What Is Your Role In Evangelism?

By

Deacon Victor Beshir

You love evangelism and you love to put a lot of effort in evangelism, or you would even like to make evangelism your primary service, which is great. But, you may have already asked yourself, as I did myself, what should I do in evangelism?What is my role in evangelism? and even more importantly, what is God’s plan for my life? ..What does He need me to do in evangelism? 

Everyone thinks of evangelism as preaching to others or talking to others about Christianity or Orthodoxy or our church. But, is preaching the only method to evangelize?  

Of course, one of our duties as Christians is to proclaim the Lord’s death and His resurrection to other individuals. But, do you think we are all called to be preachers?  

Let me start by referring to a business seminar that I attended a few months ago in Tampa, Florida. In the seminar, Derrick Brooks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers talked about how his team won the Super Bowl this year. Thousands of people attending the seminar greeted him with a lot of cheers and applause. In his speech, he mentioned how believing in the Lord Jesus Christ changed his life and impacted his work in the team. People listened carefully and some were touched by this hero. Derrick Brooks is not a preacher nor is he an evangelist, but he is what I love to call a ‘Steward of Evangelism (Servant of Evangelism).’

He followed what he does best in his life, mixed it with Christ, and then used his career to witness to Christ.  

In the same meeting, a well-known international businessman concluded the business seminar by saying all what you heard are tools but lacks the power to do. Then, he talked about the power as the power you will acquire when you believe in God and accept Jesus Christ as your own savior. Tens of thousands were listening to him. To my amazement, he concluded the meeting with a prayer that the Lord accept us and let us enjoy the power of His salvation. Although we, as Orthodox, are in disagreement with his theology, however, I admired the way he services evangelism. He does the best thing he likes in his life, mixes it with Christ, and then uses it in evangelism. He is a businessman, but surely, he is a servant of evangelism. 

Let us think for a minute about a great figure of the Bible, David. Everyone knows David the king, the military general, the prophet, and all other titles he had. For me, the most important achievement of his life is his poems, his psalms. Until today, we use it in individual prayers and in the church. They move our hearts to God. They pull us to repentance, and lead us into spirituality. His psalms are a great message of evangelism. So, David used the best thing he liked in his life, writing poems, mixed it with God, and let God inspire him, and lead his hands to write treasures. He was not a full time evangelist, yet his poems were like a great net that evangelized millions of people! 

A few years ago I was visiting Denver, Colorado, where there were about 160 artistic pieces from Rome on display. I visited the museum and liked all that was there, but what I will never forget is my visit to the Pieta. I entered a small room, where I found about fifty people standing in awe and amazement. I looked, and there was the statue of Virgin Mary holding the Lord before burial. I was overwhelmed by the scene, as if I was standing there twenty centuries ago. I looked around me, and I saw everyone was overwhelmed. Some were in tears and others were touched by the scene. People stayed for about half an hour staring at the Pieta. This statue was made by Michelangelo. Here his art works as a powerful evangelistic tool. Art is a great area that can be used as an evangelistic tool. The crucifixion picture, for example, attracted many people to God.  

George Fredrick Handel, a musician, wrote his famous symphony ‘The Messiah.’ This symphony evangelized to many people. They said it was the most powerful spiritual music ever written. Again, Handel used what he liked the most, music, mixed it with God, and used it as a tool in evangelism.  

The impact of writers in evangelism is well recognized. A small brochure could attract so many souls to God. A spiritual book written by a clever writer who allows God to work in his writing could have influence on people for centuries. Think of a book like ‘The Confessions’ written by St. Augustine. How many people were moved to repentance when they read the book? Writing can also include writing small articles or booklets.  

Sometime ago I heard a story about a Sunday School teacher who asked her children to go from door to door to distribute a crucifixion picture and say ‘Jesus loves you.’ A man was thinking of committing suicide, and then he looked at heaven and said, ‘God if you are there and you like me to live send me a sign.’ At that moment a girl from that Sunday School class was knocking at the door. When he opened, she told the man, ‘Jesus loves you.’ He looked at her and asked, ‘how do you know little girl?’ She gave him the crucifixion picture, and told him, if he does like you, why He died for you Mr.! The life of the man changed and he followed the Lord. The impact of Sunday School teachers planting love of evangelism are so great.  

The contemporary Mother Teresa group of sisters, evangelized through nursing, caring for people who have nobody to care for them, and showing the love of Christ by deeds. Physicians, nurses, psychologist, counselors, and social workers could have a great impact if they mixed their service with the message of God in sincere care and interest in people. 

Now, I will talk to you about those rich women who followed Christ, and served him with their money. Do you consider them as servants of evangelism? Yes, I do. Their financial support was used in getting the needs of evangelism at that time.  

+ + +

This will lead me to ask the question:

What do you have in your life?

Skills, money, mercy, time. Whatever you have, put it in the service of evangelism, that will help you to be a servant of evangelism. 

+  + +

 So far, I have mentioned many ways to be a servant of evangelism. You don’t have to be Michelangelo to serve God using your art. Even a small piece of art will impact some people. You don’t have to be in the same level of David to be a servant of evangelism using poems. Sometimes one poem could influence many. Consider the internationally famous song ‘As I am I come to Thee,’ which was written by a repentant Hollywood actress, which was translated into 42 languages, including Arabic, and impacted millions of people. This is the only poem this actress wrote that we know of, but she put in it all the emotions a lost person has and mentioned all the words that a person may say to God to express his need to God. So, don’t be afraid, but use what you have without belittling the gifts God gave you. 

Now, let us have a look inside the work of evangelism. There are many kinds of work inside evangelism, for example: 

  1. St. Stephen, although he evangelized people, we notice that his main strength was in defending the faith (Acts 7). This group of people who serve in defending the faith, we call them ‘the Apologists.’ They get into dialogue with others, they are knowledgeable of the faith, and are able to convince others. The history of the church is full of apologetics, such as St. Justin The Martyr, and Athenagoras. You may have this ability of convincing others either through your writings or individual conversation. If you have it, it may be your call to evangelism.
  2. St. Paul, in addition to his preaching, left us a treasure of writings. God used all his knowledge of philosophy, Greek culture, and his skills in writing. His analytical philosophy is very obvious in his writing, which enabled him to be able to convince others. He put all his knowledge and skills in the hands of God, and considered himself as ‘fools for Christ’s sake’ (1 Cor 4:10). The result was a river of grace floating over this knowledge and skills to give it a divine power, in addition to the beauty of the writings and its skillful approach. They became like a musical instrument used by a great artist, and the artist was God.
  3. Then, there is also a difference between the preacher and the teacher. God gives some people the ability to attract others to the church, but their role stops there. When they are in the church they need a special kind of teacher who can deliver to them the faith. Teachers who have the gift of teaching; they have a good background about the people and their culture and can speak their language. Not everybody is a gifted teacher, nor is everyone an evangelist. As the Bible says: ‘The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers , to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Eph 4:11,12).

 
Evangelism in Western Societies:

In addition to all what I mentioned above, there are some few additional contemporary works in evangelism that need some people to work on them, such as: 

  1. Internet Work:

Nobody can ignore the impact of the Internet today in the Western Societies. People used to find the answer to their questions in books or by asking others. Today, people go to the Internet and check web pages and chat rooms to find answers to their questions. Therefore, the goal is to have evangelistic web pages and chat rooms that fill this need. We are in great need of web page designers, editors, maintenance people, and writers.

  1. E-mails:

Some people find e-mailing as a good method of expressing their needs and to discuss the faith. Some servants of the church find themselves answering hundreds of e-mails coming from people from many countries with different spiritual needs. It became a big service in itself. It needs servants of evangelism whose only service is to answer e-mails, and thru e-mails they can attract many people to Christ and to the church, even though those people live thousands of miles away from where they live.

  1. Video

Video is one great tool that we need to put in the service of evangelism. I remembered a Muslim clerk went to my daughter’s class when she was in high school. He could not speak but a few words in English, but he had a great video to show. After the video one third of the class decided to follow Islam. My daughter explained to student what the video did not tell about Islam. You can imagine how much efforts, skills, and research was put in producing such a wonderful video. We have no evangelistic video in our church. We need people who are good in writing scripts, playing music, and in all the different areas of producing videos. What do you think? Do you consider those people who work in producing such videos as servants of evangelism? Of course they are. They speak to others in artistic contemporary methods

  1. Welcome Committee:

Visitors need a special care that requires a ‘welcome committee’ that not only offers a welcome, lets them feel at home, but also to offer help in follow-up prayers, introduce visitors to the priest & others, and also follow-up after the visit with telephone calls & thank you cards.

+  +  + 

Now, after you have read about all these fields of evangelism service, what is your role in evangelism? What is the will of God in your life? Which way of service to select? 

 

Remember that God has a plan for your life, and He capitalized on it for all your life. He planted specific skills, supported you with particular feelings and ways of thinking. He allowed you to meet certain people and visit or live in certain areas. God can use whatever you have in evangelism. All that He planted in you was not in vain or without a purpose, because God does everything with high wisdom and great vision.  

Let me stop here to give you some examples:

  1. Moses:

Why did God allow Moses to be brought up as a son of the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt (Exodus 2:10) –The most advanced country in the world at that time?

The Bible reveals to us one reason when it says ‘

So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.’(Acts 7:22). He was not only well-educated in all sciences and knowledge of the Egyptians, but also he became so powerful and wise in deeds. In other words, he became a leader.

Afterwards, God instructed him spiritually in the wilderness for another forty years. Then He sent Moses to be the leader of the children of Israel.  

Therefore, God will use what He allowed you to learn, to live, and even what He allowed you to suffer. All what you have passed through in your life are important ingredients in preparing you. He might not use you immediately, as He did with Moses, if He feels that you need more spiritual depth, but surely the day will come when He uses all what you have in His service, if you allow Him. 

 

  1. St. John Chrysostom:

They said about him that ‘He was born a public speaker, and with the grace of God he became an evangelist.’ God allowed him to study philosophy and reach a high level that except for the fact that he left philosophy to join the service in the church, he could have been one of the famous philosophers. Then God allowed St. John to study theology and the Holy Bible. They said that he knew the whole Bible by heart. Then he lived as a hermit in a mountain.

All the above was preparation from God for St. John’s great service.

  1. If you meditate in any Saint’s life, you can see clearly how God writes the book of his/her life. Every day God writes a few words, but over the years the words became pages, then chapters, and then a book that explains how God prepared the person for His service, which is at the same time the way of salvation for that person.

 
Then, ask yourself this question:

What is the thing that you love to do without irritation or getting bored even if you continue to do continually for days or even weeks?

Some may say drawing or writing or serving others, or searching, or singing, or reading, or talking to others & socializing with them, or teaching certain ages, or visiting the sick or the needy, or visiting prisoners or design web pages or playing football or volleyball or other games or work in a business or study. No matter what you discover in yourself, and you may think is far away from God’s service, in fact, this is what should be your main service to God, at least for now. 

 
Whatever your answer is, just take whatever you love and pray for it. Put God in it. Do it for Him, and not for yourself. Then ask Him to use it. Finally, use it in evangelism. This will determine what kind of evangelism service you will get into. This could lead you to be an evangelist or an apologist or a teacher or a welcome person or a translator or a writer or an artist or a doctor or a businessperson or a worker in other areas where you serve the Lord in evangelism with all your power, ability, and love.

What I would like to add here is very crucial. You need to lead a spiritual life that allows the ego to disappear and God to dominate in your life, so you will be an instrument in the hands of God. Consider all what you have –no matter how great- is nothing without the grace of God. You need to mix what you have with prayers and humility. Keep in mind that the objective of what we do is to show others ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’ (Eph 3:8) 

+ + +     

 

 

Now, I come back to answer the very first question I asked: 

What Can I Do In Evangelism?

I think, we can divide the work in evangelism into two major categories- although there are some works that could exist in both categories: 

First: Work directly in Proclaiming the gospel, defending the faith, and/or teaching the new converts.

1- Evangelist:

As the Nelson’s Bible Dictionary said, ‘Evangelist is a person authorized to proclaim the gospel of Christ. In a narrow sense, the word refers to one of the gospel writers. The word means, one who proclaims good tidings’ (Eph 4:11, 2 Tim 4:5).  

Evangelists, therefore, are people who are dedicated to proclaim the gospel.

  1. Apologists: Those are people who defend the faith, like St. Stephen and St. John the Martyr.
  2. Teacher: Those people who are gifted in teaching the new converts

 

 Second: Servants of Evangelism:

Before talking about the different kinds of service, I ‘d like to make you aware of the depth of the word ‘servant’ in the Bible:

1- The Lord Himself was called a servant:

Listen to what the Father says about His Son, "Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,

My beloved, with whom My soul is well pleased. I will put My Spirit upon Him,

and He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.(Matt 12:18)  

‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified His servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release Him’ (Acts 3:13)

Acts 3:26 When God raised up His servant, He sent Him first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways." (Acts 4:25)  

2- Other Apostles called ‘Servants’:

‘Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, (Romans 1:1)

Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of His power (Ephe 3:7).  

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion (James 1:1).  

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ (2Pet 1:1).  

Therefore, it is an honor to be called a servant of God or a Servant of Evangelism.  

Now let us examine some of the workers in this category:

Please, keep in mind that the following in themselves can’t be an instrument of God until the person mixes them with God’s love. Think about what each worker here can offer to God.

  1. Musicians
  2. Doctors, nurses, psychologists, counselors
  3. Visitors to elderly people
  4. Sunday school servants.
  5. Teachers & child care workers
  6. Artists
  7. Writers: Poems, articles, brochures, topics, lessons, books & small booklets
  8. Greeting committee
  9. Financial supporters
  10. Supporters of others who work in evangelism: There are always many tasks, small and big, that people who work in evangelism wish they could have someone who could help to allow them to catch up with other urgent needs.
  11. Translators: There are so many important works that need translation, but we can’t find translators. If you have this gift, please come forward.
  12. Web page related services: design, maintenance, and editing.
  13. Chat room servants: Chat rooms become like a big net that can attract many people to the faith, if we know how to prepare servants for the chat rooms to adequately answer questions, know how to read between the lines about the spiritual needs of a person, and how to invite them to the church. We don’t have today a market place as it used to be in the days of the apostles, but we have chat rooms where we could evangelize.
  14. E-mail servants: We need to acknowledge the great need to have servants devoted to the E-mail responding, especially in connection with our web pages. Believe me I have a heavy heart because I don’t have the time to answer and follow up all the genuine requests that come to me through e-mails.
  15. Video & movie related services: acting, producing, editing, engineering, writing scripts, … etc.
  16. Admin & organizer: Those people who are good in organizing a campaign or a meeting or an activity like church open house. Good organization is one reason behind the success of evangelistic activities & its absence is a big reason behind the failure of church activities. We need to acknowledge that not everyone is gifted in this area.
  17. Public relation with other churches, communities, organization, and newspapers & magazines.

These people are needed to contact other churches, schools, & organizations to ask them to arrange for presentations about our church. Muslims have done a very good job in this. We need them badly in establishing relationships with newspaper editors, so we can send them articles to publish. I wish  I had a person to help me in this area.

  1. Prayer warriors: Without prayers all the services are useless. We need servants whose job is to get together and have prayers meetings.
  2. Printing & copying related services: This extends to include videos, cassettes, & CDs.
  3. Spread of awareness of evangelism servants: Our congregations need a lot of work to prepare them to accept evangelism as an important role of the church. This needs servants in every church whose only job is to plant awareness.
  4. Servants with a vision: To explain what I mean by that, let me mention here a brief story of one of the most notable people in the history of the Russian Orthodox missionary work. Macarius Gloukharev, although he did not baptize many converts as others did, nor did he succeed in accomplishing his goals, but his vision for mission influenced the whole church. His heart was full of evangelism, however, he noticed that ‘the Russian masses were only superficially Christians, and therefore inadequate for the great apostolic task that God had in store for them.’ He thought of how to renew the spiritual life of the Russians. He encouraged translating the Bible into Russian and helped in doing that himself. He encouraged opening monasteries’ doors for all Russians to learn about Christianity.

He thought of establishing a mission society, but he could not. However, he became a catalyst for missions by establishing a working theory of missions, which the Russian Orthodox Church at large appreciated only after his death.  

Definitely, we need servants with vision who can lead the thoughts and hearts of others towards love of Christ, His church, and evangelism.

 

Coming to the end of this lesson, you need to pray, humble yourself before God, and ask His guidance on what to do in evangelism. Does any service that I mentioned attract you? If you have many and you don’t know which to pick up, list them in a piece of paper, put it in a small envelop, and the envelop on the altar. Then wait for God’s direction.