Biblically Speaking: What's an Evangelist?

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,  to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up  until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 4:11-13)

The English word for “evangelism” comes from the Greek word, “euangelion”, which is most usually translated as one bringing “good news”. The term “evangelist”, meaning the title given to one who evangelizes, is literally translated as “I bring a good message.” A fitting title for one who shares the story of the risen Jesus Christ! Evangelists are the “fishers of men” (Mt 4:19) that Jesus spoke of, the workers who long to bring in the harvest of the lost that His blood has purchased at great price (Mt 9:37-38). They are hungry to see people come to Christ. 

Jesus Himself was the first evangelist, with Scripture often describes His ministry as the preaching of “the good news” (Mt 4:23; 9:35; Mk 1:14; Lk 8:1). After seeing His wonders and hearing His message, many believed in Him and became disciples (Jn 2:11; 7:31; 12:42), which really is the true purpose of evangelism: that those who don’t yet know Him would believe in Jesus, and follow after Him.

Evangelism styles and structures have shifted over the centuries, as the culture has changed. This is a good thing! But rather than look at specific styles or techniques of evangelism, we will look at biblical principles of what makes an evangelist, regardless of culture or time.

To begin with, by way of description, an evangelist leads people to Jesus. This is their main role within the church. As Paul and Barnabas travelled through Europe, they had great success in their evangelism ministry. In one encounter, Scripture says that “They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples.” (Ac 14:21). That, in a nutshell, is evangelism: sharing the good news and winning people to the Lord, whatever that may look like.

To that end, evangelists will have a heart that is drawn to the lost. Their hearts will echo the heart of the Saviour: “When (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mt 9:36) While a pastor will have a passion to care for the sheep of God’s family, an evangelist will be moved to compassion for those who are “harassed and helpless” in this broken world, and who are hopeless without a Saviour. Their ministry comes from that place of sincere concern for those who need Jesus.

Evangelists are driven by the Great Commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt 28:19-20) Evangelists have heard the word “go” and take that command seriously! Whether at home or on the mission field, evangelists are stirred by the authority that Jesus has given in these verses, and want to please Him by obeying what He has said.

The only person in all of Scripture who is actually given the title of “evangelist” is Philip (Ac 21:8), (although we do see others preaching the Gospel and leading people to Jesus). Therefore, in understanding the evangelistic gift, it is worth taking a good look at the “evangelist’s” life. By examining Philip’s ministry, there is much that we can learn about the role of an evangelist within the Church.

Philip was one of the first deacons, chosen in Acts 6 to assist the apostles in the administrative aspects of the Jerusalem church (v.3). He was chosen with six other men, all of whom were selected because they were “full of the Spirit and wisdom,” (ibid).

As he moved into his ministry, he teaches us that evangelists walk in divine power. Not all will function in signs and wonders necessarily, but Philip did, as did the apostles when they went about preaching the Gospel. After the stoning of Stephen, the disciples were forced to flee Jerusalem to avoid persecution (Ac 8:1). Philip travelled to Samaria (v.5), and God performed many miracles through him (v.6-7). While in Samaria, Philip’s main job, however, was preaching the Gospel, and as the crowds were amazed at his words combined with the signs and wonders, “they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ”, and many were baptized into the Name of Jesus (v.12), including a well-known sorcerer (v.13). Signs and wonders confirmed the power of the Gospel message of the resurrected Saviour. Not all evangelists will function in this specific way necessarily, but regardless, Paul said “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). He understood that this was more than just words or a good story. Evangelists know that there is divine power in the Gospel for salvation, and there is incredible Holy Spirit-anointing on its words (Isa 61:1; Lk 4:18).

Moving on, evangelists will partner with the other five-fold ministries of the church. Of course, all of the ministries must work with each other, but this is especially true with evangelism, as newborn Christians are at stake. An evangelist leads people to Jesus, but someone else must be in place to care for them from there, or else the new believer may fall away.

For years, the Billy Graham Evangelical Association would travel across the United States, seeing thousands come to Jesus every year. Early in the ministry, he functioned in the classic evangelist style of that time, by which a travelling minister would come into town, preach the Gospel, lead people to Jesus, and then leave, with no follow-up or help for the new converts. Realizing that many of the people they were leading to Jesus were falling through the cracks, the Association began to insist on partnership with local Bible-believing churches in every town that they visited, so that new believers could be connected with a church right away, and continue to grow in the Lord. This model is now the standard for evangelistic ministries around the world, and remains one of the core values of the Association to this day.

As people began to get saved in Samaria under Philip’s evangelistic ministry, the apostles John and Peter came to assist him, laying hands on people so that they would receive the Holy Spirit, since the people had gotten saved but had not yet experienced the baptism of the Sprit (v.15-17). This is a good example of the five-fold ministries working together, with Philip the evangelist leading people to Jesus, and then the apostles coming and building upon that foundation to edify the new believers. Based on the basic model that we see in Acts (14:23), it is likely that pastors would then have been appointed over local churches in the area, who could nurture the new believers even more. Evangelism is the first step in making disciples, but there are many other steps that follow as well. All need to work together to bring people from the place of being unsaved into true maturity in Christ.

Continuing on, evangelists are sensitive to the voice of the Lord (8:26). While it is certainly a biblical method to preach the Gospel to anyone who will listen, Philip also was sensitive enough to hear specific direction from Heaven that he was to travel to a certain place for a divine appointment with a lost soul. By obeying the Lord’s leading, Philip encountered an Ethiopian eunuch, a man who could not have been more ripe for harvest than he was in that moment! (8:27-29). Philip led this man to Jesus, and taught us the importance of hearing what the Spirit is saying, as one never knows when it might be God’s appointed time for a person’s salvation.

This same story also teaches us that evangelists will be just as committed to one soul as they would be to many. In Acts chapter 2, Peter leads three thousand people to Jesus (2:41); Scripture takes just as much time to tell the story of the one Ethiopian (8:26-39). Evangelists will feel the Father’s heart that is communicated in Scripture: “If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” (Mt 18:12-14). For a true evangelist, it’s not about numbers, it’s about souls: real people who are lost and broken, who desperately need someone to go and find them, and bring them home.

Finally, evangelists can be missionaries or localized. Neither is exalted over the other; an evangelist can travel and literally go to the nations, or can stay in one place and commit to bringing the Gospel there. Philip did both, travelling throughout the land (Ac 8), before landing in Caesarea, buying a house, and remaining there for the rest of his known ministry ( 8:40; 21:8). When the Pentecostal movement started, much emphasis was placed on missions, sending people to the ends of the earth to bring the Gospel. This is good and of course needed! But there are many unsaved all around us, every day, and someone needs to bring the message of good news to them as well. Again, for evangelists, it is all about souls. Whether here, or there, someone just needs to bring in the harvest.

This key element of the five-fold ministries could arguably be called the most important, as evangelists are fulfilling both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment by their actions, and, by God’s grace, they are bringing people from darkness into light (Jn 8:12). And what could be more important than that? Evangelists seek to fulfill the words of Jesus with a pure heart, and to see those who are perishing redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. They rejoice in the words of the Saviour, and give their lives to see them fulfilled:

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (Jn 5:24)