Paulβs farewell exhortations to Timothy were written with great urgency. The time of the apostleβs departure by cruel martyrdom was now at hand and ere long his testimony would be sealed with his lifeβs blood. It was with this in view that, rather than thinking of himself or now simply βleaving everything with the Lord,β he still kept planning for the future, still occupied with the ministry which the glorified Lord had committed to him many years previous. There was still so much to be done, so many souls to be won, and Timothy must now carry on the work with renewed vigor. Thus it is that we read in II Timothy 4:5:
βBut watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.β
There is much confusion about evangelism these days and there are some who have concluded from EphesiansΒ 4:11Β that the evangelist necessarily belongs to a different category from βpastors and teachers,β or βteaching pastors.β It is true that, according to this verse, some of Godβs servants are specially gifted and specially productive as evangelists, but have we read too much into this passage?
Some have read into it that the evangelist need not be a teacher of the Word. He need not be well-grounded in the Scriptures if only he can tell people that Christ died for their sins. This reminds us of the converted performer who, contrary to I TimothyΒ 5:22, was immediately pushed forward by Christian leaders as an evangelist. It cost heavily to secure his services, but it was worth it: he could get crowds! He was barely grounded in the Scriptures, but what matter? He has such a way with him: he could tell such interesting stories and had written several popular gospel songs. He was able to induce many hearers to make βdecisionsβ for Christ just because he had come to the pulpit straight from show business. To quote his own words, βI leave doctrine to the theologians. I preach Christ.β
But the question immediately arises: βChrist who?β βWhat Christ?β It makes a great difference whether one preaches the Christ of Palestine or the glorified Christ proclaimed by Paul. And it makes a greater difference whether he preaches that Christ of Liberalism or the Christ of the Bible.
A similar notion prevails that foreign missionaries (also actually evangelists) need not be thoroughly grounded in the Word to do justice to their ministries. But all this is unscriptural and wrong, and the churches established by such missionaries cannot be spiritually strong.
St. Paul was doubtless the greatest evangelist that ever lived and he won the lost to Christ by teaching the great doctrines of alienation, reconciliation, justification, etc. And today the evangelist, no less than any minister of God, must be well-grounded in the Word, for souls are saved only as the Spirit uses the Word (I Pet. 1:12-25).
Thus the proclamation of the gospel is not to be separated from the Word. Those who are saved β and many are not truly saved β through hearing no more than a verse or two from the Scripture, presented along with an emotional and psychological appeal, are often easily swayed and must at best be spiritually weak. But when the great doctrines of salvation are taught from the Scripture, those who hear and believe begin already to be established in the faith. Nor will they be easily shaken, for nothing so grips the heart of man like the Word, understood and believed. source
