Dear Sir,
‘There was a time when every Christian was expected to be a soul-winner’, says Mike Mellor (en, Dec 2014). Sadly, that was true – and it is still true in some quarters.
But he, like many others, fails to distinguish between witnesses (which we all are) and evangelists (which only some are called and equipped to be). By making most of us feel guilty about not being the evangelists which most of us were not called to be, Satan ensures that we become poor witnesses.
Just to clarify, by ‘witness’ I mean declaring (by actions and words) what we have seen and experienced of God and his grace in Christ. Rebecca Manley Pippert says our only choice is between being good or bad witnesses.
By ‘evangelist’ I do not just mean the Roger Carswells of this world, but any Christian who has been called and equipped by the Holy Spirit for this function in the local church. Most evangelists are unpaid and continue their day job as secretary, engineer, mother (or even pastor!). Unfortunately, most evangelists are unrecognised (even by themselves) and so unsupported in their vital task.
Having been a Christian for over 45 years I have attended many evangelism training sessions in several different types of church. The main result of most of them is not increased evangelism, or more effective witness, but more people feeling more guilty about what they are not doing, plus a few people doing badly (and for the wrong reason) what they are not called and equipped to do. For everyone won by a ‘soul-winner’, there may be several put off by inept but well-meaning forced evangelism.
We shake our heads and wag our fingers when we hear of others who try to train everyone to speak in tongues or heal the sick, yet we think it our duty to train everyone to be an evangelist and Bible teacher. Why can’t we just accept that the Spirit gives gifts as he chooses?
Yours sincerely,
