What Is the Biblical Role of an Evangelist?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

The Word Means a Preacher of the Gospel

• The question posed: Ephesians 4:11 speaks of evangelists — but is the evangelist of the Bible the same as the itinerate preacher who goes from church to church preaching revivals? What is the biblical role of an evangelist?
• First: the type of ministry described is valuable, needed, and we should support that — thank God for all the evangelists. But if we're going to be biblical, while 'evangelist' may be the best one word, the biblical word evangelist is not the exact equivalent: the biblical word evangelist does not mean itinerate preacher. Some itinerate preachers' main focus is a pastoral type ministry — supporting the pastor, encouraging, edifying, building up the local church — or maybe a teaching ministry, and those are valid ministries as well.
• But the word evangelist in the Greek is related to, and comes from, the word evangel, or gospel: so literally, an evangelist is someone who preaches the gospel. The focus, then, would be on someone who has an effective ministry of helping lost people come to God.

Scriptures: Ephesians 4:11

A Distinct Calling — and Work Every Minister Must Do

• Obviously, every time a pastor preaches, there's probably a component of evangelism, most if not all the time. And in fact, you can see Paul told Timothy: do the work of an evangelist. So even if you're not an evangelist by calling or primary ministry, other ministers, including pastors, are supposed to do that kind of work — it's not limited to just someone labeled an evangelist.
• But when you are trying, in the context of Ephesians 4:11, there is a distinct calling or ministry or gift of an evangelist: that would mean this is a person whose ministry primarily focuses on preaching the gospel, to lead people to be saved. So many itinerant speakers — that is their primary purpose: they come and they preach an evangelistic message, and many people are saved; they are the ones who are able to inspire faith. A pastor and a church may be working on people, teaching Bible studies, inviting people to church — but there comes a special ministry of the evangelist that focuses the faith of these people to receive. It may involve leading them to repentance, but it also involves leading them to have faith to receive: the evangelist helps bring in the harvest.

The Forms the Gift Takes

• It could be that a notable soul winner — someone who's very effective in bringing new people to God — could be more what we think of as a Bible study teacher. So an evangelist could be a guest speaker who comes in, preaches a series of messages that bring visitors to come, that get people to repent, and get people to have faith, so they immediately receive the Holy Spirit — yes, that's the ministry of evangelists. But someone who is gifted in making connections with people, getting Bible studies, teaching them how to repent and how to receive the Holy Spirit — and they might receive the Holy Spirit in their home while there's a Bible study going on, or bring them to church, and they receive the Holy Ghost — that could be the ministry of evangelist.
• Now, all of us are supposed to be sharing our testimony; all of us are supposed to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. So every mature Christian should be bringing people to Christ: we should all have testimonies of where we brought someone to church, and ideally we saw them baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit. Every Christian should be part of that, and aspire to that; every Christian should be involved with evangelism. Yet there are some people who are specially gifted, and used, to help bring in the harvest. The main categories: the guest speaker who comes and inspires faith; the notable soul winner; the notable Bible study teacher; and the notable connector, who may be local, who may not have minister credentials, but who is a leader who is particularly good at bringing new people to the Lord, and praying with them to receive the Holy Spirit.

The Biblical Example: Philip the Evangelist

• If you want the biblical example, the book of Acts gives a label to Philip. He was originally one of the seven men chosen to assist the apostles — which we usually think of as the first deacons, or helpers; we might call him a lay leader. But his ministry expanded beyond that: he was called Philip the Evangelist.
• And you see in Acts chapter 8, here's what he did — Acts 8:5: 'Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did, for unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; many who were paralyzed and lame were healed; and there was great joy in that city.' And then, as you go on to read, apparently many repented, because he baptized many of them in the name of the Lord Jesus. And the report came to Jerusalem, to the apostles; they sent Peter and John to investigate; they found out that people hadn't received the Holy Spirit yet, but when they laid hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit. So there's the ministry of the evangelist: introducing people to the gospel of Jesus Christ, leading them to faith, repentance, water baptism, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Scriptures: Acts 8:5

The Fresh Voice: A Team Ministry

• As a practical thing — said tongue in cheek, with no disrespect to the evangelist: a pastor can be preaching week after week, covering all the themes in great detail, anointing, hearing from God — and an evangelist comes along and preaches a simple message, half as profound as the pastor, preaching the same thing that the pastor's been preaching — and lo and behold, people flood to the altar, they repent, they receive the Holy Ghost. The point is: there is a ministry of the evangelist; it compliments the pastor's ministry. So the pastor should not be frustrated; the pastor should be thankful for that. There's just something about a fresh voice — something about a person who has a gift of inspiring faith, or a gift of sharing the gospel in a fresh way. So a good pastor will treasure that, and will bring in guest speakers who are evangelists, and will bring people who can teach their congregation how to teach a Bible study, and teach their congregation how to pray with seekers.
• And in his own practice: lots of times, a guest preacher is expecting 99% of their church to be saved, and so they gear their message to the saved — and he would always tell the evangelist: I'm bringing you here to be an evangelist. So we're going to have people with all kinds of needs: people that need to repent, need the Holy Ghost, need healing, need deliverance. So take your liberty to preach. And of course, your message is going to bless the congregation — but don't assume that 99% are saved; the focus of these meetings is to bring new people to God, because that's why I have you. That's the ministry of the evangelist.
• He closes on Ephesians 4: the five-fold ministry is a team of ministers, outside the local church as well as potentially within the local church — it's not a solo leader. But as we work together, respect each other's gifts and callings, and make room for them, then the church will grow. Thank God for the evangelists.

Scriptures: Ephesians 4

Scripture index: Ephesians 4:11; Acts 8:5; Ephesians 4.