CHAPTER SIX Are all Christians Commanded to Evangelise or...

151

6A fellow Christian visited my home recently.

She had been on an assignment working for an international aid organisation and it wasn’t long before we started talking about evangelism. I showed her the video of the gospel which as a ministry we produced

and which you can see at www.biblein11.com. I encouraged her to load it on her phone and use it on her travels.

Alice: “Julian, I could never go around giving people the gospel like you do. It’s just not me.”

Me: (very gently) “Why do you think it is just not you?”Alice: (a little defensively) “I would feel very awkward doing it.

We all have different gifts, you know. You are good at this kind of thing and God has designed you to do it. You have the personality and I don’t. I am not that kind of person. I am better at just getting alongside people and befriending them. I have more of a relational evangelism style…you know…friendly and relaxed. I have found that people are attracted to who I am, not what I say… I have found that love is what attracts people…”

Me: “I agree with you that being loving,

Are all Christians Commanded to Evangelise or just those with the gift?

C H A P T E R S I X

152 > EvAngElisM : Strategies from heaven in the war for souls

relational, friendly and kind is all good. But don’t you think that all the other people of other religions, and even people who are not religious at all, can be nice and loving? What would make you different from all of them in the eyes of people you are working with? Surely, in all the relationships you are building, there

must come a time when you know you should get to the nitty gritty and…well…explain what you are really on about…give them the gospel? Otherwise you’ll just leave people guessing about what makes you so nice!”

Alice: “Oh, I talk about God with people …don’t get me wrong. But I don’t give them a presentation like you do. I sort of drip feed in bits and pieces about Christianity over a long period of time, maybe over dozens of conversations…often I don’t talk about God at all…only when it comes up naturally…yep, that’s pretty much how I do it.”

Me: “How do you know the people you talk to are putting all the ‘bits and pieces’ you are giving over time together and making complete sense out of it? And how do you know all the bits and pieces are the gospel? What happens if you just tell them one or two bits and never see them again, and they never get to hear the gospel? What if the bit you gave them, on it’s own, might lead them astray? A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I met someone the other day who told me she was going to heaven because a Christian had told her ‘God loves everyone.’ She assumed from this that she was right with God and there was nothing for her to do in her life about God. She expected a loving God would be ready to meet her the other side of death. Yet when I took her through the gospel she was shocked to find out she was headed straight for hell. Wouldn’t it be best to try and give the

“I met someone the other day who told me she was going to

heaven because a Christian told her ‘God loves everyone.’ She assumed from this that she was

right with God.”

Chapter Six : Are all Christians Commanded to Evangelise? < 153

whole gospel in one go to those you meet, when the time and place is right, and take the discussion from there? At least that way you know they have heard it and understood it. And you have planted the seed of the gospel in them… for God to grow… and you

have left nothing to chance. After all, Jesus did both. He was very relational and He proclaimed the gospel. He was full of grace and truth. Aren’t we supposed to be imitating Him?”

Alice: (laughing) “Julian, the bottom line is, you’re an evangelist and I am not. It’s just not me Julian, I am sorry, I am just not cut out for that stuff.”

Me: (gently but starting to feel frustrated) “But what about all the millions of people out there who are not brushing with a Christian and who don’t have a Christian friend? Who is going to reach them? Eventually, we have to get beyond ‘bits and pieces conversations’ and get down to actually communicating the whole gospel. I have the gift of evangelism and I am supposed to train everyone how to do this. So if God’s assignment to me is to train everyone, then everyone must have a responsibility to do evangelism, and even make it a priority. God wouldn’t command everyone to do it if only a few people were capable. That would be cruel of God.”

Alice: (defensively) “Ok, show me where the Bible says we are all to do it. I know for sure the Bible teaches that we are a body, each with a different part to play… (more light heartedly) …I am not the same body part as you Julian. Just prove what you are saying from the Bible!”

Don’t be duped…Many Christians

want to know the answer to Alice’s excellent final question. In this chapter I show from the Bible that evangelism is the responsibility and privilege

“If the enemy can dupe Christians into believing that

only those with the ‘gift’ of evangelism are to do it, and few people in the Church have that gift, then few in the Church will

do evangelism.”


of all believers.1 If the enemy can dupe Christians into believing that only those with the “gift” of evangelism are to do it, and few people in the Church have that gift, then few in the Church will evangelise. This is exactly what the enemy wants.

Dr sidlow Baxter, theologian and author, writes powerfully on the subject of how the enemy tries to discourage Christians from doing God’s will. “The first temptation in Eden and the many temptations which have entrapped men and women since, are fundamentally identical. The tempter’s great purpose is to divorce the will of Christians more and more from the will of God.”2

So what is the will of God when it comes to evangelism? What do Christian scholars and significant leaders say? Are all Christians commanded to evangelise or not?

Dr William Barclay: “It is the duty of the Church, and that means… the duty of every Christian, to tell the story of the good news of Jesus to those who have never heard it.”3

It doesn’t get much clearer than that. But I’ll throw in more quotes, lest you think I’m relying on one or two scholars who happen to agree with me.

Few opinions would be as respected as that of Dr Billy graham. He is emphatic: “For too long we have assumed that evangelism was the province of only a few professionals, or a task that the pastor alone could do (in addition to the multitude of other duties the pastor faces every day). Such a view is not faithful to the New Testament, nor is it realistic if the challenges of the coming decades are to be met. The task is simply too overwhelming.”4

1 When I speak of “all believers” I mean all who are physically and mentally capable. There are some in the Church, who, because of severe disability, or their age (e.g. babies) cannot evangelise.

2 Dr J. Sidlow Baxter. Explore The Book. Zondervan, 1966, p.373 Dr William Barclay. The Gospel Of Mark. Saint Andrew Press, 1975, p.3704 Dr Billy Graham. Christianity Today Magazine. December, 1977.

“It is the duty of the Church, and that means … the duty of every

Christian, to tell the story of the good news of Jesus to those who

have never heard it.”Dr William Barclay


According to Dr leighton Ford, the Latin American Mission researched the fastest growing movements in their field and found them to be the Communists, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Pentecostal churches. They then sought to discover a common denominator – which was obviously not their message. Finally they came up with this proposition: “The growth of any movement is in direct proportion to its ability to mobilise its entire membership for continuous evangelistic action… Based on this thesis,” says Ford, “a programme of ‘evangelism in depth’ has been moving from country to country in Latin America, training, uniting and mobilising ordinary Christians as never before, and making unprecedented impact in the life of these nations.”5

sowing seeds of doubt and twisting scripture: hallmarks of the enemy.

The enemy loves to stop Christians from proclaiming the gospel by sowing doubt in their minds regarding God’s instruction. “Did God really say all Christians are to proclaim the gospel?” he asks slyly. But he does not stop there. He plays on this doubt by persuading many Christians they are not gifted by God to do so, or that evangelism is for those with a certain personality type.

Moreover, he often uses Scripture to bolster his case. For example, he will whisper in the ear of a Christian, “The Bible says the Church is a body with many parts. An evangelist is a special part of this spiritual body, as an eye is to the physical body. If you’re the heart, don’t even try to be an eye. Just rest in how God made you.” This line of reasoning sounds right and logical, but is it biblical? Answer?

No. So how do we counter his arguments? We do so from Scripture.

Defeating the enemy with scripture…Acknowledging there is no single Bible verse

that tells us bluntly, “All Christians are commanded to proclaim or spread the gospel,” we reach this conclusion by systematically piecing together various scriptures.

First, each of the Gospels contains a command from

5 Dr Leighton Ford. The Christian Persuader. A New Look At Evangelism Today. Harper and Row, 1976, p.47


Jesus to do evangelism:1. Matthew: “...Therefore go and make

disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).2. Mark: “Go into all the world and preach

the good news” (Mark 16:15).3. Luke: “…and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be

preached in His name to all nations” (Luke 24:47).4. John: “As my Father sent me, even so I send you” (John

20:21).Together with Acts 1:8, these are viewed by scholars as Jesus’ five Great Commission announcements.

Studying and meditating on these verses is an important strategy from heaven in the battle for souls. If we are not convinced from these and other verses that evangelism is for everyone, we will not do it. So what do I want you to notice in the five verses above?

While only Mark talks explicitly about proclaiming the gospel, the other three Gospel writers do so implicitly.

For example, in Matthew Jesus talks of making disciples. A disciple is an apprentice or learner, someone who imitates his master or teacher. So, if all Christians are disciples and imitators of Jesus, and He spent a lot of time saying who he was and why he came, then it follows that all Christians are to learn how to evangelise – and do it. Serious disciples of Jesus will desire earnestly to imitate Him in this crucial work.

In John 20:21, Jesus is talking to His disciples. Since we too are Jesus’ disciples, “you” in this verse refers to us as well. Furthermore, if all are sent, what are we all sent to do? I answered this question in the previous chapter. We are sent to make a priority of proclaiming or spreading the gospel, just as Jesus and Paul did.

As for Luke 24:46-49 and Acts 1:8, Luke has recorded the last words of Jesus before He was taken up to heaven.

Again, Jesus is talking to all the disciples, and since all Christians are disciples of Jesus, He is talking to all of us as

well. We are to actively participate in the great task of


preaching repentance and forgiveness in His name to all the nations. To do so is to “witness.”

Don’t take on the absurd…Some have argued that Jesus’

command to “go into all the world and proclaim the gospel” was only to the disciples of His day. That instruction, they claim, does not apply to Christians now. But remember Jesus also told His disciples to “Love one another.” Wouldn’t it be absurd to argue that this command did not apply today?

listening to respected leaders…Dr Jerram Barrs, Founder and Resident Scholar

of the Francis Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Theological Seminary, says the Bible’s position is clear: “The apostles and the whole Church understood that the command to reach out with the gospel was not for the apostles only but for the entire Church of that day. It was also a command…for every day in the life of the generations to come.”6 Popular theologian and author Dr John Piper, agrees: “The first thing to make clear about [the Great Commission] is that it is still binding on the modern Church. It was given not only to the apostles for their ministry but also to the Church for its ministry.”7

Renowned missiologist Dr norm lewis exhorts us: “To evangelise the world with God’s good news is not an option for the follower of Christ. Nor is it the sole territory of a few idealists who choose to be different. Jesus

6 Dr Jerram Barrs, The Heart of Evangelism. Inter Varsity Press, 2001, p.377 Dr John Piper, Let The Nations Be Glad. The Supremacy of God in Missions. Baker Books, 2003, p.160

“All of us are to actively participate in the

great task of preaching repentance and

forgiveness in His name to all the nations.”

“The first thing to make clear about [the Great Commission] is that it is still binding on the modern Church. It was given not only to the apostles

for their ministry but also to the Church for its ministry.”

Dr John Piper


Christ made the worldwide witness8 the business of every believer… every Christian will answer at last to Him based on obedience to His command. ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to the whole world (Mark 16:15).’”9

Dr leighton Ford rebukes churches which rely on evangelists and pastors to do their evangelism.

“A church which bottlenecks its outreach by depending on specialists - its pastors and evangelists – to do its witnessing, is living in violation of both the intention of its Head and the consistent pattern of the early Christians.”10

Dr Peter Wagner chips in: “…the true mission of proclaiming the gospel begins in the local church and extends to the whole world and is the task of every believer.”11

The “gift of evangelism”…who has it and what’s it for?Now let’s look at Ephesians 4:10-14. Here, the Bible

speaks of a person who is Christ’s gift to the Church. It is from this scripture that we get the idea of someone having the special “gift of evangelism.”

“He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe. It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we

all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:10-14). We can glean at least four truths from this

8 In chapter two, I explained the meaning of this word, so often limited by Christians to mean only ‘letting non-Christians know, somehow, that we are a Christian.’

9 Dr Norm Lewis, Priority One. OM Literature, 1988, p.110 Dr Leighton Ford, The Christian Persuader: A New Look At Evangelism Today. Harper and Row, 1976,

p.46.11 Dr C. Peter Wagner & Pablo Deiros Ed. The Rising Revival. Renew Books, 1998, p.51

“To evangelise the world with God’s good news is not an option

for the follower of Christ.”Dr Norm Lewis


passage of Scripture:1. God has given certain people to the church as a “gift.” 2. The evangelist is given “to prepare God’s people.” What for?

To show them how to evangelise. 3. These evangelists are given to the Church to prepare it “for

works of service.” What service? Christ’s service and the evangelisation of the world.

4. When each person in the Church is fully equipped by these people (prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers), the task of preparing God’s people for works of service will be complete. Every Christian who is fully equipped can attain to “the whole measure of the fulness of Christ.” In other words, they can walk in the fulness of God’s maturity, fruitfulness, and blessing.

Evangelists were never meant to do all the work…Tellingly, it does not say, “He gave some to be apostles,

some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, so that they could go and do all the work.” Rather, it says certain people are given to the church to prepare all of God’s people to do the work.12

Becoming what we ought to be…Commenting on Ephesians 4:11-13, Dr William Barclay

writes: “After Paul has named the different office bearers within the church, he goes on to speak of their aim and what they must try to do. Their aim is that the members of the church should be fully equipped. The word Paul uses for ‘equipped’ is interesting. It is katartismon, which comes from the verb katartizein. The word is used in surgery for setting a broken limb or for putting a joint back into its place. In politics it is used for bringing together opposing factions, so that the government can go on. In the New Testament it is used in mending nets (Mark 1:19), and in the context of disciplining an offender until he is fit to take his place again within

12 Some people have asked ‘If evangelists teach us how to evangelise, does this mean prophets teach us how to prophecy, teachers how to teach, apostles how to be an apostle, and pastors how to be a pastor?’ The answer to this question is on our web site at www.esisite.com and look under ‘frequently asked questions’.


the fellowship of the church (Galatians 6:1). The basic idea of the word is that of putting a thing into the condition in which it ought to be. It is the function of the office-bearers of the

church to see that the members of the church… become what they ought to be.”13

Christians who do not evangelise are like broken bones. They are not what they ought to be. Evangelists are God’s physicians, given to fix the bones.

How to maximise the health of your church…But that is not all. Paul teaches in Ephesians 4 that the

Church is ailing because she is not united in the faith, not united in the knowledge of God’s Son; that she is immature and falling short of the fulness of Christ. So in Ephesians 4:10-14 the Lord is speaking to her as a doctor would to a sick patient. He says, “I am going to give you five gifts to cure this sickness – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Each of them has a unique and vital contribution to make you spiritually fit and vibrant. As each of these gifted people prepares you for works of service, and as each person in the Church puts into practice what they teach you, the body of Christ will be healed. Take out one of the five, and you won’t attain the radiant health I intended.” Some might argue, “Well, I don’t evangelise and

I don’t feel spiritually sick. I feel close to Jesus and my spiritual life is awesome!” How should we reply? Many forms of disease can be present in the body without the carrier being aware. Awareness comes later

13 Dr William Barclay. The Letters To The Galatians and Ephesians. The Saint Andrew Press. Edinburgh, 1985, p.149

“Each of the five-fold ministry gifts has a unique and vital contribution to make you

spiritually fit and vibrant.”

“Christians who do not evangelise are like a broken bone. They are not what they

ought to be.”


when the sickness becomes full blown, or by chance discovered through a blood test. It is the same with evangelism.

When we don’t feel the need to evangelise, this doesn’t mean God is not commanding us to evangelise, or that our participation in evangelism is not necessary.

It simply means that we are out of sync with the will of God in this area of our lives. It will only be as we begin to evangelise that we’ll become aware of how sick we were when we weren’t evangelising. In short, those who are currently not evangelising don’t know what they don’t know.

An antibiotics analogy…If you are sick and the doctor gives you a ten-day supply

of antibiotics but you only take half the course, your medicine will not work. It’s the same with the five-fold ministry gifts. Take out the evangelism component (or any other “gift”) and the healing won’t work.

In most churches in the West, serious ongoing training in evangelism is not on the calendar.

Take Britain for example.Of 1017 churches in Britain which were surveyed to ascertain

how many had trained their people for evangelism in the decade 2001 to 2010, only a staggering 36 (3.5%) said they had done so.

All other Western countries would fare no better.

How this situation must sadden Jesus. Out of the supply of His glorious riches and bounty He gives a precious gift – and we reject it.14

This ought never to be.

14 True, some evangelists deserve bad press. We can be insensitive, dogmatic, threatening, and one-eyed. These are just some of our weaknesses. Yet, in spite of this, God calls us, and the strengths we bring, ‘a gift’ to the Church.

“Of 1017 churches in Britain which were surveyed to ascertain how many had trained their people for

evangelism in the decade 2001 to 2010, only a

staggering 36 (3.5%) said they had done so.”


And the church will never attain to “the whole measure of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13) as long as this situation persists. A key battle strategy from heaven, then, is to utilise to the full all the five gifts God has given to His church, including evangelists.

The benefits of evangelising – what’s in it for you?We are not yet finished with this passage from

Ephesians. It indicates there are many benefits for the Church when its members are equipped for, and practising, evangelism. It helps to: 1. Unite the body of Christ in faith.2. Unite the body in the knowledge of God’s Son.3. Bring the body to maturity.4. Bring the body to a place where it can attain the “whole

measure of the fulness of Christ.”But it is not just Ephesians 4 which highlights the spiritual

benefits for the believer of being active in evangelism. There is also Philemon 6.

“I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.”

How does this passage teach that all Christians are to proclaim the gospel? Well, if it is God’s will that all Christians come to a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ, and sharing our faith is a vital part of this process, then all must be active in sharing their faith.

The gift of the Spirit and the call to witness belong together…Citing Acts 1:8, Dr John stott argues that evangelism is

everyone’s responsibility: “There is not room… for evasion by trying to limit the commission of Jesus to the apostles or to any subsequent section of the Church. Acts 1:8 is clear: ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; you shall be My witnesses…’ We can only restrict the command to witness if we equally restrict the promise of power. The gift of the Spirit and the call to be witnesses belong together and apply


indiscriminately to all Christians. All Christians may inherit the promise; all must obey the command.”15

By “witnessing,” in this context, Stott means proclaiming the gospel.16

Being the ambassador God always meant you to be…

Dr R. Kent Hughes, Author and Senior Pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, interprets Acts 1:8 similarly: “The command to be Christ’s witnesses is for all true believers in Him. There are no loopholes. No one can say, ‘This does not apply to me.’ Our mandate exceeds that of any worldly ambassador, whether it is to mainland China, France or the private offices of the Prime Minister of England. Christ’s last word is ‘You will be my witnesses.’”17

Dr Hughes also mentions 2 Corinthians 5:20 in support of his case. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

“Paul is referring not to the requirements of believers,” Hughes writes, “but to the evangelistic duty of Christ’s ambassadors to go into the world and announce the good news of reconciliation to every creature, pleading with men to receive as their own what God has freely provided in His Son. An ambassador speaks and acts not only on behalf of but also in place of the sovereign from whom he has received his commission. Since all Christians are Christ’s ambassadors, we must all perform the duty of an ambassador. If we

15 Dr John Stott. Motives and Methods In Evangelism. IVP, 1973, p.516 Many in the Church misunderstand “witnessing.” For some it means letting a non-Christian know you

are a Christian. If, for example, a non-Christian asks the question, “What did you do on the weekend?” and I answer, “I went to church,” some may think I have witnessed. But there is much more to the true understanding of “witnessing” than this. I discussed this in chapter 2, device 10.

17 Dr R. Kent Hughes. Acts. The Church Afire. Crossway Books, 1996, p.17

“We can only restrict the command to witness if we equally restrict the

promise of power.”Dr John Stott

“The command to be Christ’s witnesses is for all true

believers in Him. There are no loopholes. No one can say, ‘This does not apply to me.’”

Dr R.Kent Hughes


are truly ambassadors, we too must proclaim, if indeed we are truly representing our Sovereign. We cannot claim all the benefits of an ambassador (eternal life, grace, peace, the gift of the Holy Spirit, love, joy, etc) without taking up the responsibilities.”18

Hold your head up high – you are a privileged person…

Dr Warren Wiersbe, well known international Bible conference teacher and author of more than 80 books, adds further insight. He argues that since we are all ambassadors for Christ, we all must act as such by announcing our Sovereign’s message.

“In the Roman Empire,” he writes, “there were two kinds of provinces: senatorial and imperial. The senatorial provinces were made up of people who were peaceful and not at war with Rome. They had surrendered and submitted. But the imperial provinces were not peaceful. They were dangerous because they would rebel against Rome if they could. Rome had to send ambassadors to the imperial provinces to make sure rebellion did not break out. Since Christians in the world are the ambassadors of Christ, this means the world is in rebellion against God. This world is an ‘imperial province’ as far as God is concerned. He has sent His ambassadors into the world to declare peace, not war. If sinners reject us and our message, it is Jesus Christ who is actually rejected. What a great privilege it is to be heaven’s ambassadors to the rebellious sinners of this world!”19

How to grow your church…Dr Michael green points to other

scriptures to support the case that evangelism is for all believers:

“The biggest difference between the New

18 ibid, p.1719 Dr Warren W. Wiersbe, 2 Corinthians. Be Encouraged. Scripture Press, 1984, p.68

“What a great privilege it is to be heaven’s ambassadors

to the rebellious sinners of this world!”

Dr Warren Wiersbe


Testament church and our own,” he says, “is that every member was a witness. The responsibility of bearing witness to Jesus rested fairly and squarely upon every single member. You don’t just find it in the odd by-ways of the New Testament: Jude urges his readers in graphic terms to ‘save some, by snatching them out of the fire’ (Jude 1:23).

Timothy, though naturally timid and not an evangelist, is nevertheless bidden to ‘do the work of an evangelist’ and to ‘be urgent in season and out of season’ (2 Timothy 4:2). You find it everywhere. In 1 Thessalonians 1:8, Paul rejoices that the Word of God has sounded forth from the newly-fledged Thessalonian Christians, and that their faith in God

has spread like wildfire. And in Acts 8:1-4 we find the Jerusalem leaders shut up in fear in an upper room while the common believers were scattered by a persecution springing from the death of Stephen. What did they do? They went everywhere spreading the gospel. Evangelism was the spontaneous chattering of good news. It was engaged in naturally, continuously, easily and joyfully by Christians wherever they went.

If you want evangelism in your church, do not hire a famous preacher. Build up the congregation for informal witness. And the church will grow.”20 Wise pastors and leaders take note. Michael green is speaking here of another battle strategy from heaven.

Three other scriptures are cited by scholars to show how the responsibility to evangelise is the privilege of everyone in the Church: “Follow my example,

20 Dr Michael Green. Evangelism Now And Then. IVP, 1979, p.118

“[The common believers] went everywhere

spreading the gospel.”Dr Michael Green

“If you want evangelism in your church, do not hire

a famous preacher. Build up the congregation

for informal witness. And the church will grow.”

Dr Michael Green


as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news [the gospel] to the poor” (Luke 4:18). “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).

If the goal of the Christian life is to imitate Christ, and gospel proclamation dominated His life, then surely, if we are truly in touch with this goal, we are all bound to imitate Him in this vital task?

What it takes to be like a top golfer in the world...Think how amazing it would be if you boldly and

unashamedly added to your Christian experience the habit of regularly proclaiming the gospel. You could then say honestly that you were imitating the major aspects of the life of Jesus.

I can’t think of any Christian behaviour which would put you in a better position to receive the fulness of all that Jesus has for you. To desire to be a sincere disciple of Jesus but omit regular personal evangelism is like saying, “I’m going to imitate the number one golfer in the world, but, if you don’t mind, I don’t want to hit any golf balls.”

Jesus never gave his disciples the option of picking and choosing which aspects of His life they would like to imitate. The authentic Christian life can never be reduced to a spiritual smorgasbord.

Jesus is so great, He is worth declaring…

An Australian theologian, John Chapman, cites 1 Peter 2:9-10 to show how evangelism is a command for all Christians rather than just those with the gift: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have

“Jesus never gave the disciples the option of

picking and choosing which aspects of His life they would like to imitate. The authentic

Christian life can never be reduced to a spiritual

smorgasbord.”


received mercy.” “The people of God are described in 1 Peter in

terms taken directly from the Old Testament,” writes Chapman, who then goes on to amplify this.

“First, God’s people are a special people,” he reminds us. “As chosen specially by Him, they cannot be ordinary. Had the choice of who could be Christians been left to us we might have chosen differently, which only shows how unlike God we are! He loves them and so should we.

Secondly, God’s people have a special task – to declare the praises of God, and these praises are all associated with the work of salvation, when people move from darkness to light. To whom is this declaration in 1 Peter 2: 9-10 made? Since God’s people are here described in Old Testament terms which referred to Israel, the declaration is clearly to be made to ‘the nations’ (Isaiah 49:1) to whom Israel is called to witness (Mark 1:17; Isaiah 56:6-7).

The declaration of God’s mighty deeds in salvation is to be made known to those who are not yet Christian. All Christians – not just those with the gift of evangelism – belong to the people whose purpose is to ‘declare the mighty deeds of God.’”21

Chapman continues, “There is a special gift of the evangelist as there is a special gift of faith (1 Corinthians 12:9), but that doesn’t mean all of us shouldn’t evangelise, any more than it means we don’t all need to exercise faith.”22

god the Evangelist calls us to be His fellow workers…

The Lausanne Covenant

21 John Chapman. Know and Tell the Truth. The Why And How Of Evangelism. Hodder and Stoughton, 1991, pp.42-4

22 ibid, p.42

“There is a special gift of the evangelist as there is a special

gift of faith (1 Corinthians 12:9), but that doesn’t mean all of us shouldn’t evangelise, any more than it means we don’t all

need to exercise faith.” John Chapman


documents cite 2 Corinthians 6:1 as a key scripture to support the truth that evangelism is the responsibility of all believers.23 “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.” Commenting on that verse, Dr John stott says, “God the evangelist gives His people the privilege of being His ‘fellow workers.’ For although we cannot witness

without Him, He normally chooses to witness through us. He calls only some to be evangelists,24 missionaries or pastors, but He calls the whole Church and every member of it to be His witnesses.”25

As Dr leighton Ford says, “If our goal is the penetration of the whole world, then for the agents to carry out this task, we must aim at nothing less than the mobilisation of the whole Church.”26

Catholics take a lead…Sadly, Protestants and Catholics often disagree on points of

theology, but on the question of who is to do evangelism, we are agreed. The late Pope John Paul ii, addressing Catholic young people at World Youth Day in 1992, had this to say: “Here we are before the Seventh World Youth Day. I chose these words of Christ as this year’s theme: ‘Go into all the whole world and proclaim the gospel’ (Mark 16:15). Through the Church, these words addressed to the apostles concern every baptised person.

The same Spirit who made us children of God compels us to evangelise. Moreover, proclaiming means precisely proclaiming — becoming one who brings the word of salvation to others. There is indeed much ignorance about

23 Cited in Dr Lewis Drummond. The Word Of The Cross. A Contemporary Theology Of Evangelism. Broadman Press, 1992, p.363

24 Stott means those with the Ephesians 4:11-12 gift of evangelism.25 For a full discussion on what it means for a Christian to be ‘a witness’, see chapter two.26 Dr Leighton Ford. The Christian Persuader: A New Look At Evangelism Today. Harper and Row. 1976, p.45

“Dear youngpeople, proclaiming the Word of

God is not theresponsibility of priests or the

religious alone,but it is yours too.”

Pope John Paul II


the Christian faith, but there is also a deep desire to hear the Word of God.

And faith comes from listening. St Paul writes: ‘How can they believe unless they have heard of Him?’ (Romans 10:14). Dear young people, proclaiming the Word of God is not the responsibility of priests or the religious alone,

but it is yours too. You must have the courage to speak about Christ in your families and in places where you study, work or recreate, inspired with the same fervour the apostles had when they said: ‘We cannot help speaking of what we have heard and seen’ (Acts 4:20). Nor should you be silent!”27

How do I find the time?Despite all the evidence, many Christians struggle to see

how they might fit evangelising into their daily lives. “Am I supposed to give up my job and be out there proclaiming

the gospel all day long to everyone everywhere?” one might ask.“As a busy mother, how can I be obedient to this command when

I spend most of my days just surviving with my children?”“I run a clinic for AIDS patients. How am I supposed to make

proclaiming the gospel the main thing?”“I am a busy executive working 18 hours a day. Where would I

find time to do this?”These are honest questions. The diagrams below help us to see the difference between

how people with the “gift” of evangelism might use their day and how everyone else in the Church might fit evangelism into their routine.

They also help us see how engaging in evangelism is much simpler and easier than we ever dreamed or imagined.

With the revolutionary tools and strategies God has graced us with, now literally everyone in the Church can feel comfortable

27 http://www.pcf.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/youth/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_24111991_vii-world-youth-day_en.html


with evangelism and actually engage in it. How good is that!

The circles represent all the various things an evangelist (i.e. someone with “the gift”) does in their day. One of them is shopping. When the evangelist leaves their office, they can give the gospel to someone while they are out shopping. In other words, they evangelise naturally as they go about their day. The rest of their time is spent organising training events for churches and preparing resources.

In contrast, the diagram below represents the waking hours of someone who has a talent or a calling in an area other than evangelism. Let’s say the person represented by the diagram below is a mother of three little children under five and she has a husband.

Reading

Dishes

Phoning

EatingShopping

TalkingTaking a childto the doctor

Praying

Writing

Shower

Toilet

Eating chocolate

Get library books

for the kidsTake kids to school

Vacuum

Reading

Dishes Phoning

EatingShopping

Talking

ResearchingPraying

Writing

Shower ToiletAttendingmeetings


Like the evangelist with the gift, she too gets out of her house. This is when she can speak to someone about the gospel or at the very least give them a booklet with the gospel written on it or a www.biblein11.com business card.28

How else might this mother evangelise?29 She might:

• Have coffee with a friend and share the gospel while the children play outside.

• Attend a recreational activity while a baby sitter looks after her children and share the gospel with someone there.

• Leave a tract in the doctor’s reception rooms after taking her preschooler to an appointment.

• Give a www.biblein11.com business card to the library assistant when she takes out a book.

She might give a www.biblein11.com card to someone she sees sitting in a car next to where her car is parked.30

What each of us must realise is that we are nearly all brushing with non-Christians everyday and each and every brush is a potential opportunity.

We need our eyes opened to see these opportunities and our hearts changed so that we possess the heart of Jesus to take and make them. We also need great tools and strategies which make evangelism quick and easy. Thankfully, we

28 To find out more about this concept, just email me: [email protected] Most people in the world perceive they are extremely busy – and most are. It is easy to see how evangelism

would quickly shut down if every Christian thought they were exempt from proclaiming or spreading the gospel just because they were busy. This is why I wrote chapter five of this book – to show that what we make a priority will nearly always get done. To illustrate this truth, I have often put the following scenario before Christians: “Imagine if the richest man in the world became a Christian and he became radically committed to evangelism. In fact, he became so committed that he offered to pay any Christian $US1000 for anyone with whom they shared the gospel.” I am certain the priority of many Christians would suddenly change quickly. Courses on evangelism would be full to over flowing. Christians proclaiming the gospel would flood the world. Evangelism would boom. Serving mammon has become more precious to many of us than serving God. What other conclusion is there?

30 E.g. giving them to tellers at shops and banks, placing them at ATM machines, public telephone boxes; on the table in cafes and restaurants – any situation where we mix with non-Christians or where someone might pick it up and read it.

“Serving mammon has become more precious to many of us than serving God? What

other conclusion is there?”


now have these so absolutely everyone in the Church can now participate.

We have to be intentional…For me personally, I have found that if I

try to “fit” evangelism into my day, I will end up not evangelising i.e. when I go shopping, I intentionally take time out to reach someone with the gospel.

How often should we do it? Really, this is a silly question. It’s like asking “how often should I love my children, read my bible, or pay my bills on time?”

As long as people have not heard, we must reach them. Anyone can evangelise in the course of a day by putting a tract or www.biblein11.com business card in a strategic place. I can’t think of anyone in the Church who couldn’t do this. Really, how hard is it to give out a business card or leave it where someone will find it?

We are all busy, but…No matter how busy we are, if

we truly “get it” in our hearts and minds that the evangelisation of the world really and truly is Jesus’ priority, any genuine believer would make it their personal priority, surely? What would it look like for a busy person to make it their personal priority? Someone I know works in the inner city in a busy office. He has a wife and children at home and has one hour for lunch each day.

Before he eats, he leaves the office to give the gospel on the busy streets. He won’t eat until he has evangelised. He has made this a habit. He also holds himself accountable to another friend so that he won’t slip back into old ways.

Another lady simplified her lifestyle in order to make evangelism the priority. Instead of watching five hours of TV a week she watched only four, dedicating the other hour to evangelising the world. She leaves her house one evening a week to go out and look for someone to whom she can

“How often should we do it? Really, this is a silly question. It’s like asking ‘how often should I love

my children, read my bible, or pay my bills on

time?”’


give the gospel. Another whole family dedicated

Saturday mornings to going out as a family to evangelise. They report that it bound them together as a family like no other family activity had ever done.

Making evangelising a priority is, ultimately, just a choice. Every person in the world has 24 hours in their day. What each person does with it depends on what’s in their heart.

Proclaiming the gospel from the heart…Whatever commitment we make, it is the spirit with which

we make it that counts. The heart of any genuine believer, though their time might be limited, will be to reach more people with the gospel and go out of their way to create opportunities. Their first motivation is for the glory of God, the second is because they love people.

six things that could stop us from evangelising…In my experience it is not just a question of time constraints.

Most of us want to be able to evangelise, but six things stop us:1. We don’t know how to start the conversation.2. Once we’ve started, we don’t know what to say.3. We lack training and tools that are contemporary, designed for

today’s culture, and easy to use.4. We don’t feel confident to answer the questions which non-

Christians might ask when we share the gospel with them.5. We fear others will respond negatively when we share with them.6. We have been influenced by the enemy’s devices and think it is

someone else’s responsibility.We want solutions to these problems. We want to evangelise

in a way that is quick and simple, which glorifies God, and which does not compromise the gospel in any way. What would you think of a gospel tool or method which omitted no important truth, which was not unnecessarily complicated, and which left the

“Making evangelising a priority is, ultimately, just a choice. Every person

in the world has 24 hours in their day. What each person does with it

depends on what’s in their heart. ”


non-Christian feeling loved yet utterly convicted by the Holy Spirit of their need for Jesus?

That’s quite some wish-list! Fortunately there are some tremendous tools available now which will enable you to evangelise in just such a way.31

What’s in your heart? Do the test...We could react to the content of this chapter

– that the task of evangelising is given to all of us – in at least four different ways, each being a cunning device of the enemy to knock us out of active participation.

First we could decide that it is true, but do nothing about it. This would be wilful disobedience.

Next we could put the responsibility on the pastor, saying we will get serious about evangelising as soon as some training is organised. This would be passing the buck.

Thirdly we could employ delay tactics: “I’m going to pray about this,” we might say, “and when God tells me to do it, I will.” This would be delaying obedience.

Fourthly we could deny the truths outlined in this chapter and return to our old way of life, clinging to the myth that evangelism is to be done only by those with “the gift” or by people who are less busy than ourselves. This would be suppressing the truth.

Let’s not react in any of these ways.

Being in the best position to flourish…Without doubt obedience positions us for the blessing of

God.32 James says, “Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers” (James 1:22).

We are called to obedience (1 Samuel 15:22); passing the buck is a sin which has been around since the beginning of time (Genesis 3:12); Jesus

31 Please email me at [email protected] and I will give you access to an on line library of tools and strategies.32 There are exceptions of course. Obedience can sometimes bring torture, persecution, separation from family

and friends and even death.

“Obedience positions us for the blessing of God.”


specifically taught against delaying obedience (Matthew 8:18-22); and James (James 13:3) and Paul (Romans 1:18) both warned against suppressing the truth.

In contrast, those planted in the house of the Lord [i.e. those who seek to live in obedience] will flourish (Psalm 92:13).

Don’t blame your pastor….There is a sobering warning in Ezekiel 33:7-9 about not

putting all the responsibility on our leader or pastor: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak [to you] and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.”

god is talking to you too…Notice Ezekiel’s constant use of the pronoun you. The

enemy would like us to brush this verse aside. We might say, “Oh, God was only talking to Ezekiel the prophet, and through him to Israel. This verse does not apply to believers today.”

Does Ezekiel 33:7-9 apply to all of us today…?Why would Ezekiel 33:7-9 not apply to us today? What’s

different between God’s charge to Ezekiel and Jesus’ command to us in Mark 16:15? The judgments Ezekiel was to proclaim are similar to those in the gospel. For example, Ezekiel is commanded to transmit a message given by God, and so are we. He is to alert the people around him to the peril of their ways and to call them to righteousness, as we are (e.g. Luke 13:3). The offer of forgiveness

is certain for those who turn, which is the core of our gospel message (e.g. 1 John 1:9). If sinners don’t turn, they will meet with a violent and terrible end (John 3:18). There are consequences for not evangelising (e.g. Luke 9:26).


We are all God’s sentries…Dr Christopher Wright, former principal of

All Nations Christian College, London, is also convinced Ezekiel 33:7-9 applies today: “The implications for Christian ministry seem to flow naturally [from these verses]… those who are among the flock being pastored need the challenge of the evangelistic warning and appeal. The sentry is never off duty.”33

The fact that Paul in Acts 18:6 and 20:26 uses the same imagery as Ezekiel when his audience rejects the gospel, further strengthens the argument. Dr John stott34 and Dr i. Howard Marshall35 are two other scholars who connect these two verses in Acts with Ezekiel 33. It is not only pastors and leaders who will be accountable for the blood of those who perish without having been warned through the gospel, but each of us, individually. If your church doesn’t provide training in evangelism, it is your duty to seek it out.

Watch out for self-deception…As for saying, “I’ll pray about it,” before deciding to

actively evangelise, really, what is the point? The Bible already tells us clearly that proclaiming the gospel is the will of God for each one of us. Yes, we ought to cover our activities and decisions with prayer, but let’s not use prayer as a delaying tactic.

I urge you in Jesus not to return to your old way of thinking. Consider the many exhortations in the Bible not to be deceived. For example: “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Of course, even once we are convinced it is true that we must all take responsibility for proclaiming the gospel, Satan’s next cunning device is to suggest the “come to me” approach. He persuades Christians to pray, “Lord, if you want me to reach someone with the

33 Dr Christopher J.H. Wright. The Message Of Ezekiel, IVP, 2001, p.22134 Dr John Stott, The Message Of Acts. IVP, 2003, p.29835 Dr I.Howard Marshall, The Acts Of The Apostles. An Introduction And Commentary, IVP, 1987, p.333


gospel, please bring them to me and make it obvious. If you don’t do this, I will know you don’t want me to do any evangelism today.”

Jesus created the opportunities…Don’t fall for this. Jesus

specifically said “Go” (Mark 16:15).36 Once trained in evangelism, we must do more than wait for opportunities to fall into our lap. We must learn to create them, as Jesus did. In the parables of the lost sheep and the lost penny,37 the shepherd and the housekeeper went looking

for what was lost. These parables illustrate important truths about evangelism:

First, as God sought us, so we in turn ought to seek the lost around us and present the gospel to them. Imagine what Jesus endured in coming to us. In heaven He was worshipped and adored by the angelic host and yet He left the comfort of

His home to come to earth and seek us out. For His efforts He was rejected, beaten, mocked, despised and eventually crucified. Jesus set the level of the bar with respect to inconvenience.38

Second, seeking out the lost will cost us something. It will nearly always be a hassle, or at the very least an inconvenience. Having to leave the 99 sheep and look for the lost one was a major inconvenience for the shepherd.

He probably had to find someone to look after the 99, and this may have cost him financially. Then there was the irritation of the actual search. Having to

36 Better still, ‘…as you go.’37 Luke 1538 Often Christians ask, “If I go and look for lost people to present the gospel to, how do I know who to

choose?” Please email me. I will direct you to resources which will answer this question. [email protected]

“Seeking out the lost will cost us something. It will

nearly always be a hassle, or, at the very least, an

inconvenience.”

“As for saying, “I’ll pray about it,” before deciding to actively evangelise, really,

what is the point? The Bible already tells us clearly that proclaiming the gospel is

the will of God.”


contend with steep hillsides, thorns, bushes, wild animals, heat, thirst, and an animal quick on its feet that delighted to resist capture was, overall, one gigantic inconvenience. Similarly, looking for the lost coin took a lot of the woman’s time. Moving all the furniture, getting down on hands and knees, endless back-bending. What a chore! Yet she did it because of the value of the coin. Jesus said, “If anyone

would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).39 Putting ourselves out is one way to take up our cross. To know how to create opportunities and to be intentional about evangelism are two vital battle strategies if we want to win this spiritual war.

Pushing through…I will close this chapter by telling a personal story of the

blessing which comes from embracing the “inconvenience factor” in evangelism. One cold, rainy night in the middle of winter I was travelling home around 11:30pm. I had been ministering all day, and the last thing I felt like doing was reaching a non-Christian with the gospel. As I drove down a long, inner-city road near my house, a great battle arose in my mind.

“Look, I’m weary!” I told myself. “The commitment I made to reaching one person a

39 This was one scripture which guided me to setting a goal of reaching at least one person a day with the gospel. By God’s grace, for many years, I have been able to keep this commitment, missing no more than a dozen days. Some days, I admit, I have gone out and given the gospel with a very poor attitude. I have wanted to ‘tick the box’ rather than really sincerely “love my neighbour” or “glorify Jesus.” But I reason that going with a bad attitude is far better than sitting at home piously congratulating myself for not going because “I would dishonour the Lord with my bad attitude.” This is yet another of the enemy’s devices. The truth is, God can grow a seed from the hand of a farmer with a bad attitude but never a seed from the hand of a farmer with a good attitude who doesn’t sow it.

“On his retirement, I once asked Bob McNaughton, an old, greatly-used-by-God evangelist of many decades the question, ‘What is

the one piece of advice you would give me as you retire from this

organisation?’ He looked at me with his piercing, clear eyes and replied with some force, ‘Julian, never stop actually doing evangelism. This is

my advice to you.’”


day is just legalism.40 I don’t have to do it. God can see I’ve been doing His work, and He will love me no less if I miss a day!”

As I began to settle this in my mind, another “voice” spoke up.

“You made a commitment – just do it! Hey, if you can’t push through the hard times, what kind of an example is that for others? You can only lead others where you’ve been yourself. If you make excuses, everyone else has a right to also. You know that in the past when you made big sacrifices for the lost, God came through. Just do it.”

Thankfully I listened to the second voice. As I drove up the road, I could see a lone figure inside a McDonald’s restaurant. The person’s face was obscured by the rain running down the window. I parked the car and made sure I had the little tool we use to deliver the gospel, plus a follow-up booklet. Then I made a dash from my car through the rain. When I got inside, it turned out the figure I had seen through the window was in his fifties. He was reading the newspaper and enjoying a hot drink.

Down to the wire…By now it was about 11:40pm. I approached him in the usual

way, but to my surprise he said politely that he would rather not hear what I had to say as he had had a big day and was “just unwinding.” There was no one else in the restaurant and time was running out. Would I have to go out in the rain to find someone?

I decided to buy something to drink and think what to do next. The friendly woman who came to serve me was in her fifties. Suddenly, an idea came.

“Hey!” I said to her. “I wonder if you could help me with something?” Immediately she agreed; and we went all the way through the gospel presentation. About a third of the way through, we were joined by two other McDonald’s employees who also seemed

40 On his retirement, I once asked Bob McNaughton, an old, greatly-used-by-God evangelist of many decades the question, “what is the one piece of advice you would give me as you retire from this organisation?” He looked at me with his piercing, clear eyes and replied with some force, “Julian, never stop actually doing evangelism. This is my advice to you.”


eager to listen and watch. At the end of the presentation, all of them agreed that if they died that night they would go to hell. This was clearly a shocking revelation. They had always believed that all you had to do to get to heaven was be a good person.

More follow up booklets needed…I had brought only one

follow-up booklet with me when I first entered, and so I quickly gave the one I had to one of the younger staff members and asked the other two to wait a moment while I dashed to my car to get two more copies.

When I returned, the older staff member did a most surprising thing. She lunged forward and tore one of the booklets from my hand. Pressing it to her chest and looking upward, she exclaimed, as if to God, “Oh, thank you! I have always wanted to know about this!”

By this time it was 11:59pm, but I felt refreshed both physically and spiritually. I drove off, listening to my favourite praise music on the stereo. When I got into bed I just lay there, basking in the Holy Spirit as I thought about what had just happened and the goodness of God to hold me to my commitment.

What are the lessons here? It seems to me that the bigger the inconvenience/pain, the bigger the blessing. We will never grow unless we continually push our personal boundaries and limits. Why not make it your goal to progressively move up the levels in The six step Master Plan of Evangelism which I detailed in Chapter One?

Do not leave it to chance – put it in your diary…

Pastors and leaders, diary into your day – or your week – an appointment to reach someone with the gospel, either through a tract or through

“The bigger the inconvenience/pain, the bigger the blessing. We will never grow unless

we continually push our personal boundaries and

limits.”


proclamation.41 Let it be an inconvenience for you. Feel the weight of the Cross. Set the example in your church. Take up Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to “…do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5). Your sacrifice and discipline will give your people courage

and confidence to enter confidently into the battle for souls.

i have found that wherever the leader in a church sets the bar, the people will follow a little underneath…For example, if you as the leader in your church evangelise once

a day your people will evangelise once a week. If you evangelise once a week they will evangelise once a month. If you evangelise once a year they will most probably never do it. It is really that simple.42 So here is another divine insight in the battle for souls. If you are a leader and you are struggling to mobilise the people in your church to evangelise, and you are not doing it and you want to know why they are not doing it, the answer is that you are not doing it.

Furthermore, if you are active in evangelism, please let your people know. I long for the day when pastors around the world drop stories of their evangelism experiences from the previous week into their Sunday sermons and general conversations.

Tell your staff you will be out of the office for 30 minutes to go and reach someone with the gospel. Let them see you go and come back.

Tell them what happened. Share your experiences in staff meetings. Tell them about what happened when you were on holiday sharing the gospel. As fire ignites petrol, so you will inspire

41 To watch a short video of a Presbyterian minister who took up this challenge, whose life and ministry was completely changed by doing so, please visit http://youtu.be/g3E7Xt8mALY42 I deal extensively with the topic of the role of leaders in evangelism in chapters 12 to 17.

“If you are a leader and you are struggling to mobilise the people

in your church to evangelise, and you are

not doing it and you want to know why they

are not doing it, the answer is that you are

not doing it.


people to follow your example. And please, don’t just relate your successes.

Tell them of your inner struggles as you sought to establish this new evangelism habit in your life. I experienced brokenness many times before I eventually broke through in evangelism.

If you are a leader, be open, honest, vocal and visible about your evangelism experiences. For you, more than anyone, this is a critical strategy from heaven in the battle for souls.

Don’t rely on feelings for motivation, they are unreliable…I don’t wake up every morning looking forward to going

out evangelising. Some days, in fact, I dread the thought, and some days I don’t feel any compassion whatsoever. Most days, the prospect of going into the world and proclaiming the gospel even frightens me a little.

So when I go to the lost, it is often just a cold, hard decision. But often when I have reached one person with the gospel, or

during the giving of it, the fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit comes and I suddenly want to reach others, one after the other.

Reaching lost people with the gospel leads to a greater desire to reach more lost people with the gospel.

I go out weeping but return with songs of joy! (Psalm 126:5-6). Then, when I wake the next day, the strong desire to evangelise

and the sheer joy I experienced the previous day are gone. They are only a positive memory. Why is this so? I believe the Holy Spirit allows these feelings of joy from the previous day’s evangelism experiences to “leak out” overnight for a good reason.

He is trying to show me where to find a rich source of joy in the Christian life.

He is saying, “Julian, I am trying to show you where to find living water. Keep going to the lost with My gospel. Keep planting the seed. Go and have a drink. See how sweet it is to be about my priority. Don’t sit around glorying in your past victories. Get living water fresh every day. My supplies are limitless. Julian, people must here my gospel. They must know about the great love I


have for them and why I died on the cross for them. Every time you plant the seed with love and grace, the Holy Spirit will grow it. We, the Trinity, will do the hard bit which is to bring belief to those who hear my precious gospel. Go!”

The decision to evangelise each day continues to be an act of the will but the weight of the cross these days is not as heavy as it used to be. I have found that the more one does it, the easier it gets. Truly, it is a learnt skill.

The truth is, we will never ever succeed with evangelising the world if we base our decision to go (or not) on our feelings of the moment. If we let our feelings rule, the “not now” or “I‘ll do it another day” feeling will always win every time.

Let me draw this chapter to a close. The responsibility to evangelise the world falls on the shoulders of every believer and there are no loopholes.

Having said that, I am cautious when I hear teaching which is peppered with “red flag” phrases like “we have to” or “we must”

or “we have no choice” or “we are to do it whether we feel like it or not.” Legalism is always lurking looking for an entrance into our lives, and we ought to bar and lock all possible entry points.

So how is what I have written in this chapter

not marching everyone straight back into legalism? After all, this chapter is pregnant with the “red flag” phrases I have just mentioned. Answer? The command to evangelise the world was given by Jesus who is God. When we signed up to become Christians we said to Him “I make you Lord of my life” (Romans 10:9-10).

Whether we realised it or not, at that moment we invited Him to become our commander in chief and we submitted oursevles to Him and His

“The truth is, we will never ever succeed in proclaiming

the gospel if we base our decision to go (or not) on our feelings

of the moment.”


authority as one of His soldiers (2 Timothy 2:3). Now when a commander of an army in the natural

world gives his troops a command, he is not being legalistic. He’s simply commanding his troops to do something upon which a great victory depends.

And when the troops obey, they are not falling into legalism but simply obeying an order given by their commander which is what they agreed to do when they first signed up (John 10:27; Matthew 7:20-24).

And if his troops obey, and the commander is smart enough, and experienced enough, and has all the details of his battle strategy perfectly accurate, and the strategy is a winning one, that army will win the battle.

We in the Church ought to have no worries about whether Our Commander is smart enough, experienced enough, or whether His battle strategy is a winning one.

These things are not up for debate. They are settled. What is up for debate is whether His soldiers will obey His command and not reneg on what they agreed to when they first signed up.

summary

• It is the responsibility of all believers to help evangelise the world.

• There is unanimous support for this truth in the scholarly world.

• Evangelism will not happen unless we are intentional about it.

• We must also be accountable to one another.• ACTiOn POinT: Help others become aware of the

issues raised in this chapter to other Christians, particularly leaders. Email everyone on your address book and encourage them to do the same. Send them a PDF file of this chapter by writing to [email protected].


• ACTiOn POinT: Go to the leaders of your church. Ask them to make changes to their mission statement so that

evangelism becomes central. Ask them to bring evangelism back to centre stage in the life of your church. Pray for them. Encourage them.

Even if we overcome his devices just described, he does not let up. Our next challenge is to learn how to overcome fear. Trying to instil a fear of evangelism into the Christian troops is a key tactic of the enemy. If there is one device he employs ceaselessly in the battle for souls, it is this one. God has taught me how to deal with fear, and I want to share my secrets with you in the next chapter.

CHAPTER SIX Are all Christians Commanded to Evangelise or...

Documents

Transcript of CHAPTER SIX Are all Christians Commanded to Evangelise or...