Rediscovering Evangelism
But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5
In the part of the world where I live, evangelism has fallen on hard times. Very few people in ministry identify as evangelists any longer. There are probably many reasons for this. One reason being, our society has changed. No longer would an invitation to attend an evangelistic meeting be heeded by people who are not already part of the church.
On the other hand in some of the places where our F4L national directors work evangelism goes on unabated. Although one director reported it is much easier to do evangelism in the rural and remote areas than it is in the cities.
Evangelism has always been hard work. In our captioned verse above, Paul advises Timothy to do four things:
Keep his head in all situations. I think Paul was reminding Timothy not to get caught up emotionally when there was opposition to his message. Sometimes in our enthusiasm to be right and win the argument we actually do more harm than good. Paul warned Timothy to keep his emotions in check so he could think clearly and respond appropriately.
Endure hardship. Suffering and hardship is an inevitable outcome because the Good News is not always received as good news by those who are receiving in it. There is a personal cost to be embraced because the Good news is an affront to those who prefer to live in darkness.
Do the work of an evangelist. Even if we don't carry the designation as an evangelist we have the responsibility to seek opportunities to do the work of an evangelist. Paul reminds Timothy of this because in his work as a young pastor the demands on this time for many worthwhile tasks could easily keep him from focusing on evangelism.
Discharge the duties of your ministry. This is a reminder to Timothy that whatever task in ministry he put his hand and mind to he was to do so with excellence.
Very few of us will have a platform to preach and teach like Paul and Timothy. However, I believe there is a less threatening way to do evangelism that is a better fit for the average person. The words of Paul to Timothy need to heeded because any form of evangelism will receive some push back and opposition. However, inviting friends, neighbors and workmates on a journey of discovery about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus is a very effective way to get people started on a journey to becoming Jesus followers.