, groups and events. Reading the Bible with them or running evangelistic courses for them. Planning a season of evangelistic endeavour: Seeking to reach a new area with the gospel by putting on a series of evangelistic meetings. 3. How might an evangelist encourage evangelism in the setting of this local church? Running courses designed to equip us to explain the gospel.

5 Creating a culture of inviting. Identifying those with an evangelistic gifting and involving them in the work. Setting up a specific prayer meeting to pray for non-christian contacts and evangelistic opportunities. Highlighting to the church when and where evangelism is happening. Pastoral visiting to nudge people with their evangelism. Providing resources tracts, books that can be given away. E. Conclusion The Danger of having an Evangelist 1. The church (and elders) thinks that we now do evangelism because the evangelist does it. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (1 Peter 3:15) But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5) 2. The church (and elders) thinks that now we have an evangelist we are going to see loads of conversions. God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life. (Acts 11:18) When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honoured the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48) The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul s message. (Acts 16:14)