Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 28:19)
By Osbourne Bailey
Jesus was undoubtedly the expert evangelist. He lived, breathed, and died for the message of the Gospel. Preaching in His hometown Nazareth, Jesus read from the book of Isaiah, which declared the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him to proclaim the Gospel to everyone: the poor, the blind, and all whose lives have been shattered and in bondage (Luke 4:18).
The message of the Gospel He proclaimed was one of forgiveness, restoration, and relief from oppression for all who have been battered, bruised, and broken by sin. Having read from the book of Isaiah, Jesus closed the book, and declared, “What you have just heard me read has come true today.” (Lk. 4:21) In other words, Jesus declared Himself as the very embodiment of this prophecy.
Jesus’ entire public ministry was built on the principle of itinerancy. His three and a half years were spent selecting, training, and sending disciples to do the ministry of Evangelism (Lk. 9:2-5; 10:1-12). An itinerant person is one who travels from place to place, especially for work. Itinerancy and soul-winning are inextricably woven into the fabric of the New Testament evangelistic ministry movement.
THE EAGLES’ APPROACH
Today, with little heart-to-heart connection to Personal Evangelism, the minds of most church members would require significant reprogramming to become impassioned about this type of itinerant ministry.
It is said that eagles take such good care of their young that even after they have come of age, they refuse to leave their nest. Approaches, not unlike those employed by eagles, may be required to effect this radical reset. Parent eagles are known to use several ways to teach their babies to fly.
Push out the eaglets?
Some push their eaglets out of the nests, usually built high up in cliffs or trees. An eagle’s parent generally knows that, if forced, an eaglet will flap its wings sufficiently to take flight.
Fear is one of the factors that has dampened believers from fulfilling their Great Commission mandate. Churches may simply have to put their members to the test and push them out of the nest to go and evangelize. Be mindful though, that the feeling of being forced to evangelize may cause some members to leave and never come back.
Replace comfy church seats with metal chairs?
Parent eagles have been known to engage in a programme to incentivize their young to leave the nest. They have been known to bring home food, but the food, however, is not brought directly into the nest as when the eaglets were younger. Instead, it is placed nearby in the sight of the eaglet. Driven by its belly being on fire with hunger, the young eagle is incentivized to fly. This principle of incentives, which no doubt initially would have caused some anguish, would eventually become a source to encourage them to fly.
Some eagles have also been known to build their nest on very sharp thorns covered with feathers from their soft underbelly. As soon as the parents realize that the time for flight has come, they begin to remove feathers from the nest a little at a time. The young bird starts to experience discomfort and realizes that the time has come for it to take flight.
TAKE A STEP OF FAITH
Behaviour modification therapists have recommended positive or negative reinforcers to encourage behaviour change in a particular direction. Would such a programme of incentives motivate people to serve in the ministry of evangelism any more than the trek through the desert caused Israel to declare that they would have been better off in Egypt? This is yet to be seen.
Picture yourself as a pastor with a renewed passion for transforming your church into an army committed to Personal Evangelism. Imagine trying to motivate this church to chart this new and different direction. Would they follow you to the Promised Land? Or would they, as was in the case of Israel, fuelled by the “mixed multitude among them,” demand to go back to Egypt?
Following in the footsteps of Jesus, the Acts church continued to carry out the excellent itinerancy tradition. Even after the church started to grow, in some instances by thousands, local leadership was appointed for administrative purposes, pastors, teachers, and deacons, among others. This was primarily to facilitate the ongoing itinerant work of the Apostles. Nothing, not even persecution, slowed down or interfered with this itinerant evangelistic drive. If anything, it fuelled it more.
Take a step of faith, my fellow pastors, and rely on God to give the increase.
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Bible teacher Rev. Osbourne Bailey has a Spirit-driven desire to fulfil the LORD’s Great Commission by not only witnessing to un-Believers, but also training and transforming the ordinary Believer into a powerful soul-winner.
Ever since his call to Ministry in 1980, he has been passionately engaged in “resharpening the edge of the Church’s evangelistic sword” and has written a book by this name.
Contact: [email protected], 876-793-3393
