And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
-Ephesians 4:11-16
According to Holy Scripture, there are multiple spiritual gifts which comprise a portfolio given to mankind from God. These are supernaturally ordained by God, perfectly put in place for the building up of the Body of Christ.
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
-1 Corinthians 12:1-11
For the record, there’s no indication that the spiritual gifts listed here are the only ones God gives to His children (also for the record, only believers are given spiritual gifts). Of those given, there are two that I want to highlight in this blog: evangelist and pastor. The reason the Spirit has me focusing your attention on these two, specifically, is because while the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached by both, their primary audiences differ as do the contexts of their presentations. Is it the same Gospel? Of course - there’s only one Gospel. However, as is the case with anything in this life, context matters.
You don’t talk about the good news to an unbeliever the same way you do to a believer.
Here's a loose analogy to help drive my point home. I love the game of golf. A newbie may be interested and may even understand the basics, like, “OK, so I swing this iron club and hit that little white ball and it’s going to, hopefully, fly onto the green so I can start putting it towards the hole.” They’d be right, and that might be the very first “lesson” I give someone when I to attempt to teach them to play. The first time they manage to hit the ball onto the green, they might jump up and say, “Yay, I did it!” And that’s usually the end of the story. They don’t spend a whole lot of time considering the physics, like where on the clubface the ball struck the club, backspin/sidespin, trajectory, wind speed and direction, elevation, or how the shaft flex and material composition affected all of the above. I do and when I get together with another serious golfer, we both do. In fact, after almost every shot, there’s an entire conversation (quite interesting to us) that ensues about the forensics of the shot just made. We make mental notes about how to improve next time. That’s why you often hear professional golfers say, “The most important distance in golf is the six inches between your two ears.” Are the physics of golf any different for a newbie than a pro? Nope. The physics are the same, but the conversations on the golf course are drastically different, whether between two golfers or just between a person’s two ears.
This difference is similar to that between evangelism and pastoring. An evangelist just wants to get a person interested in “playing golf”, whereas a pastor wants to get a player to “think about their game” once they have one. Same game, very different conversations, right? I know this is wildly oversimplified, so I hope I didn’t just lose you (apologies if so).
So, when an evangelist takes his spiritual gift out to the world (ala Matthew 28:18-20) he’s going to focus on presenting unbelievers with the only things that matter, starting with faith alone in Christ alone. He will spend his time compassionately, the way Jesus did, with those who are still lost. He will focus their attention on the sin issue and that his audience needs a Savior. He may need to dispel old religious beliefs, like ‘faith plus works’ will get you to Heaven. He’ll do that by amplifying God’s grace (e.g., Ephesians 2:8-9). There are a variety of strategies an evangelist might use to approach an unbeliever, but they will all be forward looking. Why? Because an unbeliever is incapable of understanding the deeper things of God.
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
-1 Corinthians 2:6-14
An evangelist preaches the same Gospel as a pastor, just with a different presentation due to the context, the needs of the audience.
A pastor’s job is to teach believers. Being a pastor, I teach “charitably” to my congregation (and my blog readers), meaning I teach as if everyone in my audience is a believer. Do I know otherwise? Of course, as John wrote, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). While there are always going to be unbelievers in the churches, pastors are ordained to teach God’s children the deeper truths found in His Word (This is analogous to seeing a bunch of seasoned golfers watching The Masters pro golf tournament while others just shake their heads, saying, “I don’t get it.”).
When I teach the Gospel to believers, while I often remind them of the simplicity of salvation (by grace through faith in Christ alone), I focus their attention on all that God accomplished for them when He chose to save them. I take a “forensic” look at what happened at salvation and what has continued to happen ever since (ala Philippians 1:6 et all). I focus on concepts that would go over the heads of unbelievers. You see, being a pastor is very different than being an evangelist because a pastor looks backwards to the point of salvation and also to the present and future sanctification of believers. There’s a much larger body of wisdom to pursue. You might say that the Gospel expands exponentially in the soul of a believer as time goes on. As a believer is sanctified, the good news about what God has accomplished for them gets better and better! There are deep concepts like election and predestination that are reserved for mature believers only (many newbies cannot grasp certain doctrines right away, which is perfectly acceptable, just like new golfers can’t understand all the physics that apply to every shot they’ve ever taken, even though they rightly consider themselves “golfers”).
You don’t need to understand everything about the Gospel to be saved. There’s a lot of good news that we learn about God’s salvific plan after we are saved. That’s one of the most exciting things about being a child of God – He keeps on blowing our socks off by revealing more of His grace as He sanctifies us. A new or immature believer won’t understand some of the things a diligent pastor is commissioned to teach. This is no cause for alarm. Having a lot to learn is exciting news, given what it affords us (e.g., the gift of seeing more of the One who saved us).
Context is key – it prompts an evangelist to approach his audience differently than a pastor approaches his. If you want to know what I would focus on if I were an evangelist, read this blog, The Simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you wish to understand what God has me teach as a gifted pastor, then dig your heels in, this isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. Start at the oldest message on the North Christian Church website (circa 2015). But beware, you will receive bumps and bruises like the rest of us. This is hard work, glorious and heart-wrenching all at the same time. Preaching the good news is like that, regardless of audience. Ask any evangelist or pastor worth their salt - it’s all for the Gospel and that’s enough for us.
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
-1 Corinthians 9:16-27
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins
