Do the Work of an Evangelist

“do the work of an evangelist " 2 Timothy 4:5

I have run into two situations recently where evangelists have had an 'aha' moment when they realized that discipleship was a necessary addition to the work they were doing in helping people find their place in God's great story. 

These evangelists both expressed the frustration they experience in faithfully preaching the Gospel and experiencing the joy of people becoming Jesus followers only to see these new believers drift back to their old life and forget about the decision they have made. By nature evangelists are constantly on the move sharing the good news from place to place so there is no time to establish relationships and help the new believers get rooted in their newfound faith. Later when they cycle back they find that none of the people who expressed a new faith in Christ are any longer part of the community of believers. 

They have discovered that intentional discipleship is the answer. People who take the step to confess their sins and decide to be Jesus followers often experience great relief from the burden of sin being lifted. It is critical at this point to get them engaged in a discipleship group where they learn more about the decision they have made and where they learn step by step what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. 

This is one reason we are actively training pastors, church leaders and lay people how to disciple new believers and at the same time help these new disciples also become disciple-makers. Through the work of an evangelist, the witness of a friend, or in response to a message in church people will decide to become Jesus followers. When this happens the church needs to be ready to invite and incorporate new believers into the life of the church through intentional discipleship groups. 

The work of the evangelist can be so much more fulfilling if there are disciple-makers trained and ready to work with new believers immediately. Fewer new believers will drift away and return to their former life style when they have encouragement and help to face the inevitable resistance from the old sin nature to change and when they experience the attacks of Satan to keep them from moving forward as disciples of Jesus.