Equipping Evangelists for the Church

I love being around evangelists! Over the years I have been privileged to see God at work when personally involved in the ministries of Luis Palau, Terry Winter, Michael Green, and recently as evangelist and trainer with the Billy Graham team. Seeing people come to Christ deeply moves me and brings me tears of joy. I recall a lady I led to Christ greeting me effervescently: “This has been the best week of my entire life!” How can you ever get tired of evangelism? I consider it a high honor to be invited by churches to preach and help them reach others for Christ!

While every follower of Jesus is called to be a witness and can lead people to personal faith in Christ, the Bible recognizes that some of us have the gift of an evangelist. There are few Bible references to “evangelists,” but Ephesian 4:11-12 tells us something noteworthy about their role in the local church. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

Imagine if every local congregation identified at least one evangelist in their midst and this person would not only be involved in leading people to Christ but, more importantly, also be encouraged and empowered by the church leadership to “prepare God’s people for works of service” in this area? What would that look like? What would happen to that church for evangelism?

One church in a major Canadian city caught on to this concept and identified an “equipping evangelist.” Now, his main goal is to regularly and continually train the congregation in effective and relevant personal evangelism. He assists and equips department leaders to focus their ministry on reaching people for Christ in their area (such as Sunday school, small groups, men’s ministry etc.). He is to be a catalyst for church-wide and community evangelistic opportunities and “beat the drum” for evangelism with the church leadership so it never “falls off their radar.” In the first three months of recognizing this “equipping evangelist” over 93 people came to Christ through the combined efforts of this congregation.

Yes, I love to preach the gospel and am grateful for the many invitations I receive to do so across North America. I am thrilled at the stream of people responding to Christ in nearly every meeting, but how much more effective could we be if we also invested in equipping evangelists? Maybe the time has come for congregations everywhere to consider identifying one or more of these equipping evangelists to help us all make a greater eternal impact for Christ in our communities through our local churches.

About the Author David Arrol Macfarlane

David Arrol Macfarlane has addressed thousands of people at conferences and events around the world and across Canada over the past 35 years and has appeared on numerous television shows like the 700 Club; 100 Huntley Street; It's a New Day, plus numerous radio programs. David has written for or been featured in numerous publications including Decision Magazine, Christian Week and Faith Today. David's latest book "Ignite Your Life ? Living for significance" has become a Canadian Christian best seller and is in it's third printing. David's video-based graduate and undergraduate courses for Nation 2 Nation University are being used to train thousands of leaders around the world. David spends his time inspiring and equipping audiences and organizations to live to their full potential, helping people find authentic faith in Christ, training on finding innovative solutions and developing winning strategies. He also led growing churches in Ontario and British Columbia. Prior to his speaking career David worked as an executive for the American Express Corporation in South America and Canada. David lives in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, with his wife Diana and has three married daughters and eight grandchildren.

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