Types of Evangelistic Missionality Gifting
Today the term "Evangelist" conjures up the image of a
preacher speaking behind a pulpit and before a large crowd; pressing the claims
of the gospel in a series of "evangelistic meetings" or "revival meetings."
However, this was not the function of the evangelist during the New Testament
era. Matter of fact, it could be argued that there were no church
buildings, pulpits, or revival meetings at this time. Instead, the role of
the evangelist in the New Testament era primarily focused on personal
proclamation and the equipping of believers for mobilization. The gift of
evangelist is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body
of Christ to share the gospel effectively with nonbelievers, to incorporate them
into the congregation, and to equip believers in the ministry of evangelism.
Those with the evangelistic gift “persuade” nonbelievers, through the power of
the Holy Spirit, to accept the gospel message and equip them to share their
faith with others.
Those who have an evangelistic gifting are
designed to be Connectional Evangelists and/or Contextual
Evangelists -- desiring to lead nonbelievers to be confronted
with the claims of the gospel through a contextual,
culturally-appropriate gospel presentation. Connectional
Evangelists communicate the disciplemaking vision to other
believers, set evangelistic goals and objectives for the local
assembly to meet, and design and organize evangelistic efforts;
mobilizing believers to work together to reach others. They
desire to build bridges from the Christian community to the social
enclaves of a pagan community. Through frequenting places
shared with non-believers, participating in community projects with
non-believers, and designing platforms (or approaches) to connect
with non-believers, Connectional Evangelists equip and inspire
believers to further the missional cause.
On the other hand, Contextual
Evangelists work to optimize effectiveness in the presentation
of the gospel to nonbelievers, motivate others to participate in
presenting the gospel to nonbelievers in culturally-appropriate
ways, and encourage others to balance ministry demands while keeping
evangelism at the forefront. Contextual Evangelists are
concerned with adapting the the presentation to be "good news" to
each cultural group in the community - while simultaneously being
faithful to the essentials of the gospel message. The need for
adaptation may mean that the gospel message will need to be changed
in order for it to be expressed in words and concepts familiar to
the sociocultural group to which it is addressed. This may
also mean that the gospel message will need to address the sinful
influences and social problems the cultural group faces in the
community.
Dimensions of Evangelistic
Missionality Gifting
Because of their evangelistic giftedness, Connectional and Contextual
Evangelists 1) feel a great sense of urgency regarding the evangelistic task, 2)
desire to reach specific groups of people with the gospel, and 3) desire to set
demanding evangelistic objectives for the congregation to pursue. Being
passionate, those with the evangelistic gifting are externally focused,
seeking to help other believers to envision the day when many non-believers in
the community may come to know Christ as personal savior. Committed to
achievement, they personally share the gospel with nonbelievers as they have
opportunity and encourage other believers to give a personal witness as well.
Because they value being task-oriented and seek to achieve their goals, those
with the evangelistic gift tend also to emphasize visionary leadership, casting
vision, and meeting objectives.
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Summary of Evangelistic Missionality Gifting
Persuaders
The Evangelist (E)
Gift has a primary evangelistic gifted role.
This gift produces “Persuaders” who may believe they are
called to persuasively address sinful influences & social problems
in society that inhibit the spread of the gospel message, to
urgently persuade non-believers to accept Christ as Savior, and to
urgently persuade believers to actively share the gospel with
others. To prepare for
this type of ministry you will need to know how to share the gospel
with people from different worldview & cultural backgrounds and how
to identify the sinful influences and social problems that prevent
the advance of the gospel within a cultural group.
You may need to identify social networks in the community in
order to discern the “person of peace” (Luke 10:5-9) who functions
as a center of influence, broker or gatekeeper to the cultural group
you are trying to reach.
You may also need to develop a customized gospel presentation
for the cultural group you are trying to reach based upon the value
orientations (worldview aspects), attitudes and behaviors that are
dominant within the cultural group.
The urgency you feel concerning the need to share the gospel
may need to be tempered with the need to cultivate the spiritual
soil around you – both among non-believers who need to hear the
message and believers that need to be mobilized to share the gospel.
"Doing things now" becomes a theme that drives much of this
person's orientation.
Variants of the Evangelistic Gift
The following APEPT gifted blends are variants of the
Evangelistic Gift:
- Evangelistic-Apostolic (EA) Gift Cluster
- Evangelistic-Prophetic (EPr) Gift Cluster
- Evangelistic-Pastoral (EPa) Gift Cluster
- Evangelistic-Teaching (ET) Gift Cluster
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