You, Too, Are an Evangelist

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Whenever I do a seminar, I always ask the question: What is the most important command in all of the Bible for an evangelist?

Many of the responses are Matthew 28, the Great Commission, and Matthew 22, to love God with all your heart, soul and mind.

But note the verse in Ephesians 4:11-12 that instructs an evangelist to equip: The multiplier comes when you learn to share your faith and then tell the people in your center of influence about the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am thinking of various instances when people have learned to share their faith and what happened when they chose obedience to Christ. I met a man recently who had learned in his small group, while watching the Share Jesus Without Fear DVD, how to share his faith. In the last 10 days he's held the hands of over 40 people who have surrendered their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of my favorite examples is a lady who, at 73 years young, learned to share her faith in the hospital by reading the Share Jesus Without Fear book. Her name is Nell. She is now 78 years old. We have documented over 3,900 born-again, baptized believers in South Carolina because of the obedience of one woman.

I'm always intrigued with what Jesus said to us, "May we be one as my Father and I are one," and I see God honor that when churches come together for the sake of the Gospel. I remember being in Minot, N.D., and about 20 churches had come together for the sake of the Gospel on a Sunday morning. There were about 3,500 people in the gymnasium. That night, about 3,000 came back for the seminar and learned to share their faith.

In the following three months, they documented over 3,200 born-again, baptized believers who had entered in to those churches.

When you do what God has called you to do in your uniqueness, remember that you have been unusually gifted by God. Your gifts are different than my gifts, but remember: There is no such thing as the gift of evangelism. Nothing thrills me more than to pick up my telephone and to hear from somebody that they had just held their father's hand on a death bed while he surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.

There isn't a week that goes by when someone doesn't call me and say, "I can't believe how simple this is. I asked the questions you taught me. I used the verses of Scripture that you showed me. I had shared over and over again with this person before and nothing had ever happened. But I watched, as you promised, the Word of God change their life, when all I said to them was, 'Would you read this verse out loud?' and then said to them, 'What does it say to you?'" (For more information on this approach, see an earlier column by Fay at www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=32406.)

It is the most fascinating thing to be part of somebody's salvation. All of us have the same opportunity. You have a different sphere of influence and all you need to do is take those five questions that we teach in Share Jesus Without Fear and engage someone in a conversation today by saying, "Can I just ask you five questions?" This may open a door for you to take the Scriptures, open your Bible and say to someone, "Would you read this verse out loud, and what does it say to you?"

You're about to enter into the realm of working in connection with the power of the Holy Spirit. May God bless it as He has the tens of thousands of others who have chosen obedience in their lives to unashamedly share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Bill Fay is an evangelist and author of "Share Jesus without Fear." To contact him, visit www.sharejesuswithoutfear.com.
© Copyright 2010 Baptist Press. Used with permission.

Publication date: May 6, 2010