Skip to main content

3 reasons for the pastor to do the work of an evangelist every Sunday

Paul charges Timothy:
"do the work of evangelist" (2 Tim. 4:5)
Is hat something different from "Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke..." (v2)? Is doing the work of an evangelist (i.e. gospel preacher) something quite separate to Timothy's regular pastoral ministry? Is it something on the side - just for Tuesday afternoons in the market place with unbelievers? Well I'm sure Timothy did do some of that targeted, door to door and marketplace evangelism for unbelievers but I think Paul was calling him to be evangelist in all his preaching, in church as well as outside it, Sunday by Sunday. Why?

  1. Timothy is to "preach the Word" (v2) and "the Word" is often used in the NT to mean the gospel message. In this particular context (cf. 2 Tim. 3:14-17) it could equally mean 'all the Scriptures' but then those Scriptures are all about "making you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" so either way the Word is the Word about Christ. Preaching the Word = Preaching the Gospel.
  2. There are a whole load of people in church  every Sunday who do not have genuine faith in Christ and need to hear the gospel.
  3. The gospel is for Christian growth - it is how people are transformed and grow to maturity in Christ (2 Cor. 3:18; Col. 1:28; Titus 2:11-14; 2 Pet. 3:18).
To those who are pastors among us, let's fulfil our ministry, not only of pastor-teacher but of pastor-teacher-evangelist.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

10 things servant leadership is

Having cleared away 10 things servant leadership is not , here are 10 that it is. Credit to Harrison Mungai for his help in observing many of these features and helping us to think through this really important area. I used to think that all that was necessary in gospel ministry was faithful Bible handling. Preach the Word carefully and surely everything else should follow? But I was wrong. Sadly it is possible to have high quality expository preaching and ungodly leadership. It shouldn’t be possible but it is. And it’s a very ugly thing. Peter Mead has written  on the danger that can be done to a church or ministry when appointment of leaders values ability over character. So here are ten aspects of biblical servant leadership, specifically in relation to gospel ministry leadership, from 1 Thessalonians, especially chapters 2 and 3: Servant leadership is, wherever possible, Plural . A lot of articles and books on leadership assume that it is a personal project. Search Google

4 combinations of workplace relations

Ephesians 6:5-9 gives a beautiful picture of healthy workplace relationships: servants who serve and leaders who serve . But that mutuality is not the only combination.  Here are 4 different models of interaction between leader/boss and servant/employee: OPPRESSIVE LEADER AND SUBMISSIVE SERVANT This tends to be the pattern in settled traditional societies and modern totalitarian societies. Here hierarchy is strong – the pyramid model. Those at ‘the top’ very much see themselves as ‘above’ others and those at the bottom know their place and submit. Leaders are dictators who cannot be questioned, ‘strong leaders’ who make harsh demands and place heavy burdens on the people ‘under’ them, accumulating resources, power, control and status for themselves (1 Sam. 8:11-14; Neh. 5:15; Eccl. 5:8-9). In this model, leadership is the privilege and ability to make things better for yourself or to push your own agenda. It is certainly not servant leadership. This pattern ‘works’ in a sense in that

The ancient roots of mentoring

The idea of an older person helping in the development of a younger person is an ancient pattern seen across many cultures. In warrior societies and castes such as among the Japanese samurai and the European feudal knights there would be an 'apprenticeship' stage. Among the Maasai there are the morans - living apart from their families in the bush, learning the wisdom of the elders and strengthening themselves physically and spiritually. The ancient pattern is that a son learns the trade of his father by being next to him, day after day, seeing everything he does, working alongside him. That was true in the harvest field (2 Kings 4:18), in trades like carpentry (Matt. 13:55), it was how the Law of Yahweh was to be passed on (Deut. 6:7), it is even seen in the relationship between the eternal Father and Son (John 5:19-20). Harrison Mungai, founder of iServe Africa , has often pointed to the success of Asian businesses where there is often  high intergenerational family