What Is An "Evangelist?"

“and some evangelists,”

 

Sometimes people will ask, “What’s an evangelist?”

An evangelist is one who takes the gospel, the “good news” of salvation to the world.  It is one of several gifts mentioned in the scriptures. The Holy Ghost bestows these gifts upon believers to equip them for service and to build up the church of Christ.  Spiritual gifts include not only evangelists, but apostles, prophets, pastor/teachers, healing, tongues, interpretation of tongues, etc.  Every believer is indwelt by the Spirit and receives spiritual gifts.  Our gifts may differ from one individual to the other, but we all have them.      

There’s a lot of confusion in today’s church about spiritual gifts.  Many confuse gifts with talents.  A talent is a natural ability someone has that sets them apart from someone else.  These can be the result of genetics or training and can be used for any purpose, spiritual or non-spiritual.  For example, I have an uncle on my father’s side of the family who is musically talented and can play any instrument he gets his hands on.  To my knowledge he has never had a single music lesson nor can he read musical notes.  Yet he’s been able to play music since the first time he picked up a mandolin.  Uncle Gerald would be the first to tell you that he has been blessed with the gift of music.  He wouldn’t get any disagreement from me because I have seen him use his talent to encourage and uplift scores of people over the years. But he could have chosen to use his talents for a secular purpose and probably made lots of money.  Instead, he chose to use them to be a blessing to people in his family and community.  He did have a choice, which makes it a talent.

On the other hand, gifts are the result of the power of the Holy Spirit.  According to Paul in the fourth chapter of Ephesians,  such gifts are for “the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4: 12)  This verse gives us the litmus test for spiritual gifts and tells us why spiritual gifts are given.  Their purpose is not to set us apart from other believers or to show divine favor. They are to glorify God.  Anytime glory is being directed at a man or a ministry, what’s being demonstrated is not a “gift” but a “talent.”  These works will not stand the test of fire at the Judgment seat of Christ and will be burned up.

There aren’t many references to evangelists in the scripture.  The most common one is Phillip who is referred to as “the evangelist.”  We know from the book of Acts that Phillip was led by the Spirit of God to take the gospel to different places.  Most of us remember him as the one who met the Ethiopian Eunuch and led him to faith in Christ.  Therefore, an evangelist is someone who makes disciples for Christ, which is the great commission.  That’s why Paul told Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.”  Whether it’s taking the gospel to one person at a time as Phillip did, or to thousands of them as Billy Graham has done over the years, the gift of an evangelist is to be used to lead people to salvation.

We often use the term randomly to apply to a visiting preacher who comes to a church or a community to preach.  I can remember attending revival meetings where a pastor from another church was invited to come and preach for a week or so to our church.   This person was usually referred to as an “evangelist.”  Certainly they were doing the work of one.  But the evangelist is a separate spiritual office from a pastor, and therefore their ministry differs from other offices.  A pastor must guide the flock of God, whereas an evangelist follows Christ’s teaching in reaching out to the “lost sheep.”  However, pastors must do that too, so their duties tend to be more broad in scope.  The ministry of the evangelists is more specific.  It needs to be understood that no one gift is greater than the other.  What has caused so much confusion in the church today is that the emphasis has been put on the gift rather than the gift giver.  All spiritual gifts are given freely and are to be used to further the ministry and uplift the name of Jesus.  Anyone who is not using their gifts for that purpose alone is taking the name of Christ in vain.

It was late in 2001 when I answered the call to be an evangelist.  It had been on me for a long time, and I struggled with it like all preachers do I suppose.  You sit and wonder if the call is real, and why is it upon you instead of someone else.  Another preacher who I had confidence in said that one way you could tell was to do what was close to your heart.  I had a burden for my country, that was intensified because of 9/11.  I still have that burden.  That’s not meant to ignore people all over the world who are searching for peace.  But this is my home, and I truly believe that the nation who’s God is the Lord will be a blessed nation.  If we can win America to the gospel, then God will bless her and use her to spread the gospel to the rest of the world where there truly is a famine for the Word of God.

It is my sincere hope that God can use this blog for that purpose, and I can win people over to the Cross of Christ – one person at a time, one family at a time, one community at a time, one nation at a time. 

The Evangelist