Evangelism and an Evangelist are two distinctive roles – every born-again believer is called to evangelise in some capacity, whether this is to a friend, work colleague or family member. An Evangelist on the other hand is called by God specifically to preach the gospel to whoever and wherever the Holy Spirit leads him or her to go.

It’s quite possible for believers to be evangelising and believe they are called to be an evangelist, but in reality, this is not their calling. It’s also possible for someone to not be evangelising (maybe only to family, work colleagues or friends) and their calling is to be an Evangelist.

Let’s put it this way, a Pastor or a Bishop can evangelise but their calling or role is to be a Pastor or Bishop. If for instance, they neglected that role and began evangelising full time as a calling, then they would be out of the will of God.   

So, it’s important for us to know our rightful calling and the will of God for our lives. (Romans 12:1-2). There are believers functioning as Evangelists but they should just be evangelising and there are believers who are evangelising and should be functioning as an Evangelist.

This is of paramount importance, it should never be about us doing what we like but as members of the body of Christ it is about following God’s will and purpose for our lives. God showed me many years ago in a vision that I was called to be an Evangelist, this was before I was even born again.

I was astonished by this vision, as I did not like public speaking and didn’t like being in the limelight in any shape or form. So, when I eventually became born again, I spent many years just evangelising on a lower scale, on a one to one basis.

I was not functioning as an Evangelist but just evangelising and the churches I was attending were not shaping me into becoming an Evangelist. Despite these setbacks, I praise God, as he was moulding me from the inside out and the evangelistic fire was being kindled within me. God has caused this fire to grow into what people are seeing now through Jesus Street.

Let’s take a look at Phillip the Evangelist in the book of Acts and look at seven principles that make an effective Evangelist.

1 - Firstly, it’s important to know whether you are called to be an Evangelist as mentioned above, because man can call you to do something that can keep you from the evangelistic calling on your life. (Acts 6:2-5).

2 - An effective Evangelist needs to be full of the Holy Spirit, faith and have wisdom. (Acts 6:3-5).

3 - It’s important to be led by the Holy Spirit, we need His guidance to where we should go and what we should do when we are there. (Acts 8:5-29).

4 - The gospel should be heard, but hearing alone is not the full gospel as James 1:22 states, “but be doers of the word and not hearers only”. James goes on to say that hearers only deceive themselves. Why? Because the gospel is not in word only but in power. (1 Thessalonians 1:5) This means people being healed and receiving deliverance, as well as hearing the gospel. These days there are a lot of talking Evangelists but not much power! We need power from the Most High to evangelise effectively.

5 - An Evangelist brings joy to people lives when all of the above have been met. (Acts 8:8)

6 - An Evangelist hears from the Spirit of God and knows when its time to move on. (Acts 8:26)

7 - An Evangelist should know the word of God, studying it and rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15, Acts 8:30-35). There are many people out there that seem knowledgable but they are not rightfully dividing the word of truth.

I recently met someone while evangelising, who informed me that he too was an Evangelist, its always good to meet a fellow Evangelist, while talking i began telling him testimonies of what God was doing with Jesus Street and the healings and deliverances that was taken place on the street and to my astonishment he informed me that he didn’t do any of that but just preached the gospel. I replied, that was not the full gospel and a partial gospel is a misinterpretation of the truth, I said to him did Jesus preached the gospel? He replied, no. I said, then why was you doing it different? He said that was Jesus, I said the word of God says, as he is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:17.

I also mentioned that in Ephesian 5:1 that we are to imitate (copy) God. He replied, that it may be for someone else but not for him. I replied, that he was not in the position to amend scriptures and that it was not about what he thought but what the word of God says. I said something like, if someone becomes a Policeman, he cant just say, he only arrests shoplifters but don’t touch robbers, if he did he would soon be out of a job and would not be fit to be called a Police officer. How much more important his the will of God?

I continued, that the criteria for being an Evangelist has already been set by God, you cant pick and choose, which bit you prefer. An Evangelist, preach the gospel, win souls, pray for the sick and cast out demons as set out in Acts 8.

He couldn’t really reply constructively and was saying things that didn’t make sense and was unscriptural.

He was a prime example of someone functioning as an Evangelist but was called to just evangelise.

Are you called to be an Evangelist?

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