Not long ago I was in a worship service in a large church in my hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Connie and I were in town to enjoy a visit with my brothers who live there. After an opening welcome the pastor made a few brief announcements. One of them caught my attention.
It went something like this, “If any of you are shy about sharing your faith and want to learn how to talk with others about Jesus, we will be offering evangelism training classes this Saturday. Lunch will be provided.” I thought to myself, “That’s exactly right! If I were a member here I would attend those classes and encourage others to do the same.”
Christian witness should not be construed as salesmanship. Evangelism should not be distorted as manipulation or coercion. It is not imposing our beliefs on reluctant victims of our enthusiasm. It is, as James Kennedy put it, “One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” It is simply sharing good news, or “gospeling,” an expression coined by Nepalese Christians.
I suspect that pastor wanted to see members of his congregation “gospeling” all over Chattanooga, sharing the good news of eternal life with neighbors and friends. I believe he was correct in this for several reasons.
First, the pastor’s job, according to scripture, is to “prepare God’s people for works of service” (Ephesians 4:12). One of those works of service is evangelism. Yes, the pastor should preach the gospel on Sundays, but he cannot go everywhere his people can go or have the relationships his people have. They are the ones the Lord is sending into the community as his ambassadors, speaking to others “with gentleness and respect” ( 1 Peter 3:15).
For too long American churches have relied upon the excuse that evangelism is the pastor’s job. After all, he is the specialist with all the training. But it wasn’t that way in the early church. Acts 8:4 says, “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” The word translated “preached” means “conversed.” It is a word for informal conversation in day-to-day situations. The point I am making is that these were ordinary Christians, not church leaders. We know this because Acts 8:1 says that because of the persecution “all except the apostles were scattered.” And those who were scattered engaged in gospel conversations.
That pastor in Chattanooga preached the gospel the Sunday I heard him. But he also expressed the concern that the members of the congregation be equipped for their own ministry of “talking with people about Jesus.”
Another reason is that the Holy Spirit is given to all believers. One of the ministries of the Spirit in the lives of God’s people is empowerment for witness. Jesus promised his disciples that when he went away, the Holy Spirit would come to take his place. He said that Spirit would testify about him, and “you also must testify” (John 15:26-27).
This is reflected in one of the great promises of scripture, that believers would receive power from the Holy Spirit to be witnesses about Jesus “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). It is not all up to us. It is the Holy Spirit in us who is the best evangelist of all.
I was pleased to hear the pastor’s announcement for a third reason. It told me that witness and compassionate concern for others were central to the life of that church. Evangelism was not unusual or exceptional. It was being thought of as a normal aspect of healthy church life.
There is an outstanding example of this in the New Testament. The church in Antioch of Syria was founded through the witness of those Jews from Jerusalem whom I mentioned earlier. They had been scattered by persecution. It came into existence when they shared the message of Jesus with non-Jews (Gentiles) many of whom believed (Acts 11:20-21). As a result, the church took on the multicultural character of the city of Antioch. The assembly at Antioch became identified as Christian and influenced many more of their neighbors to turn to the Lord (Acts 11:24). Sharing the gospel was part of that church’s DNA from its very beginning.
Jesus and his disciples went across the lake of Galilee to the region of Gadara. There they encountered a man who was demonized, living in tragic solitude among the tombs, chained hand and foot. Jesus healed the man and gave him his sanity and dignity. When it was time for Jesus to leave, the man wanted to join Jesus’ team and follow him.
“But Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return home and tell how much God has done for you.’ So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him” (Luke 8:38-39). That is what the Lord is reminding us to do. That is evangelism.
Pastor Randy Faulkner