Who Should Evangelize?

If you're just joining us for the first time this morning, we are in the middle of three-week series on evangelism.

"Evangelism" is a word that means bringing or announcing good news. As Christians, the good news we announce is the gospel, which is just another word that means good news.

The gospel is the good news that a good and glorious Creator made us to know and worship Him. And even though we've each rebelled against Him and chosen our own way instead of His way, and even though we deserve nothing but His eternal judgement for our rebellion against Him, God sent His Son Jesus to live the perfect life we should have lived, and die in our place to pay our debt and forgive our sins. This Jesus rose from the dead, has been crowned king of the universe, and commands all people everywhere to turn from their sin, to trust in His grace, and to submit to His good and loving rule.

And when we turn aside from trying to run our own lives, and believe in Jesus, God so joins us to Jesus that we share in all the benefits of His life, His death, and His resurrection. We get the credit for His perfect life. We get our sins paid for by His sacrificial death. We participate in His eternal resurrection life, now and forever. And we get to look forward to eternity with him.

This is good news. And evangelism is the act of bringing or announcing this good news to people who need to hear it.

This series on evangelism is structured around three questions. Last week, we asked, "Why evangelize?" We acknowledged that, both in the ancient world of the Bible, and the modern world we live in, evangelism is challenging.

But we looked at the book of Romans and saw four reasons for why evangelism needs to happen despite these difficulties. First, because the gospel is powerful. Through the gospel, God's power to save us unleashed, and this power overcomes any shame we might feel or experience.

Second, because the gospel is true. Whether people want to hear it or not, it is true. And in fact, if people don't want to hear the gospel, that resistance to the gospel, that resistance to Jesus, is just one example of the sin that they need to be saved from.

So we announce the good news because the gospel is true. And third, because we love people, and people need to hear the gospel to be saved.

And ultimately, fourth, we evangelize for God's glory. The gospel itself reveals God's glory in profound ways, and the result of the gospel is a worshipping people who look like Jesus and get to enjoy God and bring Him more and more glory forever.

So that's why we evangelize. In order to overcome the difficulty of evangelism, we remember that the gospel is powerful, true, necessary and God-glorifying.

"Not My Job"?

Still, we might not be convinced. Still, some people might still think think like,

• "Me? Tell other people about Jesus? I can barely give an honest answer to my fellow Christians when they ask how my week was."
• "I don't do public speaking."
• "I have a hard time even answering the phone."
• "I have social anxiety on the best of days."
• "I'm not a theologian, and I can't remember all of the important parts."
• "What if they start to ask me tough questions and I don't know the answers?"

And we could go on and on. Despite knowing that the gospel is powerful, true, necessary, and God-glorifying, some people might still feel like sharing it with someone else is way above their pay grade.

And one way that some Christians can process this is to reason that while evangelism is important, it's not their job. It's a job for some Christians, but not all Christians.

Throughout history, some have tried to argue that evangelism and missions was a job just for the original apostles. When Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” (Matthew 28:19–20), he wasn't talking to all Christians everywhere. He was talking just to those 11 Apostles who were listening to him, which later game to include Matthias and Paul. But that's it. The rest of us are off the hook.

These days, I don't think this view is all that common. But what might be a bit more common is a slightly different form of this argument, in which people say that evangelism is a job for a special group of people called "evangelists."

We find out about this group of people in Ephesians chapter 4, which describes the risen Jesus giving to His church “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11). This group does seem to be unique. Only 13 Christians were apostles. Not every Christian is a prophet. Certainly not every Christian is a shepherd or a teacher. Similarly, we could assume that not every Christian is an evangelist.

But the ones that are evangelists do the work of evangelism. Evangelists come in different shapes and sizes, from Billy Graham, to the guys who walk around on university campuses talking to students, to the really smart guys on YouTube who have all of the answers to the atheists tough questions, but what they have in common is a special ability. A "gift of evangelism." They have this way of share the gospel in a compelling without fear or awkwardness that most of us just don't have.

And they do evangelism. The rest of us play support roles. We can invite people to the meeting or send them the link to the video or run the sound booth for the evangelistic meeting. We'll do the background stuff, the support roles, but we'll let those gifted in evangelism do the evangelizing.

Asking the rest of us to do evangelism is like asking some random person to come preach the sermon this morning. It just doesn't work.

At least, that's how the argument goes.

But I don't think that argument is right. I think it misses a lot. And what I want to help us see this morning, from the pages of the Bible, is two key things. First, evangelism is expected. The Bible excepts that all Christians will participate in evangelism.

Second, that evangelism is possible for all Christians. It is possible for ordinary Christians to tell other people about Jesus.

Evangelism is expected for all Christians, and evangelism is possible for all Christians. And by the way, when we say "all Christians," that includes you. Yes, you. I know we all secretly think that we're the one exception, that the things we'll read this morning are true for everybody else but not for us, but the good news is that we're just not that special. We're all just ordinary Christians who all get nervous telling other people about Jesus, and we all need to hear this morning that for us—yes, us—evangelism is both expected and possible.

1. Evangelism is Expected

Let's start with the truth that evangelism is expected for all Christians. And the way we're going to do that is just by walking through the New Testament, one book at a time, and just pointing out select verses that show us either examples of normal Christians telling others about Jesus, or commands for normal Christians to tell others about Jesus, or places where we simply see an assumption that normal Christians will tell others about Jesus.

We’ll start in Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, with one of the most obvious verses on evangelism in the Bible. “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:16–20).

Let's acknowledge that yes, these words were first given to the eleven disciples, which is right there in verse 16. But let's also acknowledge that There are two reasons for why we should understand this command to make disciples as applying to all Christians, not just the apostles.

First, Jesus says that this command is in effect "until the end of the age." The apostles died a long time ago, and the end of the age has not come yet. And so, this command is still in effect. When Jesus said "I am with you to the end of the age," those words were not just for the apostles but for the generations of Christians who carried on the apostolic mission up until the present day.

Second, the apostles were told to teach Christians to observe all that Jesus had commanded them. Which must include this command to make disciples! He did not say, "teach them to observe all that I have commanded you except for this final command. This one is different from all the others."

That's part of the reason why this command is preserved here in Matthew's gospel. It's not just there for interest's sake. This command to make disciples of Jesus is one of the commands that Christians are to be taught to obey.

So, the great commission is for all of us.

Let's turn over to Mark, chapter 5, where Jesus has cast a demon out of a man. And this man wants to go with Jesus, but in verse 19 we read, “And he did not permit him but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled” (Mark 5:19–20).

This man who just minutes before had been a home for demons is told to go and evangelize: tell his friends what the Lord had done for him. And he does even better, going around a whole region of ten cities announcing his salvation.

It's like the shepherds in Luke 2:17. Simple, uneducated shepherds, after meeting baby Jesus, "made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them” (Luke 2:17–18).” They just went and told.

In John 4:28, after talking with Jesus, the woman at the well—who had probably come to fill up her water jar at that time to avoid other people—“left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”’” (John 4:28–29). And we read in verse 39, “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did’” (John 4:39).

If we turn next over to the book of Acts, there's so much we could see here. In chapter 4, the apostles together with the others pray together for boldness, and verse 31 says “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31).

Chapter 8 verse 1 says, “And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (Acts 8:1). And then verse 4 says, “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).

Preaching the word was everybody's job. Verse 5 tells us that “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.” And that's important because Philip was one of the seven chosen to distribute bread to the widows back in chapter 6. Philip could have said, "You know, evangelism isn't really my gift. I'm an admin guy, a food guy. I do background jobs." But here he is, announcing Jesus, and by chapter 21, he's being referred to as "Philip the evangelist" (Acts 21:8).

If we look over at 1 Corinthians, in 4:16, Paul writes, “I urge you, then, be imitators of me.” This is one of several places in his letters where Paul urges his readers to imitate him.

And he doesn't say, "Imitate me except in the proclaiming the gospel part." In fact, here in chapter 4 he's just been talking about the ways he's suffered for proclaiming the gospel. And he wants the Corinthians to imitate him in that way. We see the same thing in chapter 11 and other places too.

Let's turn over to Ephesians, three books later. Ephesians 4:11 is a passage we've touched on already, where we read about the evangelists whom God gave to the church. While their exact job description isn't given us, the title "Evangelists" suggests that these are people uniquely set apart for evangelism.

But according to verse 12, what is the main job of these evangelists, alongside of the apostles, prophets, and pastor-teachers? It is "to equip the saints for the work of ministry." Evangelists, just like pastors, don't do ministry so that other people don't have to. They are to equip the saints for the work of ministry. And what is that work of ministry they are to be equipped for? "For building up the body of Christ," as verse 12 finishes off.

What comes to mind when you think about "building up the body of Christ"? On the one hand, it's probably natural for us to think about growth in maturity. After all, verses 13 and 14 talk about the church growing from childhood into mature manhood. So part of the work of ministry is us helping one another move from immaturity to maturity.

But when we think about "building up the body of Christ," I don't think we can do away with the idea of the church growing in size—in numbers—as well. After all, as a child grows up into adulthood, what is one of the ways that we see that happening? Physical growth. They get taller, bigger.

It's also important to see that these same words that Paul uses here for "building up" and "growing" in the body of Christ are used back in chapter 2 when he talks about Jews and Gentiles being added to the church which, like a building under construction, grows as it is built up (2:20-22).

So here, as evangelists help equip the saints for the work of the ministry of building up the body of Christ, I think we should hear both the ideas of growth in maturity and growth in numbers. And if that's true, that means it's the job of all of us to be a part of spreading the gospel so that more and more people are added to the church.

This gets confirmed in chapter 6, where Paul tells Christians to put on the armour of God, which is a word picture that basically sums up everything he's said in the whole letter. In verse 15, he writes, “and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace”.

Now, without spending a whole ton of time here, the basic idea here is that, like a soldier with their boots on, we're always ready to share the good news. Paul's words are drawn from Isaiah 52:7, which says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”

Normal Christians, as a part of our daily kit, are to be ready to bring good news, to announce that our God reigns.

Over in Philippians, listen to how Paul talks to the Christians in Philippi in 1:29-30: “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have” (Philippians 1:27–30).

Do you get any sense there that Paul thought it was his job to share the gospel and struggle for the gospel so that they didn't have to? Nope. The idea there is that Paul and the normal Christians in Philippi are in this together, striving to advance the gospel together, engaged in the same work as one another.

There's two more stops we're going to make. First, let's look over at 1 Thessalonians, where Paul writes in 1:6, “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything” (1 Thessalonians 1:6–8).

Look at that—they became imitators of Paul, which meant that what? That the word of the Lord sounded forth from them—from them, new, normal Christians—into their whole surrounding region.

Finally, 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

I've used the phrase "ordinary Christian" a few times so far in this message, but truthfully, being an ordinary Christian is no small thing. There's nothing ordinary about being a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. And God made us this—He saved us—that we might do one thing: proclaim His excellencies.

That's the background to chapter 3 which tells us to always be "prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" (3:14). The idea is not that we're just minding our own business and waiting for people to ask us. The idea is that we are proclaimers, and that prompts the questions for which we must be ready to respond.

2. Evangelism is Possible

So, are we convinced? Are we convinced from all of these passages that God expects normal Christians like you and me to be a part of announcing His good news?

I hope so. And with all of this in mind, let's end, very briefly, with a reminder that not only is evangelism expected, it is also possible.

I call this a reminder, because we heard a lot last week about how the gospel is powerful. We don't need to be experts. We don't need to be scholars. We don't need to have all of the answers to all of the tough questions.

We just need to announce the good news. Because it is through the simple announcement of the good news that God does the saving.

“We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23–24).

When God calls someone, the foolish message of the cross becomes powerful and accomplishes God's saving purposes. Romans 10:17 repeats this same idea when it says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Where does faith come from? From hearing the word of Christ. See, we don't need to be experts in figuring out when someone is finally ready to hear the gospel. Whether it's the right time or not. When God calls someone, the announcement of the gospel itself brings about the faith required to believe it. So we can just announce it, trusting that those who are called will come.

This is what we see in Acts 13:48, where Paul preaches to the Gentiles, and we read that “they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).

Or similarly, Acts 16 tells us that “One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”

Paul spoke the message, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention and believe. Maybe that's happening even right here in this room this morning. Maybe you've heard me announce the gospel and without being able to explain it, you know it to be true. You believe it, maybe for the first time.

If so, I would love to talk to you after the service. And if you believe the gospel, whether that's a new thing or something you've done your whole life, know that it was God who made it happen.

And in that sense, evangelism is a lot like farming. We put the seed out there. God is the one who makes it grow. Paul explained this in 1 Corinthians 3: “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:5–7).

God gives the growth. And God does not need superstars to do the planting and the watering. In fact, much of the time God delights to use non-superstars because then it highlights the fact that He and not them gave the growth.

Paul explained this a couple of chapters earlier: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1–5).

Think of all of the reasons why you are not a good candidate to bring the good news to someone else. Your speech might not be lofty or sound wise. You might feel weak, and afraid—so afraid that you shake. It feels like what you share might not even sound believable to anybody else.

Guess what—that just puts you in the same category as the Apostle Paul, a weak messenger whom God loved to use because, in the end, God got the glory.

Those of you who do have more natural gifts with people and persuasion actually need to be careful. What we win people with, we win people to. If we convince people to follow Jesus because of our superstar personality, our ability to answer all of their objections, or because of the really cool event that we put on at church, we need to ask if we’ve really made followers of Jesus. Or if we’ve just made followers of ourselves, people who just want more of our personality or amazing answers or fun events.

But when we just announce the simple but powerful gospel, and God saves people, then we can know that He is the one winning people to the Lord Jesus Christ.

So in the end, evangelism is possible because it's not just a human event. Evangelism is possible because it is a supernatural event whereby God works through our weakness to save those whom He has called.

This is where we get our confidence from. And this is one of the places where I'm so glad I believe in God's sovereign power to save. Some people say, if God is sovereign over salvation, why evangelize? And the response is, if God is not sovereign over salvation, how could we evangelize?

If it was up to us to convince people, win people, get through to people—if all of that rested on our shoulders—can you imagine how crushing that would be? It would be so easy to just not do it because of how scary that would be.

But when we know that we are just the messengers for a big God who is mighty to save—that makes all the difference, doesn't it? We can say with Paul, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

So, evangelism is expected, and because of God's great power, it is very possible. And there's so much more to say here about how we actually do this. That's the topic of next week's message—how to share the gospel. Josh Bondoc is bringing that message and has all kinds of ideas for us.

But today, even as we look ahead to next Sunday, there's three things I want to leave you with. First is this little booklet called "Two Ways to Live." We've had these on the table out back for a while, and just ordered a bunch more this week. These are a fantastic tool to use with someone to talk them through the gospel message. Or maybe you're new to church and you just want to know more about what this all means yourself. Please, help yourself to as many copies as you'll use. They are on the info table right by where you come in in the foyer.

Second, I wrote an article for the church blog a few years ago called "Sharing the Gospel Clearly, Correctly, and Confidently." I updated it a little bit this week and we put a copy in each of your bulletins today. This is a tool that might help you think through the "how" of evangelism while also increasing your clarity on what the message is that we get to share. Please, give it a read as you think ahead to this next week.

Finally, we come to the Lord's supper again where, like we said last week, we get to practice proclaiming the death of Jesus to one another. Take joy in announcing to one another with words and with actions that Christ died, rose, and will come again. And pray that He will make it impossible for us to keep this good news to ourselves.