By Osbourne Bailey
Jesus practiced one-on-one evangelism and encouraged His disciples to engage in this form of evangelism. What greater opportunity exists for Christians to grow in their knowledge of the Lord and to strengthen their interfacing and dependence on the Holy Spirit than to engage in Personal Evangelism? What greater joy and fulfilment is there than to be present as people’s lives are being transformed for Christ? Is there any reward equal to that which is anticipated for those who are involved in the work of bringing in the harvest for God?
Despite all the above, it is excruciatingly painful to contemplate the fact that for a countless number of saints, evangelism in general, and Personal Evangelism in particular, is not a priority. It is as if, for these persons, the cross of Christ and His Gospel is just too heavy for them to bear. But why is this so?
MANY DO NOT KNOW WHAT EVANGELISM IS
The language of the Bible makes it clear that this is a command given to every Believer without exception. Go to the people of all nations and make the good news known (Matt. 28:19). This is what evangelism is. Biblically, the role of the evangelist is to carry the Gospel message. Also, this mandate to evangelize is not an option. On the other hand, the job of convincing and converting others is the work of the Holy Spirit. The devil is actively at work to keep Believers shrouded under a cloak of ignorance—believing that we have a choice and that it is our job to convince, or convert people. He knows very well that these lies will only serve to dampen our commitment to biblical evangelism or deepen our commitment to some alternate forms of Christian extremism that mirrors evangelism.
WHO QUALIFIES TO BE A PERSONAL EVANGELIST?
The lack of knowledge of who qualifies as a Personal Evangelist is closely associated with not knowing what evangelism is. There is a saying worth quoting: “God does not often call the qualified, but He always qualifies the ones He has called.”
The Bible provides no information on the professions or prior qualifications of many disciples of Jesus. We know that among their ranks were fishers, a tax collector, and at least one religious or political activist. The book of Acts described the disciples as “uneducated and untrained.” A level of boldness and confidence observed in them was attributed to the fact that “they have been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). The Bible has many references that help us understand that being with Jesus is more than simply being physically in His presence. Romans describes being with the Lord as presenting our bodies and relinquishing our old way of thinking so we can become transformed into what the Lord wants us to become (Rom. 12:1-2).
Paul the Apostle was neither uneducated nor untrained. However, called up to account for his evangelistic zeal, he pointed to his life-changing encounter with Jesus (Gal. 1:11-24). He described Jesus as the driving force behind his evangelistic zeal. When Christ died, it was as if I died too. I am committed to no longer living for myself. I am compelled to allow Christ, who loves me, to live out His resurrected life through me—empowering me to carry out His work of evangelism through me (Gal. 2:20).
In our next conversation, we will examine the point that some church members are not sufficiently convinced about the “lostness” of mankind.
Bible teacher Rev. Osbourne “Pastor Bill” 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.
