Essential to the health of the church, evangelists in the fivefold ministry outlined in Ephesians 4 have a specific contribution to the church by equipping the people of God to share the stories of Jesus’ goodness, greatness, power and love with those who don’t know Him. They carry good news, sharing and celebrating what God has done, is doing, and wants to do, and look to attract, connect, invite, and recruit others into the family of God. In fact, author J.R. Woodward, in his book ‘Creating A Missional Culture’ refers to evangelists in the fivefold ministry as ‘story tellers.’
Typically, evangelists have the following traits:
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- Lots of friends and connections outside the church
- Inspiring and passionate communicators
- Wear their heart on their sleeve
- Able to adapt any setting and any people
- Love connecting with people who are far from God
- Can make others feel at ease
- Get frustrated if the church is too inwards-focused
- Excellent story teller with one for every occasion
- An open book, willing to share things about your own life and experience
- Convinced about the love and goodness of God
- Committed to having a life that matches your words
- Bold, courageous, and forthright in speaking your mind
- Enjoy life and the moment
- Comfortable with attention and focus on you
A church that lacks evangelists or a evangelistic culture will see:
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- A lack of celebration of the transforming power of God
- Shortage of God-stories
- People never invited to the family of God
- Inability for people to ‘show and tell’ their own story
- Stale and unenthusiastic faith
The heart of evangelists in the fivefold ministry is that every person can be invited into God’s family, no matter their backstory. God’s stories deserve to be shared – both the personal, and the big story of the Gospel. God is available and accessible today, and God’s people need to make Him known to others.
Evangelists will therefore ask the following questions of a church culture they are part of:
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- How can we invite people to join God’s family?
- What can we do to share and promote the stories of God?
- How can we demonstrate to the world that God is real and interested in them?
- What does this God story mean for those inside the church and outside the church?
- Are we prioritising the people outside the church enough?
I have developed a FiveFold Flow Assessment for you to discover which of the fivefold expressions you are strongest in. You can find out more HERE.
This post is part of a series looking at the fivefold ministry. You can see the other articles in this series here:
