The Most Undervalued Role in Christ’s Body?

All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible 1995 Ed. (NASB95)

In John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress Part 1, the quintessential leader, teacher, and guide is Evangelist. This may come as a surprise, since Bunyan himself was a pastor for most of his Christian life. Nonetheless, it’s clear that the way he saw the shepherding ministry of elders was primarily as an evangelizer, or a gospel-er. That is, the primary means that elders are to guide God’s people is by preaching the gospel to them.

We shouldn’t take this illustration too far, but it’s fair to say that church leaders seeing themselves as evangelists is one of the most neglected aspects of pastoral ministry today. How many pastors and elders are actually engaging in times of concentrated evangelism on a regular basis? Yet the New Testament teaches us that evangelists are among the human gifts the Lord has given His body for our building up (Eph. 4:11ff).

Far from being special exceptions to the rule of God’s gifting of His people, evangelists have a prominent place in the Lord’s design for His body, and His work of redeeming sinners to Himself. And in our western Christian culture and society, evangelists are needed now more than ever. In fact, every local fellowship needs an evangelist to equip the saints for the work of service. Let’s look at why, where, and who we need to serve as evangelists.

Why Evangelists are Needed in Christ’s Body

The most important reason we need evangelists in our churches is explained by the evangelist Paul in Ephesians 4:11-12:

“And He [Christ] gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ . . .”

In understanding what a New Testament evangelist is, it’s important to note what category of person he is, and what his explicit mission is. First, notice that Paul lists “evangelists” among several other gifted people that all serve a similar role. What did all these men have in common? They taught and encouraged other believers through their gifts. With apostles, they imparted the direct words and teachings of Jesus; with prophets, they disclosed the direct will of God on His behalf; with pastors, or shepherds, and teachers, they explained and applied God’s revelation. Likewise, evangelists have the unique ability and responsibility to teach and explain the evangel, or gospel, to God’s people.

The second thing to understand is the evangelist’s main purpose. Although included in his service, his main purpose isn’t to simply proclaim the gospel to unbelievers. Rather, it’s “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service”. That is, the Lord has gifted certain men with an evangelizing gift to furnish or fit out their brethren to do service for others. And what is the end result of this service? That Christ’s body will be “built up,” or perfected.

So it’s clear that believers needed evangelists among them, at least in the time of the apostles. But someone might argue that they’re no longer a gift to the body, since apostles and prophets were both foundational, and temporary, roles, as Paul writes in Ephesians 2. This is true because we’re no longer in need of men with direct and unmediated revelation from God, as the apostles and prophets had. We now possess the essentials of the apostles’ revelation in the New Testament. This isn’t the case for the evangelists’ revelation, though. We still stand in need of the everlasting gospel, as it is the power of God to us who are being saved (1 Cor. 1). Further, the world still needs people to preach the gospel to them, and the best saints for this task are evangelists.

In support of these reasons, let’s think a bit about how the Lord carried out His work of redemption through the first-generation Christians in Acts. Specifically, we need to remember that a man who’s specifically called “the evangelist” served a key role in the conversion of two major people groups – the Samaritans and the Africans of Ethiopia. In Acts 8, we find Philip traveling to the city of Samaria to preach the gospel to the long-despised traitors to Israel. Luke recounts,

“But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.” – Acts 8:12

Through Philip’s ministry, the first Samaritans were added to the body of Christ. After this work, he’s sent to the Ethiopian eunuch for his conversion, and then his evangelism story ends with this conclusion:

“But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.” – Acts 8:40

We find later in Acts that Peter visits this region to teach and heal sick people, further strengthening the Lord’s presence there. But Philip was the one who introduced the gospel here, as well as to the two previous groups. He was doing the work of an evangelist, and clearly he was a pivotal figure. Much later in the story, Philip’s ministry role is confirmed in these words:

“On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist . . . we stayed with him.” – Acts 21:8

From all this evidence, one can’t deny that evangelists were essential to the first Christians from the beginning of the body, and even until decades later, after assemblies were established and somewhat matured. Yet note that even at this late period, Philip didn’t make his home in some place yet unreached by the gospel, but continued serving where churches already existed.

All of this is simply an illustration of the fact that all church planters and missionaries should be evangelists. God rarely uses someone without the gift of evangelism to preach the gospel to a people ignorant of the gospel.

The need for evangelists is also implied by the fact that all believers are enabled and called to share the gospel. The logic is the same that can be applied to every work that Christians are instructed to do in Scripture. All are called to encourage, but some have the gift of encouragement. All are called to show mercy, but some have the gift of mercy. All are called to teach in some way, but only some have the gift of teaching. So it is with evangelists. We’re all called to share the gospel, but some have the supernatural giftedness of evangelizing, and such brethren ought to be evangelists. However, the evangelist fills a more specialized teaching role, since he’s among those who “equip the saints for the work of service.”

The question about the evangelist’s purpose that needs answering is this – how should they equip the saints for service? Clearly, there are two main ways: by teaching, and by example. This implies that all believers have room for improvement in their preaching and defense of the gospel, and especially those who aren’t gifted in evangelism. Thus, evangelists are needed to teach and show their local fellowships why, how, when, and where to share the gospel in any situation in which they find themselves.

In our day, this service of evangelists is needed more than ever. Most western believers are woefully ignorant and unwilling to share the gospel in everyday contexts. From my own experience, observations, and research, it’s fair to say that most believers are content to keep the gospel to themselves when around their coworkers, neighbors, unbelieving family, and strangers. Yet this is in direct contradiction to who we are as Christians, and is a dereliction of duty. In addition to this, even many believers who are eager and willing to share the gospel have an unbiblical understanding of what that means, and many don’t even know the full details of the biblical gospel. Too many Christians have been misled and deceived into holding to a less than biblical gospel message, and so don’t even know how to present a robustly saving message to unbelievers. They are prone to articulating a message that can just barely save anyone who believes it, provided they have enough knowledge to fill in the gaps.

In other words, the saints of the West, and of many other ignorant and deceived churches, are in great need of biblically proficient, wise, and zealous evangelists who can teach them the science and arts of sharing the gospel. The western body of Christ needs evangelists in most congregations today in great measure. But let’s think about specifically how this works in the context of local fellowships, and what evangelists should be like.

Where Evangelists are Needed, and What They Look Like

Based on Paul’s description of evangelists in Ephesians, the place where evangelists are needed more than ever is the local assembly of the saints. Our congregations need mostly men, but even women, who have a passion and zeal for sharing the gospel, and a biblical understanding of how that’s to be done. We need brethren who report to their friends in the assembly about their evangelistic endeavors throughout the week, and inspire them to be bold with the gospel as well. Further, many congregations would even benefit from evangelism classes that systematically instruct believers to understand, explain, and defend the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Above all places where evangelists are needed is in the office of elder. If evangelists share the pastoral duty of equipping congregations to engage in service, then it’s clear that at least some elders should be evangelists to some degree. In fact, one of the letters which we call a “pastoral epistle” includes instructions to an assembly leader for preaching the gospel, as is famously known:

“. . . preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction . . . But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist . . .” – 2  Tim. 4:2, 5

Given all of Timothy’s roles, duties, and instructions, it’s clear to me that he was a kind of evangelist, and yet he was also put in authority over at least one local fellowship. He served in a pastoral role, at least for a time. Hence, Paul was calling him to also fulfill his service by preaching and teaching the gospel in “the work of an evangelist”.

However, Ephesians 4 is also clear that evangelists also fill a separate role within Christ’s body. I would suspect that most evangelists are called to primarily fulfill this work, apart from serving as elders. Nevertheless, they’re just as important for the body of Christ. How exactly should evangelists serve the saints in their instruction and encouragement? As mentioned, they should be encouraged to lead evangelism training classes, and to lead other brethren in evangelistic trips and events. They should be at the fore when planning and preparing evangelistic materials and service projects. But predominantly, their soul-winning ministries should be highlighted, prayed for, and helped by their congregations. They should spearhead the preaching of the gospel in societies that have already been exposed to it, as well as to those that haven’t.

But what exactly does a faithful evangelist look like, and what doesn’t he look like? Given that most evangelists are engaged in public preaching and teaching in some form, they must be blameless. They shouldn’t be reckless, conceited, unnecessarily harsh or abrasive. Rather, they should have the character that Philip the evangelist had, as described in Acts 6:

“’ . . . select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom’ . . . and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip . . .” – Acts 6:3, 5

How does someone come to be full of the Spirit and wisdom? The way Paul explains to the Colossians:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs . . .” – Col. 3:16

Hence, evangelists, as trainers of Christ’s body, and the foremost preachers of the gospel to unbelieving communities, must be Bible-lovers and learners. They must not simply be proficient in techniques, methods, or tactics, but students and speakers of the holy Scriptures. A biblically illiterate evangelist is a dangerous thing.

Hence, to be an evangelist isn’t a casual, common, or light thing, but one of the highest callings. Bunyan sums up the character and work of a herald of the evangel well in his allegory:

“The man whose picture this is, is one of a thousand: he can beget children, travail in birth with children, and nurse them himself when they are born. And whereas thou seest him with his eyes lift up to Heaven, the best of books in his hand, and the law of truth writ on his lips, it is to show thee, that his work is to know, and unfold dark things to sinners; even as thou seest him stand as if he pleaded with men.”

“’I am a servant of the God of Heaven; my business is to persuade sinners to repentance. I am commanded to do my endeavors to turn men, women, and children, from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; and if this be indeed the ground of they quarrel, let us fall to it as soon as thou wilt.’”

Let us all realize how great the harvest is and how few the laborers are; and let’s implore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest field. It may be you that He’s calling to serve your sphere as an evangelist, or the evangelist that can equip you to understand and preach the gospel may be somewhere right among your congregation. We must appreciate, acknowledge, and appropriate the gifts of evangelists the Lord has gifted us with, and all be “striving together for the faith of the gospel” as we “proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (Phil. 1:27; 1 Pet. 2:9). Send the light!