The Call to Pastor (pt.3) Evangelism

EVANGELIZING THE WORLD

The next major section of a pastor’s vision should include that of evangelism and spreading the gospel of Christ locally as well as universally. Acts 1:8 states “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (NKJV). This verse is not only the theme for the book of Acts it should also be the theme for the pastor’s vision on evangelism.

The first way of doing practical evangelism is through the local community of the church. There have been numerous books written on evangelism and “church growth.” However, what does the Bible say is the correct way of doing evangelism? The book of Acts shows tells of Jesus’ apostles going from house to house spreading the Gospel. Consequently, door-to-door visitation should be a staple of any evangelism program at any church. However, there is common thread among effective evangelistic churches. Thom Rainer lists several of these among churches which have high baptism rates. These traits include preaching the Word of God, bathing the entire church in prayer, an effective Sunday School program, a weekly visitation program, an intentional youth ministry, and a committed music ministry.[1] A healthy, commission-driven church will take full advantages of these types of ministries in order to locally fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 29:19-20.

In addition to fulfilling the Great Commission locally, churches should also be committed to worldwide evangelism. Fortunately, those churches which cannot send missionaries abroad have the ability to help send missionaries by giving money to the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention through the local church. A certain percentage of money that church members give to the church is given to the IMB for the express purpose of supporting missionaries.[2] Giving money through the local church for missions should be part of every pastor’s vision for his work. It is clear through scripture that the church is called to make disciples for Christ. Evangelizing locally through the different members of Christ’s body in the local church combined with sending and commissioning for world missions will fulfill this calling to which Christ has given us.

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[1] Thom Rainer, Effective Evangelistic Churches, (Broadman and Holman: Nashville, 1996), 14-22.

[2] International Mission Board Hompage: http://imb.org/giving/funding/Fundchart_P4840A.pdf