Clarifying the Nature and Goal of Evangelism
What comes to mind when you hear the word “evangelism?” Those who grew up in fundamentalist churches might recall experiences they’ve had passing out tracts or going out on door-to-door visitation. Others might think of street preaching or evangelistic church services. Some might think of a “Romans Road” gospel presentation with a tack on “sinner’s prayer” at the end. The hipsters among us might even envision some “missional shalom” action where racial, social, and economic “healing” takes place.
I think it’s safe to say that a lot of what is called evangelism is not actually evangelism. To quote our dear friend Inigo Montoya, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
According to the Scriptures, evangelism is proclaiming the good news of Jesus with the goal of persuading people to repent and believe. For example,
- Acts 8:35 – “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.”
- 1 Cor. 9:16 – For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.
- Luke 8:1 – Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.
Biblical evangelism is make up of three essential ingredients:
A Message
The DNA of evangelism is the gospel. The Greek verb we translate as evangelize (εὐαγγελίζω) comes from the noun evangel (εὐαγγέλιον) or gospel. To evangelize literally means “to gospelize.” If we are going to effectively “gospelize,” we must be so immersed and fluent with the gospel that it can’t help but come out of us. Much of what is called evangelism, however, lacks gospel clarity. As J. Mack Styles notes, “The gospel often remains untaught, and unbiblical words water down the poignant true meaning of sin, death, and hell, or confuse those who are genuinely seeking truth” (Evangelism, pg. 28). We must be clear on the central truths of the gospel if we are going to faithfully evangelize. In the next blog post, I will summarize the core truths of the gospel message and explain how these truths can be communicated in a post-Christian cultural context.
An Activity
Evangelism cannot take place without words. The message of the gospel must be boldly proclaimed and carefully taught. As Paul states in Romans 10:14-15, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news (εὐαγγελίζω)!”
Lifestyle evangelism without gospel proclamation is not evangelism. A couple of years ago, a sincere believer told me about her family’s redemptive relationship with a Muslim family. They had been friends with this family for almost three years. I asked her if she had shared the gospel with her Muslim friends. That question seemed to catch her off guard. After a long pause, she said, “Well… I’m not actually sure they know that we’re Christians, but we try to show them the love of Christ.” As lovingly and humbly as I could, I responded, “It’s great that you want to establish a relationship with this unbelieving family, but how will they know about the love of Christ if you don’t tell them about it. You can’t call a relationship redemptive if you haven’t told them about Jesus.”
Please don’t misunderstand me. I am NOT saying that our lifestyle is irrelevant in the work of evangelism. Far from it! A holy life powerfully prepares the way for gospel proclamation. In many ways, our lives are like a microphone. They either amplify the message so that it can be heard clearly, or they send off a terrible screechy sound that causes those around us to bristle.
A Goal
When we evangelize, we aren’t merely presenting gospel facts; we are calling sinners to respond to Christ in repentance and faith. The Bible uses terms like reason or persuade to describe Paul’s labors to win people to Christ. I wonder if those terms would describe our evangelistic endeavors. It seems like many of us today are almost afraid to be persuasive because we don’t want to come across as manipulative. I can certainly understand this reservation. But let’s be clear: there’s a big difference between God-glorifying persuasion and man-centered manipulation. Manipulation happens when we seek to coerce or force a response from others that is hasty, emotional, or ill informed. Persuasion takes place as we communicate from the overflow of a heart fully convinced of the gospel’s truth and power.
If we really believe and are moved by gospel truths, how could we not whole-heartedly persuade sinners to repent and believe in Christ?
A Resource
There’s a lot more I could say, but hopefully this short article helped clarify the nature and goal of evangelism. To help believers communicate the gospel in a biblically faithful, culturally winsome way, I’ve written an evangelistic Bible study handbook called “Discovering Hope: Exploring the Good News of Jesus Christ.” This resource is unique in that it covers the redemptive arch of God’s Word through eight inductive Bible study lessons. I’d be happy to email you a PDF copy of the book for free. Just email me at and ask for a copy of “Discovering Hope.”
Micah Colbert is the discipleship and outreach pastor at Community of Grace Church in Buffalo, NY. You can find his booklet, Good News for All Nations, designed for evangelism in ESL encounters, here.