The Holy Spirit And The Gift of An Evangelist

Preach the word!

Be ready in season 

and out of season.

Convince, rebuke, exhort, 

with all longsuffering 

and teaching. for the time

will come when they will not

endure sound doctrine,

but according to their own desires,

because they have itching ears,

they will heap up for themselves teachers;

and they will turn their ears away 

from the truth, and be turned 

aside to fables.

But you be watchful in all things,

endure afflictions, do the work 

of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2Timothy 4:3-5

     Paul was not speaking about non-believers when he spoke of people turning aside from the truth. Yet, Paul admonished to Timothy to "Preach the Word!" Further on he said to Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. The Greek word for evangelist is "εύαγγελιστοϋ" and the prefix "εύ" means "good" and the root word is "αγγελιστ" meaning to "announce" or to
"bring good news" with the suffix: "οϋ" which is genitive meaning "of"; therefore an evangelist is one who brings good news. What is the good news that is to be brought forth by an evangelist? The incarnation, the oblation, the death, and the resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus Christ, the one who we just celebrated as to His birth, His coming to take on the form of humanity for one purpose and one purpose only, to pay the debt that man could not pay, to redeem the children of God. Many so-called evangelists today are nothing more than touting psychological babble and Jesus Christ is hardly mentioned, our sins are hardly mentioned, they by their very action and words are not true evangelists. The word evangelist is translated in Scripture where it occurs three times in, Acts 21:8; 2Timothy 4:5; and Paul writes; "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers" (Ephesians 4:11). This gift of an evangelist is given in a special manner in that the evangelist has a special ability to communicate the good news; the gospel. 

     An evangelist may teach, preach and do the work of a pastor, but his primary message centers on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that men must place their faith in Him. An evangelist, and we also, do not know who has been given this free gift of faith, but that is no matter for an evangelist, for we, and him, have been called to be the light of the world as He was and is the Light of the world, and that by means of this light men are to repent of their sins. An evangelist centers his message upon the gospel.

     Evangelist are known far too often by there being emotional outbursts, people rushing to an altar, crying and much euphoric production and we hail the evangelist as being from God and speaking for God. True, there may be some crying when one becomes aware of their true sinful nature, and just as often people silently commit their lives to Christ. This is not the job of an evangelist to attempt to produce emotion for his main job is to speak of the good news and allow the Holy Spirit to move an individual enabling, and drawing him so that by this faith their will can choose to believe. The Scriptures are clear that no man can or will choose God without God enabling them, and this enabling comes about by the free gift of faith. Yet, we have "evangelist" spending much time to achieve visible results, they want to see results, they validate their evangelism by the number of people who respond. God made this clear that it is by Him that the battle is won: "Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands" (1Samuel 17:47). Often evangelists believe people respond to the rhetoric, a rhetoric that is due to their influential exhortation; it is not, people do respond to the word of God when they hear this word preached, but until they truly come to realize that they are sinful, totally reprehensible to a Holy God, and that only by the Only Begotten Son of God who paid the price for their sins, and by that faith implanted in them by God will they truly submit to the will of God. The Scriptures nowhere invite us to seek results, and if an evangelist has no results, I think of Jeremiah, Scripture, God, does not give a rebuke. Evangelists, pastors, and often we, look to see if a person has made a decision, but a decision is easy especially when a person undergoes a personal trials. Until they have come to truly realize what God has done by sending His Son to take on humanity, all this being decided upon in eternity for Jesus is God and God is eternity, then they respond and devote themselves to Jesus Christ. There may be different methods used by an evangelist, but only the message counts, for only the message of the good news will bring conviction upon a person, it is God's work to convert, the work of the Holy Spirit. It is conversion that counts, not decisions, for a conversion is to completely turn aside from what a person was, what they were doing, and to become fully devoted to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

      We may not have this special gift of an evangelist, but we can evangelize as this is the work of all Christians. We become so involved with day to day issues, desires to have things which may be necessary but not always advantageous. We buy, we spend money we don't have, we make decisions to make us happy, to give a certain joy, and we even spend time in Sunday Schools, and other activities that are important and not necessarily wrong; but what is the motive, are you doing what Jesus commanded us to do, is that command first and foremost in our lives? Are we living for Him or for us? Is Christ first in our lives, are we evangelizing our children by taking time to teach them God's word? Jesus commanded first the eleven disciples on the mount in Galilee, but that command is not just for them, we are able to read what is the will of God. The disciples died, the message was carried forward by both everyday individuals and by those who have this gift of an evangelist. Jesus commanded: "Go therefore and make disciples (not decisions: my interpolation) of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).

Then Jesus said to them,

     "Follow Me, and I will

make you become fishers 

     of men."

                                    Mark 1:17

Pray To God, and He Will Direct You

Richard L. Crumb