I must say that this answer is somewhat unsatisfactory to me, but for the uninitiated, it is the most easily understood. An evangelist is so much more than a man who travels and preaches. The evangelist is a gift to the church just as the pastor is, but with a completely different role. The evangelist is not just a missionary, a soul-winner, a church-planter, or a pastor who decides he wants to travel the country and preach. The evangelist is a God-called preacher whose calling is to minister to churches in confrontational preaching, in both calling the unsaved to salvation and exhorting and encouraging God's people. The gift and purpose of the evangelist is listed in Ephesians 4:11-16, and is he is given to the church "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:"
Sometimes I think of the evangelist as Aaron and Hur, holding up the arms of Moses during battle. Without their help and support, Moses could not have led the Israelites to victory. Were Aaron and Hur in the same position of leadership? No, but they stood alongside the man of God and and did all they could to help him accomplish what God had told him to do.
Now, I suppose that some people might take issue with what I have written here, for many different reasons - improper teaching on the evangelist, bad experiences in the past, etc., but you cannot logically deny the Biblical gift of the evangelist. Acts 8 chronicles part of the journey of Philip, the evangelist. He was preaching in Samaria when God called him to go into the desert, where he met the Ethiopian eunuch and led him to Christ. After he left the rejoicing eunuch, he went to Azotus, "and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea." Philip's calling was to preach where God led him.
The purpose of this blog is not to define and argue the doctrine of the evangelist. In fact, it is not really about the evangelist at all, except that this blog is designed with helping the women who are married to these special men of God. The only reason that we are dealing with the subject of the evangelist first is because of the role that this gift has in each of our lives. As the helpmeet of an evangelist, we also have a niche to fill. Our lives are not the normal, run of the mill, predictable lives. Our lives have special challenges, trials, and blessings that are unique to our ministry.
My goal is provide a way for those of us in evangelism to give and receive encouragement, gather helpful advice on numerous subjects (think home schooling, potty training, entertaining your children for long hours on the road, finances, children's meetings, etc), and to familiarize ourselves with each other and the ministries of which we are a part. This is meant to be a tool for ministry, filled with practical tips, help, and advice. I will be gleaning information from those of you that I know, and possibly asking you to write a post for the blog in a particular area of expertise. This blog is not about me and my opinions, although I am hosting it. It is about all of us - the ministry we have in common, and using this outlet to provide much-needed experience and support for others as we serve the Lord together.
