~ 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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