Had this conversation recently with a brother where he brought up his current study of evangelism with a group and thought I’d throw him for a little loop and maybe you too.
A long time ago, and I forget the reference, I head another preacher who tuned me into this idea and I’ll share it with you all here, and if you read the actual scriptures involved a couple times (read your Bible, folks, and not just listen to other’s opinions), you might agree..
Most people think of evangelism as the spreading of the Gospel by personal witness, but, is that really what it is or is that just an evolution of a misunderstood biblical term? Let’s see..
Eph 4:11-12
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Well, that’s the Biblical quote about Evangelism. God gives (makes) some people apostles, some people prophets, SOME evangelists, etc..
Here’s the thing, in the“Great Commission”, Jesus told us *ALL* to go and do that, right? (Mark 16:15).. So, how do you contrast that with SOME evangelists (above)? Well, you have to add in the rest of Eph 4:12. He gave SOME to be evangelists for the perfecting of the saints. Well, the unsaved out in the world are not saints. Saints are believers! Evangelism biblically means to encourage and equip believers (for the perfecting of the saints). Lift them up! Encourage them! How wonderful a job that must be!
Now…. All that being said it’s still WAY important to actually fulfill the Great Commission where Jesus told us ALL to go out and spread the Gospel. So.. How does one do that? If you talk with people you’ll get the idea that’s one of the hardest things in the world to do. I mean, first you have to understand your own faith, right, and then get the nerve up to speak to someone else about it.
Well. As I mentioned before, I have spent years pounding the pavement with this and have found just the thing. It’s a program a brother shared with me long ago and it’s really perfect. It’s called “How can I share my faith without and argument?” a Discovery Series by Bill Fay.
You’ll hear people say they want to win people over for Christ, etc., but that’s not really how it works. Really, it’s God that does all the work and you just have to point people to him. This simple method shows you just how to do that. It’s only 5 short questions and 6 Bible references. I literally carry a pocket Bible with this stuff written in it. It’s absolultely amazing to see this work. Watch people read out loud what God says and see him reveal the truth to them. This could be the most worthwhile 20 minutes a Christian spends listening to something. Below you have links to the actual pamphlet, a one page reference and a youtube vid of Bill, himself, leading you through it. Enjoy!