Eight Ways to Be An Evangelist (According to the Bible)

Jesus has commanded us to "Go and make disciples of the nations" (Matthew 28:19). Christians are meant to make Jesus known--individually, and together as the church! That's our mission statement. But, Jesus didn't command us all to do evangelism in the same way. We're all built differently from each other. The mission for all of us is the same, but our methods don't have to be. So in light of that, I wanted to outline 8 Ways to Be an Evangelist (According to the Bible).

1. Active Evangelism (Paul). Paul wrote in Romans 1:14-15, “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish, so I am eager to preach the gospel.” The heart of Paul was to actively go out and preach the gospel to all people, everywhere, and especially to go to unreached areas where Christ has not been named. Active evangelism is when we go out and find people, and start conversations with them to tell them about Jesus. That’s one way of doing it, and for those who God equips it is probably the most effective way to tell the world about Jesus. God used Paul’s active evangelism to help bring the entire Roman world to faith. But it’s not the only way.

2. Being a Consistent Witness (1 Peter 3). Peter wrote in his first letter to a group of Christians, "In your hearts honor Chris the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15). God has used the consistent witness of a lot of faithful Christians to bring people to faith. A consistent witness usually isn’t good at going out and talking to strangers in the checkout line of the grocery store, but they’re very upfront and unashamed about the fact that they’re followers of Jesus, and they live a consistent life. I know a guy named Chris Stein who’s very good at this. And so as time goes on, often the people who are already around people like this -their co-workers, their families, their friends- will eventually ask them more about what they believe.

3. Financially Supporting the Work of Evangelism (3 John). The Apostle John wrote to a group of Christians in the letter of 3 John, “Do all in your efforts for those brothers… [who] have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from [the places where they are going]. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.” These supporters are people who aren’t able go and preach the Gospel: they live further away from where people are, or they’re stuck at home due to illness or responsibilities. But John says that by resourcing people who are able to go and reach other people, these prayer partners and financial givers can be considered, quote, “fellow workers for the truth” alongside the people who physically go out to preach the message of the Gospel.

4. Sharing Your Testimony (The Blind Man). The man born blind in John's Gospel said to his questioners, “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25). He wasn’t clever or well spoken, but he confronted his questioners with the power of his experience and how he had been changed by Jesus. Anyone whose life has been changed by Jesus can do this too.

5. The Invitational Approach (The Samaritan Woman at the Well). This is the method of the Samaritan Woman from John 4, who told her neighbours "Come, and see a man who told me all that I ever did.’ So the Samaritans came to see Jesus” (John 4:29). This is what we do when we put on events for people in our neighbourhood, or invite our friends to church, or (wisely) share certain messages on Facebook that we hope will allow others to think and consider the message of Jesus. We might not be able to answer all of our friends' questions or give them all the resources that they need, but we can invite them to some place or connect them with some person who can.

6. The Intellectual Approach (Paul). The Book of Acts records that Paul did a lot of evangelism by reasoning with people and giving an intellectual defense of the faith. In Acts 9:19-22, he "confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ." Often when Paul proclaimed Jesus, he did it through reason. So we can find him again in Athens, arguing with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers: "Now while Paul was waiting at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned... in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him" (Acts 17:16-18). The intellectual evangelist loves apologetics, reasoning for the faith, and proving the truth of the Gospel. This person is a great resource for other Christians as well!

7. The Direct Approach (Peter). Peter was known for being a very direct person who just got right into things and did not beat around the bush. He got straight to the heart of the matter. In Acts 2 we find him confidently engaging with a crowd of people, preaching the Gospel of Jesus and calling people to repent, trust Jesus, and be baptized. People who utilize the direct approach are not afraid to strike up conversations with people and take the Gospel straight to them. Like Peter, these are usually engaging and charismatic people with a gift of gab, a heart for the Lord, and an infectious optimism that makes people want to listen to what they have to say.

8. A Connection With a Certain Group (Matthew). Everyone has a natural connection with a certain group. Since shaving my head, for example, I've discovered that us bald guys tend to share a certain brotherhood. (We also share a life verse: "As for the man whose head is shaven: he is bald, but he is clean," Leviticus 13:40.) Matthew had a connection with a certain group of people on the outside of polite society, and he brought them to hear from Jesus: "[Matthew] rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in his house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples" (Matthew 9:9-10). Whatever your group is, you probably have a group of people who you are uniquely equipped to reach with the Gospel.

...So as we can see, all of us are called to make Jesus known! But we're not all called to do it the same way. I hope this list of biblical examples helps us all to think of new ways that we might uniquely be called to make Jesus known.

-Sean