~ The Spiritual Gift of The Evangelist ~
Opening Comment ~ “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:16-18).
Category ~ In my thinking the gift of evangelism is in the Medical Community of gifts and specifically the Spiritual Obstetrician – one who delivers spiritual babies!
Scripture ~ “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16).
Comments ~ 1) God gifted “some” to be evangelists (see above passage). I believe that many well-meaning teachers in the modern church lay guilt trips on individual Christians teaching that all Christians should be evangelizing the world. I do not find that in Scripture. I do find that we all are to teach and make disciples as we go about living in the world (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20).
There are only three references to evangelists/evangelism in the New Testament and in each time it relates either to the special gift or an individual who had the gift of evangelism. In the New Testament evangelists were traveling missionaries.
I do find over and over that all Christians are to be witnesses! We should be quick to relate to others our own spiritual experiences. (That is a topic for a different post.)
Biblical Examples ~ “And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, greeted the brethren, and stayed with them one day. On the next day we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him” (Acts 21:7-8). Notice the reference to Philip is similar to us saying, “Billy Graham, the evangelist.”
In the New Testament we see clearly that Paul was an evangelist as were some others.
Closing Comments ~ “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:12-16).
“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6-7).
“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.
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