The Beautiful News That Needs To Be Shared

There is a quiet erosion happening in the modern church. We have professionalized the very work Jesus assigned to His body. We hire pastors to do the work of ministry. We send evangelists to reach the lost on our behalf. While certainly the 5 fold ministry is vital to the body of Christ, their assignment is not in replacing the responsibility for the everyday believer. I have concerns that we have unintentionally created a posture where the average believer feels exempt from the very assignments that define what it means to follow Jesus.

The Apostle Paul describes the fivefold ministry in Ephesians 4:11-12, listing apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers as gifts given to the church. But notice the purpose. They were given "for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (NKJV). The fivefold is not a delegation of responsibility away from the saints. It is an empowerment of the saints to carry it. Nowhere is this more important than with the evangelist.

The Hinge of the Fivefold

If you imagine the fivefold ministry like a hand, the evangelist sits as the middle finger. The longest one. The one that reaches the furthest out. Positioned between the apostle and prophet on one side and the pastor and teacher on the other, the evangelist serves like a hinge on a door…or the elbow joint that allows the arm to extend out. The apostle and prophet form the foundation of the church. They are governmental, strategic, and prophetic in scope. The pastor and teacher carry the shepherding load. They feed, protect, and teach. But without the evangelist, all of that work turns inward. The body becomes insulated. The fellowship becomes a club. The evangelist breaks that gravity. He reaches outward. He pulls the lost in. And he equips everyone else to do the same.

Office vs. Work: A Critical Distinction

Not every believer is called to the office of the evangelist. That assignment belongs to those whom Christ has appointed and gifted to stand in that role. They carry a unique anointing, often a moving ministry that crosses regional and cultural lines, marked by signs, deliverance, and bold proclamation.

But every believer is called to the work of evangelism.

This distinction matters because it preserves both order and obedience. We honor the office without using it as an excuse to bypass the work. Paul understood this when he wrote to Timothy, his spiritual son and a pastor-teacher by gifting. In his final letter, Paul charged him plainly: "But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." 2 Timothy 4:5 (NKJV) Timothy was not an evangelist by office. He was still charged to do the work of one. That same charge rests on every believer today. The Great Commission was never optional. The office equips. The body executes.

Beautiful Messenger

The Greek word translated as evangelist is euangelistēs. It is built from two parts: eu, meaning good or beautiful, and angelos, meaning messenger. Put together, it describes one who carries beautiful news. This is critical for how we approach evangelism. We are not debaters by default. We are not salesmen for a religious product. We are couriers carrying a beautiful message. Our role is not to argue someone into the Kingdom. Our role is to announce a Kingdom that has already broken in. When you understand that you are a messenger, the pressure shifts. You are not responsible for the response. You are responsible for the report.

The Battlefield Runner

The Hebrew word basar enriches this further. Basar describes a runner who returns from a battlefield to declare victory to the people. The king has already won. The war is already over. The runner does not announce a possibility. He announces an accomplished fact. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'" Isaiah 52:7 (NKJV) This is the posture of the evangelist, and of every believer doing the work. You are not running into a war that is undecided. You are running with the report that the cross has already settled the outcome. Sin has been answered. Death has been undone. The grave has been emptied. The King reigns. When you grasp this, evangelism stops feeling like burden and starts feeling like privilege. You are not performing. You are heralding.

Philip the Evangelist

The clearest biblical picture of an evangelist is Philip in Acts 8. Three marks defined his ministry, and they should mark ours as we engage in the work. First, he proclaimed Christ. Not himself. Not a system of self-improvement. Not religious moralism. He preached Jesus as Lord and Savior. Second, he demonstrated the Kingdom. Acts 8:6-8 records that "the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did." Unclean spirits came out. The paralyzed and lame were healed. The proclamation came with power. Third, he carried a dual assignment. Philip preached to crowds in Samaria, and the Spirit also sent him to a single Ethiopian eunuch on a desert road. He was equally faithful with the masses and with the one. The evangelist does not choose between platforms and personal encounters. He embraces both. The work of evangelism for every believer follows the same pattern. We proclaim Christ. We expect God to demonstrate. And we remain attentive to both the crowd and the individual the Spirit places in front of us.

Demonstration Before Declaration

Some of the hardest soil for the gospel is found in our own homes. Family members have seen our worst. They know our inconsistencies. They remember the version of us that was anything but Christlike. With those closest to us, words alone often fall flat. Not because the gospel lacks power, but because trust has been damaged. Peter understood this. He counseled wives of unbelieving husbands to win them not through persistent preaching but through "chaste conduct accompanied by fear" (1 Peter 3:2 NKJV). The principle reaches beyond marriage. With those who have seen our brokenness, we may need to show Jesus before we tell them about Him. This does not silence our witness. It reinforces it. A transformed life becomes the soil in which spoken truth can finally take root. When the testimony of your conduct matches the testimony of your mouth, the gospel ceases to be a theory and becomes an undeniable reality.

The Sower's Freedom

One of the heaviest weights laid on believers regarding evangelism is a false sense of responsibility for outcomes. We feel like we have to convert someone, deliver someone, secure a yes from someone. When we do not, we feel like failures. The parable of the sower in Matthew 13 teaches a freeing truth. The sower scatters seed. Some falls on the path. Some on rocky ground. Some among thorns. Some on good soil. The sower does not control the soil. The sower is responsible for the seed. You may share your faith one hundred times and feel like nothing visible happens. Then you encounter that one person, bound and broken and desperate, and your obedience becomes the bridge to their deliverance. You never know which seed is going to find good ground. Your job is to keep sowing.

A Pentecost Challenge

Pentecost was the birthday of the church and the moment the disciples were endowed with power to be witnesses. The Spirit did not come merely for personal comfort. He came so that ordinary men and women could carry an extraordinary message. That same Spirit lives in you. Here is the challenge. Between now and Pentecost Sunday, ask the Lord for one name. One face. One person He places on your heart who needs to hear the beautiful news. Then position yourself with intentionality. Pray. Prepare. Show before you tell if necessary. And when the moment comes, deliver the report. The victory is already won. The war is already over. The King reigns. You are simply running with the news.

This article is adapted from a recent message in the Fivefold Ministry series at Abiding Church. To connect with our community in Greer, South Carolina, visit abidingchurchsc.org.