And Some Evangelists

Growing Your Church Through Discovering and Developing Evangelists

Roger Carswell

• Publisher: Christian Focus Publication
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781781915417

1

Where have all
the evangelists gone?

In the horrors of the Second World War, the battle of El Alamein was a turning point. And yet, at one stage, victory for the allies would have seemed a mere dream. Throughout the summer of 1942 the Germans, under Rommel, were threatening Alexandria in Egypt. Its loss would have been devastating for the allies, and yet they did not have sufficient military power to prevent such an advance. What transformed the situation was the arrival and use of new American resources. These included a new design of tank which outclassed and outmanoeuvred the German military machine. These reinforcements brought about the most brilliant victory at El Alamein. Sir Winston Churchill said, ‘Before Alamein we never had a victory, after Alamein we never had a defeat.’

In recent decades the Christian church in the West has seen serious losses. There does not appear to be that sharp, cutting edge in evangelistic work which makes the world sit up and take note of the claims of Christian truth. Are we perhaps needing additional resources? Or are we perhaps failing to use the resources and gifts which God has given for the Christian church? There is no easy panacea to reverse recent trends, but God has given evangelists to the church, and if we overlook his provision, can we realistically expect to make advances into enemy territory?

Lord Beaverbrook, the founder of the British newspaper, The Daily Express, wrote:

The evangelist is the man who has the greatest capacity for doing good and therefore, if I were in a position to influence the life of a sincere young man today, I would say to him, ‘Rather choose to be an evangelist than a cabinet minister or a millionaire.’ When I was a young man I pitied my father for being a poor man and a preacher of the Word. Now that I am older, I envy him, his life and his career.

Billy Graham, speaking in 1986 at the Second International Congress for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam, reckoned that worldwide there were nearly 50,000 evangelists. However, in the western world, evangelists appear to be a diminishing, and often disgraced, group of people. We have Christian dramatists, clowns, mime artists and magicians. We have godly pastors and Bible teachers, as well as singers whose ministry feeds the flock of God; but where have all the evangelists gone? Where are the people who are called by God to give their life to reaching the lost with the gospel?

A journalist’s view

The church’s apparent lack of concern or commitment to reach out to the lost world can be bewildering to the unsaved as well. In 1994 Matthew Parris was made newspaper columnist of the year. He is a political sketch writer for The Times, an ex-Member of Parliament, sceptical about Christianity. Writing in The Times, he said:

The New Testament offers a picture: a God who does not sound at all vague to me. He has sent His Son to Earth. He has distinct plans for each of us personally and can communicate directly with us. We are capable of forming a direct relationship, individually, with Him, and are commanded to try. We are told this can be done only through His Son. And we are offered the prospect of eternal life – an afterlife in happy, blissful or glorious circumstances – if we live this life in a certain manner.

Friends, if I believed that, or even a tenth of that, how could I care which version of the prayer book was being used? I would drop my job, sell my house, throw away my possessions, leave my acquaintances and set out into the world burning with desire to know more and, when I had found out more, to act upon it and tell others.

How is it possible to be indifferent to the possibility, if one believes it to be a possibility, that a being of this order makes demands of this order upon you or me, and that in 30, 20, 10 years – perhaps tomorrow – we shall be taken from this life and ushered into a new one whose nature will depend upon our obedience, now, to His will? Far from being puzzled that the Mormons or Adventists should knock on my door, I am unable to understand how anyone who believed that what is written in the Bible could choose to spend his waking hours in any other endeavour.

His explanation of the gospel may not be absolutely accurate, but the rebuke is an indictment on all Christians.

The popular caricature of the evangelist is of someone sweeping into town in a blaze of glory; extravagant dress, luxurious lifestyle, exaggerated claims and charismatic personality. Brash, belligerent, beguiling and boastful are the characteristics of the evangelist picked up and promoted by the media in films like Elmer Gantry, Leap of Faith or The Apostle. Theological liberals often find themselves in agreement with the media, simply using their images to bolster liberal attitudes and ideologies.

The church and the evangelist

Something of this has spilled over into the Christian church. After all, was it not evangelists who brought disgrace upon the church in the American ‘Pearly-gate’ scandals in the 1980s? It would seem natural, then, to eye with suspicion those who promote themselves and their ministry. The evangelist is often at the receiving end of veiled criticism from godly preachers who rightly are concerned for integrity in those who profess Christ. The itinerant lifestyle is seen as an easy escape from the responsibility of pastoral duties.

Frankly, sometimes even the more faithful evangelist appears to be a ‘good communicator’ but not a man of the Book. The method of evangelism – the programme, and the message – must commend the two pillars of the gospel: to repent and believe. a worldly programme undermines the very essence of what we want to communicate. The evangelist is often perceived as being a good salesperson, able to make an appeal, and stir people to commitment, but to what?

The church has raised other questions concerning the evangelist. Some would dispute whether the office of evangelist even exists today, arguing that all Christians should be evangelists to some extent. Others perceive the person working as an evangelist as starting on one of the lower rungs of the ladder of Christian service, but eventually being promoted to some other (higher) area of Christian ministry. This attitude is demonstrated by the oft-repeated question to evangelists, ‘Do you think that one day you will become a pastor?’ or by denominational groupings who will accredit pastors but not evangelists as ‘ministers’. I am aware that the term ‘evangelist’ only occurs three times in Scripture; but then ‘bishop’ or ‘elder’, designating one who presides in the congregation, is used in only three passages, the word ‘Christian’ and the title ‘deacon’ in two verses of the Bible, and ‘pastor’ in only one. But as A. R. May says in The New Testament Order for Church and Missionary, ‘There is ample evidence both in Scripture and the history of the early church to give us a clear understanding of the true significance of all five terms.’

‘An endangered species’

In his autobiography, Be Myself, Warren Wiersbe calls itinerant evangelists an ‘endangered species’! Church-based evangelists also are few and far between. Though courses in ‘evangelism’ are readily accessible, who is specifically teaching and training evangelists? Sadly, many enthusiastic young people go to Bible College with a burden to preach the gospel to the unconverted and to win souls for Christ, only to discover that there is little emphasis on the practicalities of outreach, and even less on the work of the evangelist. All too often they find that they are being redirected into pastoral work or Bible teaching. We desperately need pastors and Bible teachers, and should praise God when such are being raised up. There must be evangelical truth for those who want to know (that is, believers), but we need evangelistic truth for those who do not want to know (that is, unbelievers). I am concerned that would-be evangelists are being redirected away from their natural gifting and calling. This leads to frustration in ministry in later years, and a loss for the body and cause of Christ today.

The growth of missionary endeavour over the last three centuries is something for which we praise God. There are many avenues of service for Christian people who are called to serve God in countries other than their homeland, but the work of the evangelist is vital. Pioneer workers, church planters and itinerant preachers on mission fields are, in reality, evangelists. One wonders if sometimes the only feasible way for someone to exercise their evangelistic gift, burden and calling is to serve as a missionary.

Another reason why evangelists are ‘an endangered species’ is that few evangelists remain at their work for more than a decade. There will always be an unevangelized world out there to be reached with the gospel, nevertheless there is a tendency (temptation?) to move to other ministries. Sometimes, of course, the move will be a genuine leading of the Lord; however, the pressure for results from an evangelist can be a wearing one, and may be a cause for some to consider other ministries. Also, evangelistic zeal is frequently perceived as a quality of the young. Thus, the calling of the evangelist is seen all too often as a young person’s contribution to Christian work. Yet passion and fire should characterize all those walking closely with the Lord, and are not characteristics to be outgrown with the unfolding of a life. Young people need to be presented with the claims of Christ, but so does the older generation.

‘To raise the dead’

The gifting of the evangelist is a unique one. Being an evangelist governs the way one presents evangelical truth. In the early part of the twentieth century, Samuel Chadwick founded Cliff College, a training college for Methodist evangelists. He testifies as to what marked out his ministry and gift:

Before I entered the ministry, I was called upon to tackle a comparatively empty chapel. Hundreds of families in the district were notoriously godless, and many of the men were of a desperate character. All methods were tried by us and without avail, and in our despair we sought guidance and power in special prayer. a gracious work of sanctification began, old sins were confessed, and old quarrels healed; and there came, as by inspiration, a prayer that God would send us a Lazarus – a sinner so notorious, offensive and hopeless, that the people would be compelled to see the power of God. Our prayer was heard, ‘Lazarus’ came forth and took his place among us, and from that hour the Church was crowded with the neglected, despised and outcast. That settled my first working principle. The way to fill a chapel is to raise the dead.

Every witness has a certain amount of authority, not least evangelists. They are ambassadors. They have the right to speak, for this is God’s earth, and they are proclaiming God’s message. Our authority comes from Christ who has called and commissioned us. It was He who said, ‘All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore....’ (Matt. 28:18-19). Christians are to go in the Lord’s name and make disciples of all nations. We are not to be intimidated by others, but neither are we to abuse the good name of the Lord Jesus whom we represent. We ‘go in’ to know Christ and ‘go out’ to make him known (John 10:9). Alexander Whyte worked in one church for forty-seven years, first as an assistant pastor and then as the senior pastor. He always spent from 8 am to 2 pm with the Lord. On one occasion after hearing his sermon, a member of the congregation said to him, ‘You preached today as if you’d come straight from the presence of Jesus.’ Whyte replied, ‘I did.’ Such communion with the Lord is the source of our authority. The evangelist is the person whose gifting, calling and ministry are devoted to proclaiming the good news single mindedly to unconverted men and women.

Many works of the evangelist

The evangelist, who is a herald of the gospel, will not necessarily be involved in mass-evangelism. Mass-evangelism is vital, and by no means a thing of the past. As Edward Murphy argued in Christianity Today (volume 19 issue 11), 1975), one cannot reject mass-evangelism without violating the Scripture, or deny its effectiveness without ignoring church history. It is particularly effective with those who have a more positive attitude toward the gospel, but are still unconverted. At least, the Word of God is being preached and the Holy Spirit uses His Word to glorify the Father through the Son.

However, many evangelists are involved in a less public but no less vital witness among the unsaved, that might be described as gleaning. In the book of Ruth (2:17) we read: ‘So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.’ Gleaning is a quaint illustration for those involved in personal work. Reaping on a larger scale has been done, but there are leftovers and corners which the reaper does not touch. The gleaner has to have eyes open for the opportunity. He or she has to bend for each piece which is picked up – one cannot glean with a stiff back. Gleaning is humble work, but each piece helps to make a bundle. The gleaner is as careful to retain as to obtain the harvest. Jean Francois Millet’s famous painting of The Gleaners pictures what is involved. The gleaner pictures the personal work of the evangelist.

Evangelists reaching the masses will want to be involved in personal work as well. Such contact keeps evangelists from being puffed up and helps them to keep in touch with the people they will be preaching to. As a preacher, I find personal work vital for my ministry. It is not only an effective way of outreach, but it helps to remind me of where people are in their thinking concerning God. Evangelists will want to proclaim this gospel to their own friends, as well as to those people that other Christians have brought along. D. L. Moody, the evangelist, Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators, and many others have found it a good discipline to speak about the Lord to at least one unconverted person each day.

Personal work is vital and it can also be very precious to the heart of the preacher of the gospel. It does us good, as this story about a seventeenth-century Scottish preacher shows. James Guthrie had lost his way and decided that the best course of action was to let the reins of his horse rest on the saddle, and see where his horse would lead him. It took him to a little cottage. Knocking on the door, he found a Roman Catholic priest about to leave a dying woman and a grieving family. After the priest left, he asked whether the woman had received peace. She had not, so he explained the gospel to her and, before she died, she had believed and received the peace of God. Upon returning home, Guthrie said to his wife that he found the woman in a state of nature, led her to a state of grace, and left her in a state of glory!

Conclusion

It is time for the church to ask itself the straightforward question, ‘Where and why have all the evangelists gone?’ Are we trying to fight a war without the ammunition and armaments necessary for victory? Someone once said, ‘We need men and women who have this balanced attitude and conviction – people who are humble before God, and are aware that their power comes from His indwelling Holy Spirit, but who are confirmed in their minds that God has given them a high calling as His ambassadors.’

‘Now, Lord...grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word’ (Acts 4:29).

May we all echo in our hearts these words from The Triumph of John and Betty Stam:

See, all the careless multitudes

Are passing by, now passing by.

The world is sick with sin and woe.

All men must die, some day must die.

The time set for our Lord’s return

Is drawing nigh, draws ever nigh.

Send us in all Thy cleansing power –

Lord, here am I! Here, Lord, am I!

2

God’s agenda for
each generation

Luke 24:44-49

Toward the end of his Gospel, Luke recalls ‘the Great Commission’ that Jesus gave to His disciples. Luke’s focus is on the content of the message that we are to proclaim to our neighbours and the nations.

In Luke 24 we are told of Jesus’ resurrection appearance to the two walking on the road to Emmaus. Jesus both opened the eyes of Cleopas and his friend and opened the Scriptures to them. Then to all His disciples, He opened their understanding so that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Speaking only days after His crucifixion, burial and resurrection (think about that!), He drove home the central, crucial core truths of the gospel:

• Christ had to suffer
• He rose from the dead
• Repentance and remission of sins should be proclaimed to all nations
• The Holy Spirit would empower them
• In so speaking, He was giving us the mission of the church. We are to proclaim His death and resurrection urging people to repent so that they might receive forgiveness. Obedience to this is the only criteria as to whether we are being faithful to His heart’s desire and agenda for the church. This, and this only, is the gospel.

In so speaking, He was giving us the mission of the church. We are to proclaim His death and resurrection urging peopleto repent so that they might receive forgiveness. Obedience to this is the only criteria as to whether we are being faithful to His heart’s desire and agenda for the church. This, and this only, is the gospel.

This is relevant for those who call themselves ‘apologists’, who defend the faith, yet fail to explain the meaning of the cross and power of the resurrection. When Peter wrote urging that we ‘give a reason for the hope that lies within us’, surely the reason is that Jesus suffered and died, and that He rose and can forgive sin. I don’t believe Peter is arguing that our proclamation is about quoting academics who spoke warmly of Christianity! Of course, evidence is crucial, and needs to be taught, but we should be determined to know nothing in our proclamation but Christ and Him crucified.

It is noble and good to give porridge to the poor, to save the whale, for street pastors to provide flip-flops for drunken revellers, to teach agriculture and provide irrigation systems for the developing world, to be environmentally friendly and serve the community. Such endeavours may even be used to build a bridge to people so that we can tell them about Jesus, but these are not what gospel ministry is about. Of course, kindness and good deeds will characterise the Christian. We want to do good – it comes naturally to the believer. But the great commission is to go and tell, to preach and proclaim, to warn and welcome sinners as we introduce them to Christ. Topping the agenda of church meetings ought always to be strategically reviewing and planning the programme of fulfilling Jesus’ words before His ascension.

My daily newspaper recently reported that churches in the last year have provided 10 million ‘man hours’ to local authorities to help them in times of financial cuts. If local councils ask us to run youth clubs and care for the needy, praise God, but only if they are happy for us to present the gospel and speak about Jesus. I read recently, ‘Sometimes people talk as if by renovating a city park or turning a housing slum into affordable, liveable apartments, we are extending God’s reign over that park or that neighbourhood … but the kingdom isn’t geographical. Rather, it is defined relationally and dynamically; it exists where knees and hearts bow to the King and submit to Him … Good deeds are good, but they don’t broaden the kingdom of God.’¹ Eternal blessing, that which does extend the kingdom, only comes when sinners renounce sin and trust the crucified Christ as Lord and Saviour.

Jesus went through the villages and towns to preach. Moved with compassion He healed people there, but that was never His mission – His prime motivation – in going to these places. The Book of Acts tells the wonderful story of the gospel spreading from Jerusalem to Judea, then to Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. It does not speak of Christians working for the social betterment of Jerusalem and Antioch. Paul gave his life to the saving of the lost and the establishing of churches in good doctrine, so that they would continue the work of proclaiming the suffering, risen Jesus to people who would find forgiveness if they repented. Our mission is to proclaim what Jesus has accomplished.

The greatest act of friendship that we can show anyone is to introduce them to Jesus. The greatest act of tyranny is to ignore a person’s plight and not warn them of their desperate need to repent and find forgiveness from God.

Luke 24:49 is thoroughly Trinitarian: the Promise of the Father, the plan of the Son, the power of the Spirit. God’s power is promised as we proclaim the suffering Saviour. We must explain the hidden work of Christ as He bore our sin in His own body on the cross. Our rebellion was laid on Jesus so that we might be forgiven and have His righteousness laid on us. We are to make known that Jesus is risen. The hearers’ part is to repent, and God’s response is to give forgiveness of sin. What a message! There is nothing here to be ashamed about, nothing to brush under the carpet, nothing for which we should be embarrassed. It is the most glorious theme. Do we know of anything or anyone who is more worthy of being spoken about than Jesus? Is any remedy effective in dealing with people’s sins and self-destruction other than Jesus? Isn’t the greatest demonstration of love to others is to tell them of God’s demonstration of love towards us? Who has the right to intimidate us into silence about the gospel? We dare not be sidetracked from proclaiming Christ and Him crucified in our pulpits, to our f...

Table of contents

• Testimonials
• Title
• Indicia
• Contents
• Dedication
• Foreword
• Preface
• 1. Where have all the evangelists gone?
• 2. God’s agenda for each generation
• 3. Old Testament ‘evangelists’
• 4. Christ, the Evangelist
• 5. The Holy Spirit as an Evangelist
• 6. New Testament evangelists
• 7. The uniqueness of the evangelist
• 8. Biblical pictures of the evangelist
• 9. A great cloud of witnesses
• 10. An earnest plea for evangelists
• 11. The Bible as a tool
• 12. The tract as a tool
• 13. The children’s evangelist
• 14. The message and messenger
• 15. Some contentious issues
• 16. The temptations of the evangelist
• 17. Problems, principles and parables for the evangelist
• 18. ‘And sow to reap’: An exposition for evangelists, about evangelism
• Appendix: The Amsterdam Affirmations
• Select Bibliography
• Christian Focus