The word ‘evangelist’ in the Bible
There are only three verses in the Bible where the word evangelist is used, Acts 21:8; Ephesians 4:11 and 2 Timothy 4:5.
The first of these verses speaks of Philip the evangelist. Is this the Philip who is referred to in Acts 6:5 as one of the seven who were chosen to minister to the poor widows in their need and whose further ministry is referred to in Acts 8:4-40? Almost certainly this is the case, and equally almost certainly he is to be distinguished from Philip the apostle (Matthew 10:3). There are two reasons for this latter point. First, it was to free the apostles from attending to the needs of widows that the seven were appointed, hence one of the apostles would not be found among them. Second, the term the evangelist seems intended to distinguish this Philip from the apostle.
What we know of his activity in Acts 8 certainly seems to fit the definition of an evangelist given above. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. This ministry was remarkably successful and from there Philip went on to tell the good news about Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch. The chapter ends like this: But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to
The verse in Ephesians says this: And he [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers and goes on, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ… There are two interpretations of the word evangelist in this verse. The first understands the word to refer to ‘apostolic delegates’, that is men like Timothy – and we shall look at him next – who were appointed by apostles to minister in their place, and perhaps for that reason had a special authority. Those who take this view generally go on to add that this office (if that is the right word to use) has passed away with the apostles (and prophets). But it ought to be noted that this argument only says that ‘apostolic delegates’ have passed away.
The second interpretation is to view evangelists as gospel preachers like Philip. This means that in the early days of Christianity while the apostles were the primary messengers of the gospel, alongside them others were called to communicate the gospel but without necessarily being personal witnesses of Jesus and without apostolic authority. Two things seem patently obvious. First, it was absolutely necessary that as the apostles passed away such people should take their place in the work of extending the gospel far and wide. Second, it is equally clear that the spread of the gospel historically has depended greatly on men like these. What were Carey, Judson, Hudson Taylor and many others if they were not first of all evangelists? Hendriksen, in his commentary on Ephesians says that evangelists were ‘travelling missionaries’. But why call them missionaries when evangelist will do, and when missionary today covers people with a variety of diverse ministries? Hendriksen actually tries to bring both views together when he says, ‘If Timothy, as an evangelist or travelling missionary, can serve the interests of the church best by being Paul’s representative, why should he not function as such?’ He then goes on to speak of copying ‘the flexibility of the early church’, a point which is well worth keeping in mind.
But it might be pointed out that this passage says that these ministers were given to equip the saints. Doesn’t that mean that evangelist cannot simply refer to what we today call evangelism? This does not seem fully persuasive. In the first place this is putting a precision on Paul’s writing which may not be justified. Secondly, in the nature of the case people have to be made saints before they can be equipped and it seems perfectly reasonable for Paul to cover the whole process in what he says. Thirdly, it is possible to understand the verse like this: and pastors and teachers to equip the saints… and so on.
The view that sees evangelist as apostolic delegate is really based on 2 Timothy. Paul writes: do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry. As there was already a church in Ephesus (see 1 Timothy 1:3) it is clear that Timothy exercised a ministry towards that church, something which is explicit in 1 Timothy 3, especially verses 14 and 15. Whether it is appropriate to call Timothy an ‘apostolic delegate’ or not, however, is beside the point. The question is, what is the work of an evangelist? It is perfectly possible to understand this as doing the work of evangelism; in all Timothy’s ministry to those within the church he must not forget his responsibility to those without.
This leads some to say that as Timothy was the minister in
Moreover Timothy (and Titus, 1:5) was in some sense an apostolic delegate and was not an appointed elder of the church at Ephesus and by the time the second letter was written Paul is not expecting him to remain in Ephesus (2 Timothy 4:9-13,21). So while we may learn from Timothy’s example, and remember the flexibility of those early days, we cannot equate Timothy exactly with a modern day pastor.
There is another reason for understanding evangelist in the way defined and illustrated and that is by looking at the very word itself. The word gospel in Greek is euaggelion (cf. evangel), and evangelist is euaggelistes and there is also a verb euaggelizo. If euaggelion means ‘gospel’ and the verb means ‘to tell the gospel’ or ‘to tell good news’ isn’t it very likely that euaggelistes means ‘a teller of the gospel’? You are a preacher if you preach; you are a counsellor if you counsel; so what else is someone whose business is to tell the gospel but a gospeller, an evangelist?
Evangelists in the New Testament
But it is not actually necessary to spend too much time over the word evangelist in the New Testament. Another way of approaching the subject is to ask if there are people in the New Testament who fulfil the terms of the definition (it would be possible to consider the Old Testament as well but that is not necessary). After all it is not the name or title which is the vital thing, it is the ministry itself. So in a semi-chronological order here is a survey of what we find.
First of all it is surely the case that John the Baptist fits the definition. It is said of him: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him (John 1:6,7). It is true that he preceded Jesus, but he called people to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. He prepared the way for Jesus and pointed people to him, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). It is unquestionable that he communicated good news to those who, though Jews, needed to repent of their sins.
Secondly, there is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. From a child, it appears, he learned the trade of carpenter from Joseph and followed that trade for most of his adult life. But how else would one characterise the main thrust of his three year ministry but as that of an evangelist? It is true, of course, that he also taught and prepared his disciples, but they were to become fishers of men – gospel preachers – themselves. It is surely evident that his main public speaking ministry was directed to calling people to repent. Matthew sums up at least his early ministry like this: And he went throughout all
The next example is obviously the twelve disciples themselves. They were sent out to proclaim the
We ought also to take particular note of four men whose contribution is frequently overlooked, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They all bore their witness to Jesus by writing what we call the Gospels. For this reason they are generally called evangelists. In doing this they have fulfilled an indispensable role. If we were to subtract the Gospels from our New Testament, the whole Bible would fall to pieces. The Old Testament would remain an enigma, as its fulfilment in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah would be absent. The letters and Revelation would also be inexplicable on their own. We owe an incalculable debt to those men. Down through the centuries their witness has been blessed of God to the conversion of millions. If anyone shows an interest in the gospel, say in the open air or door to door ministry, what is most generally given to them to read if not one of the Gospels? We do not know much about their lives but their written evangelism will go on bearing fruit until Jesus comes again.
What shall we call Peter? Did he do the work of an evangelist on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), and in the court of the temple (Acts 3), and in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10)? Surely he did. Whatever he might have done later on, at that time he was bearing witness to Jesus Christ and calling upon people to turn and believe in him. This was gospel preaching in great power.
Then there is the apostle Paul. We rejoice in his letters and we see what a teacher and pastor he was. But that was not the primary focus of his ministry: so that from
There are others who could be considered, but this seems adequate to make the point.
Evangelists today
The fact is we all accept and support people whose main ministry is evangelism. Sometimes we call the practice church-planting and those who engage in it church planters, but unless church-planting is merely gathering together scattered Christians it involves evangelism. ‘Church-planting’ is used only to emphasise that evangelism in a new area needs to end with the establishing of a church.
There are many missionaries, including women, whose chief work is evangelistic. In fact, a very large number of people are engaged in that work in many different ways. Some write evangelistic books or tracts. Some prepare and take part in evangelistic broadcasts. Some specialise in open-air evangelism and others concentrate on evangelistic visiting. Some are more traditional preaching evangelists, others are involved in more specialised evangelistic preaching and lecturing. Some are involved in children’s evangelism, some in student evangelism, some in evangelism to ethnic minorities. Nearly all evangelical churches are glad to support a range of individuals or societies engaged in evangelistic work and do so with enthusiasm.
The present situation
a) In our country:
i. There are many areas of our country where there is little or no gospel witness. This includes large rural areas with villages and small towns, and large urban areas that have no effective gospel witness in them although there may be gospel churches within range of cars or possibly public transport.
ii. There are many churches that are small and often struggling. In many cases they are not in a position to support a pastor. Although the believers need encouragement and spiritual nurture, the real need if the church is to survive is for it to be built up by additions which almost invariably means conversions – and these are important anyway.
iii. Perhaps it might be added that the real need of such churches is not for a semi-retired pastor who is financially independent, but for someone younger, energetic, with vision and gift, who can reach out and build up the church. This is not to despise the good work that older men have done, but to face reality.
iv. Our present situation calls loudly for people to do the work of an evangelist.
b) Pastors:
i. While all pastors will necessarily be involved, and should be, in the work of evangelism, the extent of that involvement will depend on a number of factors including the gifts of the man concerned.
ii. In the past the idea prevailed of the pastor as an all-rounder, perhaps even omni-competent – the hub around which the wheel of the church revolved. It is now generally recognised that most men are not like this and have their own strengths and weaknesses. If possible it is better for them to develop and use the gifts they have, rather than struggle in areas they are not suited to.
iii. Along with this recognition has come an understanding that a team ministry is more biblical, ideally each church having a plurality of elders with a variety of gifts, especially once it has reached a certain size. This gives the opportunity for different men to be engaged in ministries that utilise the gifts they have.
iv. With our increasingly secular and pagan society impacting families within or connected with the churches come many difficult pastoral problems. Moreover things are much more complex than in the past and require pastors to be aware of all sorts of societal trends. In many cases this has considerably increased the burden that pastors and their wives bear.
v. Similarly, people no longer have the background of Bible knowledge that could be taken for granted in the past. At the same time knowledge has exploded and people are exposed to a thousand different ideas. And people of different backgrounds and religions have spread across the land. To try and minister the Word of God in the present day itself makes enormous demands on a pastor/teacher.
vi. All these considerations show that there is ample room and need for evangelists to have a ministry complementing that of pastors.
c) Evangelists
i. Regrettably over the more recent past, especially perhaps in Reformed circles, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on the pastoral office to such an extent that men of evangelistic gifts have either felt marginalised or else decided that they need to become pastors rather than evangelists.
ii. This has been doubly unfortunate. Some of these have entered the pastorate but proved to be unsuitable, with discouragement and disappointment all round. At the same time the real gifts that they have, have not been used, to the detriment of the work of reaching people with the gospel.
iii. To develop this a little further, experience teaches that very often the matter of gift is very important. Some men are good at evangelism and planting churches, but are not good when it comes to the ongoing work of pastoring (and vice versa). As with Paul and his associates in the New Testament, the right thing, once a church has been established, is for an eldership to be appointed and the evangelist to move on. That was how Christianity spread and we are back in that sort of situation now. Some plant, others water, but God gives the increase.
Practical possibilities
a) There is no one blueprint for all situations, only possibilities to explore and adopt according to the need, the personnel available and the will of the Lord as discerned through prayer and the Word.
b) Oughtn’t we to look out for people with evangelistic gifts and encourage them to develop and use those gifts; if appropriate sending them for training and then out into the harvest fields?
c) We ought to honour the work that evangelists do and encourage them and utilise their gifts where we can. Evangelists can be invited to ministers’ fraternals and should be supported by prayer and giving.
d) Larger churches may believe it appropriate to employ an evangelist. In some cases his work and support may be shared with (an)other church(es). In some cases a married couple might work together, e.g. in door to door evangelism. There are a number of spheres where only women are suitable, e.g. visiting Asian women, following up mother and toddler groups.
e) An association of churches, or group of churches formed for the purpose might support an evangelist in a particular area or invite an evangelist to work for a certain time in the area.
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