The next gifts on Paul’s list are prophets and evangelists. While they are not directly related to local church governance, God has vested both offices with authority vital to a healthy church.
More “forth-tellers” than “foretellers,” prophets speak to the church with a specific message from God. They may be likened to spiritual policemen with an authority from God and ability to see things that are not right. They address those things with anointed clarity.
They speak specifically to establish a biblical standard. The Bible teaches us that when the enemy comes in like a flood, God will raise up a standard against him.
If flood waters surge through a town and the river keeps overflowing its banks, wisdom demands a levee. Someone will step forward with a plan to lift up a standard higher than the flood stage. The problem comes with new generations who, safe behind the dam, have never seen the death and devastation of waters raging over the countryside. They do not recognize the value of the standard.
They begin to chip away at the levee or call for its removal altogether. “That big pile of dirt is an obstacle, an eyesore, and a hindrance to what we want,” they reason. “Let’s take it down, put it in our flower beds and gardens. We will be more comfortable, the town will be more appealing, and everything will grow.”
So, they dynamite the levee, and you know the rest. The enemy comes in like a flood. Then, they rush to fill the sand bags and improvise a dam. They try desperately to reestablish the levee as they remember or discover why another generation built the wall.
It is easy and common for new generations to throw off the standards of older generations without taking the time to ask, “Why did they do that?” The Bible cautions about removing the ancient boundary stone. It was put there for a reason.
The prophet comes, sees the church involved in things we never have considered an issue, and he calls us on it. He says, “Do you know why?” And he begins to put the stones back in place. He helps the church keep its standard set and its focus where it needs to be for spiritual health, safety, and fulfillment of its mission.
We still need prophets in the church. When the real prophet of God comes, he will keep us from dropping vital standards. Or, he may warn us to stop holding as sacred things which are irrelevant. If we turn away from the prophets because they make us uncomfortable, we will be even more uncomfortable later because we did not embrace this gift of Christ to His Church.
Evangelists come next in Paul’s list. Their authority is not so much with the church as with the lost, those who do not know Christ as Savior. They have an incredible authority with lost people.
One of my former staff members is an evangelist. In other areas of the church, he might fumble and stumble, but with lost people, he comes to life. On a ministry conference trip with the church staff, we were stretching during a service station break when a carload of young people wheeled into the drive. Boisterous and loud, with tattoos, piercings and multi-colored hair in funky fashions, they were intimidating, even for a veteran pastor.
Not for our evangelist. He had come from that culture and was unfazed by their appearance. He is anointed to be an evangelist, so he said, “Pastor, I’ve got to go and talk to them,” and something incredible began to unfold. He bent over, looked into the driver’s window and opened a conversation. “Do you guys know you are going straight to Hell?” Now, I would have said something like, “Man, do you know that Jesus loves you a lot?” and tried to connect along that line.
My staff member, the evangelist, said, “I used to be just like you. I used to live just like you. I used to look just like you and I really thought that the things of this world were going to make me happy.” They sat in shock but they listened, and, in just a few moments, those burly teens began to cry. He told them to get out of the car, and they said “Yes, sir, and what are we going to do?” He said, “Kneel down and repeat after me.” They all began to pray, and they meant it!
These kids are coming to Christ in the open air, and I am still filling my gas tank and thinking, “Wasn’t that the coolest thing?” The evangelist has an authority with lost people.
Next, he noticed a truck with an older gentleman waiting for his wife to go in and buy a drink. The man may have witnessed the impromptu prayer meeting. My associate ran over, put out his hand, and said “Hey sir, how are you doing?” Then, he began to tell about God and His power to change lives today. The man said, “I used to be a Christian,” and when he was reminded he needed to get right with God, he said, “I know, I know.” In just a moment, he was praying a sinner’s prayer over the steering wheel.
No one in those church vans could have done that except the one called and anointed to be an evangelist. He has an authority with lost people and they don’t run from him. They know.
Even in the church service, the evangelist’s authority is with the non-believers. After one Sunday morning message, four or five individuals of the hundreds there for the second service came forward at my closing invitation. I thought that was pretty good. Four or five every week is pretty good. I was about to lead them in prayer when I sensed the Holy Spirit urging to me let the staff evangelist close.
I resisted, thinking I had done a good job, very pastoral, but I could not ignore the inner nudge. I stepped back and called him by name. When I looked at him, he said, “Thank you, Pastor.” He had been about to explode under the evangelist’s anointing. He stepped to the microphone and, it seemed to me, began to tear into the congregation.
I had been saying, “Jesus loves you so much and God wants to take all those sins away because they hurt you, destroy you, and some day they are going to take you to Hell. But He loves you so much that He died for you and wants you to come to Him.”
The evangelist took a different approach. “You know you are a sinner! Don’t sit out there and hide amongst the Christians and act like you think you are going to Heaven. You are not going to Heaven! You know you are not, and we know you are not and, yes sir, we know what you’ve been doing!” The next thing we knew, 20 people were coming forward.
We still need evangelists in the house of the Lord—not just out-of-work pastors trying to make a living on weekends—but men and women who have an authority with lost people. They are out there. God still is calling them and anointing them with His Spirit.
Evangelists will come into your church and get people saved. It will not be very long before they start drawing new people. It is incredible and people will keep on coming. You might say, “How is this happening?” and I really do not know, except it is God’s doing. It is supernatural.
The evangelist has an authority with lost people and they get excited about this ministry office in a way different than they do the local pastor. We each need to pray, “God, give us an evangelist, one You have called and given authority to help us win the lost!”