Volume 39 Number 12                                                                                     August 1997

There is no argument regarding the disease of immorality that afflicts our nation and our world. Magazines, newspapers, and TV news programs alike hawk out the message of a moral decline in society. As Christians, we have come to the chilling observation that the darkness of this world can get even darker.

As members of Christ's body, we hold fast to our duty to spread the light of the gospel to all whom we come in contact, hoping that the Word of God that we preach may not only be planted, but will yield fruit for the glory of God. Within this building of living stones, there are men who have chosen to lay aside secular avocations and make it their sole purpose to proclaim this soul saving message. These men, called evangelists, have taken upon themselves the duty, and the joy, of following Paul's words to Timothy, "Preach the word" (II Tim. 4:2).

In Matt. 9:10-13, Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of eating with the sinners instead of eating with the righteous. In his wisdom, Jesus simply said, "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick...for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The life of Jesus was devoted to following these words of advice. Just as a doctor does not heal the healthy, Jesus did not preach repentance to the righteous, but to the sinners. This two thousand year old challenge now stands before us: Are we healing the healthy or healing the sick?

The men described above are wonderful tools, crafted and trained through the will and Word of God. Tools which God intended to first and foremost preach to the lost. Are we using them to the best of their ability and fulfilling their purpose?

Robert Brumback, in his book on Church history, explains that younger evangelists in the mid-1800's were desiring to settle in the positions of pastors over single congregations. In a response to this problem, a contemporary in the church of Christ wrote, "The Lord did not intend Evangelists to open an office, and sit down in it and wait for sinners to come to them, to be converted. But he intended the living preachers to go to sinners and with the living voice preach to them the word of the living God...We cannot confine our labors to cities, towns, and village, expecting preaching to be brought to us, as work to a tailor, hatter or shoemaker; but we must go out into the country, among the people, and be one of them..."

I do not suppose I am different from most within the brotherhood in that I enjoy hearing the word of truth being proclaimed, and the evangelists within the body are noted for bringing lessons from the scriptures that drive to the heart of each ear listening. But is this the only place of an evangelist--preaching in front of baptized members of the Church? With the multitude of weekend meetings, week long meetings, and other events that we ask our evangelists to perform, are we allowing them to proclaim to the lost as much as God, and they, would like?

God has blessed many congregations in the brotherhood with extremely knowledgeable Elders who are "apt to teach" as required. Yet these same congregations host week long meetings with an Evangelist being the only one presenting material. This same Evangelist may have also been asked to speak the next three weekends at three different congregations all with qualified men to speak on the exact same subject. All of this takes time to prepared for and travel time to get there. Time, which in some cases, is usually spent in holding out the light to sinners.

As expressed by a brother, the church cannot have a "Field of Dreams" attitude of "build it and they will come." We can express time and time again that our doors are open to even the vilest offender, but more often than not, that door will not be used. The sinners must be sought out and found and preached to. By erecting a building with "Church of Christ meets here" in front, we have not created a magnet for the lost. We must go to their homes, to the markets, to the school house, the college campus, the barbershop, and even the street corner if necessary to proclaim the good news. The ones who have chosen to devote their entire life to this cannot seek and save the lost, if we continually contain them in churches of the children of God.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul stated in chapter fifteen verse twenty, "Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: but as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand." Do faithful congregations need to hear the Word of God expounded to them by the mouths of Evangelists? Yes. But these brethren are the ones who must also go out and preach the gospel where no church stands and help the Kingdom extend its boundaries. Many times when making a change, one tends to go from one extreme to another and the latter end is not better than the first. Evangelists are not confined simply to preaching to the lost rarely to set foot into a faithful congregation. The New Testament contains a host of passages where Evangelists spent time, maybe even large portions of time, with congregations where there were Elders or at least men who were qualified to speak. Timothy and Titus both remained at congregations not specifically to preach to the lost, but to make sure that the congregations were preaching the truth and to "set in order things that are wanting." Paul and Barnabas returned to congregations that they had established in the past, not to preach to the lost again specifically, but simply to see how they were doing (Acts 15:36). As a brother once stated, even elders, teachers, and members of established congregations can become sick and down trodden by the continual onslaught of Satan's fiery arrows. In times like this, an Evangelist can come in, and, with a simple exhortation about God's Word, revive the congregation. Yes, we too, need the edification that comes from the Evangelists, but we must not try to confine them to ourselves.

Evangelists are wonderful tools whose position and authority has been crafted by the living God who gives all wisdom. They have responsibilities to both the members of the Church and also to the sinners. However, we, as the various members and congregations throughout the brotherhood, must make sure that we do not abuse them and keep them to ourselves. Let us send out these Evangelists, these proclaimers, so that they may preach the soul saving message of the gospel to those that are lost and overrun with the disease of sinful lives.