7 Reasons Why Itinerant Evangelists are Needed in the Church Today

April 13, 2020

Since before beginning to travel the world preaching the Gospel, I wrestled with the legitimacy of the calling of a traveling evangelist. I had heard stories of people doing it wrong, seeking fame and fortune, and having moral failures. I heard people mocking this calling, and encouraging people to become a pastor instead because the role of the evangelist was unneeded or illegitimate. I wrestled with the calling in prayer, asked the elders at my church for wisdom, and got advice from people who knew me well. I concluded and still believe that the role of the traveling evangelist is not only legitimate, but also very needed in the Church today. Here are a few reasons why… 

7 Reasons why itinerant evangelists are needed in the church today

1- Jesus was an itinerant evangelist. 

Jesus did personal discipleship 1on1 and 1on3, He had a small group of 12, but He also preached to crowds large and small in synagogues and outside. It’s trendy today to think 1on1 or groups are the only way to do ministry, but Jesus modeled for us a different way. "They came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving. But Jesus told them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, because that is why I was sent.” Luke 4:42b-43

2- We see the role of the evangelist in the NT in the early Church. 

I recently dove into lots of research on Phillip the evangelist in the book of Acts as a case study for what the role of the evangelist should look like today. We see Phillip boldly proclaiming the Gospel publicly, demonstrating the Spirit through miracles, and engaging in personal ministry where the Spirit was already working. The NT shows the legitimacy of the role of the evangelist in the Church.

3- We see the role of the evangelist throughout church history. 

Both Great Awakenings and many other revivals and renewals in Church history were sparked partially by itinerant evangelists. A few examples are George Whitfield, DL Moody, Charles Finney, The Wesley brothers, Billy Graham, Reinhard Bonnke, and others. The West is in desperate need of another Great Awakening and I think the role of the evangelist is going to be crucial for this to happen. 

4- The Bible commands the preaching of the Gospel…

...not just conversation about the Gospel over coffee (although this is great) or pastoring or groups (which are both great), but the preaching of the Gospel to the lost. Jesus commanded, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16:15-16. We see Paul repeat this in Romans 10, “How are they to hear without someone preaching?"

5- A fresh voice reaches different people than your voice will reach. 

One of the favorite verses in Proverbs (25:25) says, "Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” There is something about hearing old truths in a fresh way from a fresh voice that has the tendency to touch hearts in a powerful way. Almost every time my church brings in a guest speaker I get a fresh perspective and experience God’s Word in an extra-refreshing way. 

6- The role of the evangelist causes the Church to grow to maturity. 

The role of the evangelist is one of the offices in the fivefold ministry laid out in Ephesians 4. Without the utilization of this role (and the others listed: apostles, prophets, shepherds, teachers), the growth of the Church will be lacking and growing into maturity will be hindered. To say it positively: when each of these five roles are being filled and utilized in the Church, the fullness of Christ will be on display and the Church will grow into maturity.

7- Evangelists model and train your people in how to do the work of evangelism. 

The aim of the evangelist is not to do all the evangelism your church does all year, but to give an opportunity for your church to invite people to hear the clear Gospel, to model what it looks like to clearly preach the Gospel and call for a response, and to train your people how to do the work of evangelism. When there is no evangelist connected to a church, the people will be less equipped to do this work, but when an evangelist is an integral part of a church, the people will feel equipped and empowered to do this beautiful work of evangelism. 

In conclusion, the role of the itinerant evangelist is an integral part of the flourishing of the Church throughout history and today. We see this in Jesus Himself, Phillip the Evangelist as an example in the NT, examples throughout Church history, a direct command from Jesus to preach the Gospel, and the emphasis of Paul on this role for the building up of the Church. My hope is that we will see a resurgence of the lost art of evangelism in the coming days.