The following article is the first in a seven-part series about the character of an evangelist.
Evangelism is not an activity that requires an extraordinary amount of skill or training. Someone who is converted today is capable of being an effective evangelist. In fact, new Christians often make excellent Gospel messengers because of their raw enthusiasm for Jesus and unadulterated perspective on the foundational aspects of the faith. However, there are certain traits one most possess before sharing the process of redemption with an unconvinced listener.
Although personal testimonies can help persuade non-Christians of the Gospel’s validity, we must remember that when we evangelize the goal is (or at least should be) to proclaim the greatness of Christ. He must take center stage. In fact, not only are we to tell people about him, we are to represent him. In other words, we are to interact with people in a manner that accurately reflects the kind of person Jesus is.
For those who belong to a Western context, that might be quite tricky. Jesus’ cultural significant in this part of the world, along with mass media that promote differing perspectives on who he is, can skew our understanding of how he would speak to a non-believer. One might perceive Christ to be someone who is “nice” inasmuch as he always avoided contentious discussions. Or, one might view him as a mean-spirited, sharp-tongued verbal assassin who is all too ready to condemn sinners, for example. Neither extreme is accurate.
How can we gain an accurate understanding of Jesus’ character so that we clearly represent the Lord as we talk to people about him? A good source of wisdom on this topic is a passage in the Apostle Paul’s second letter to his understudy, Timothy. This passage isn’t specifically about evangelism. In fact, Timothy is a pastor. Yet the language Paul uses — speaking of how “the Lord’s servant” ought to behave — suggests that he is giving fundamental guidance for all disciples of Jesus. That’s because the word “servant” in this passage is translated from the Greek doulos, a word used in the apostolic Scriptures dozens of times to connote any worshiper of Jesus. In fact doulos is used decidedly more often than the word “Christian,” a word that only appears three times in Scripture. The passage is also evangelistically instructive because it addresses interactions with those who are not yet in submission to Jesus and, in some cases, might be hostile toward the Gospel.
In the passage, Paul tells Timothy: “[T]he Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
This passage is helpful because it is comprehensive. It deals with the temperament, the conduct, the skillset, the tolerance and the objective that everyone should resolve to have before initiating a Gospel conversation — especially with non-acquaintances. In what ways do Paul’s instruction here to Timothy apply to evangelism? I’ll explain that in the weeks ahead.
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PHOTO BY Georgie Pauwels
