Recently I’ve been talking and pondering the necessity of the Evangelist. This ministry carries a high profile in the New Testament and should be regarded in importance accordingly. When the evangelist been scorned and ridiculed using expressions like evangelastic and so on I think it grieves the Holy Spirit of God who has anointed the evangelist to be the ministry in the forefront.
In our early days in former Sovjetunion the evangelist always played a crucial role in breaking through preparing the way for the next ministry, teacher or pastor to step in to form and build new believers in their walk with Jesus.
The fivefold ministries are grace given to the church for its equipping and development and they have their place and time for ministry to build the house of God. No ministry carries the fullness but minister according to the grace God has given them, not more or nor less.
The evangelist fires up the church and releases passion and vision for reaching the lost. A church’s highest calling is to reach the lost, in the neighborhood and in the city. The evangelistic fervor and spirit is absolute crucial. When we stop making altar calls inviting people to repent is a sign our priorities have changed and we are slowly leaving the evangelistic for a more cozy church life where we become like a subculture having lost all our natural connections to unbelievers and as result our services become irrelevant filled with church vocabulary hard for unchurched people to grasp. Jesus becomes elitistic and separated from daily life as a result.
We need revival and the evangelist is often equipped for releasing this to the local church. He also carries power and especially the power gifts of healing and miracles to set people free from bondage and sickness which we need to be renewed among us over and over again.
No Other Name than Jesus saves!
Matsjan
You are so right! It´s time to recognize this gift and ministry and stop looking down at it as some do. Let the fire loose!