Course 112: The Ascension Office Gifts (Five Fold Leadership Gifts) - Lesson #9

The Evangelist

Let us now continue our in-depth teaching on the Fivefold with a thorough look at the Office of the Evangelist.

Who is an Evangelist? 

The Evangelist

Let us now continue our in-depth teaching on the Fivefold with a thorough look at the Office of the Evangelist.

Who is an Evangelist? 

Simply put, an Evangelist is an announcer of the good news that God in Christ has paid the price of redemption of man from the yoke of Satan and sin and that new life is possible in Him! The Evangelist is thus a megaphone through who God declares in human language with great simplicity and clarity, that mankind has a hope and future grounded in His supreme love that was evidenced in the incarnation, life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-12

11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Like Apostles and Prophets, Evangelists are specifically chosen by Jesus Christ Himself and vested with a measure of His authority and power to back up their assignment. Evangelists are represented by the long middle finger on the hand which indicates their special grace and ability to bring in the harvest more than any other member of the five fold.

By the nature of their calling and gifting, Evangelists are itinerant. They are at their best when on the go. That way they are not bogged down by familiarity with the audience or internal squabbles and emphasis on bread and butter issues which keeps the Church in maintenance mode.

What are the specific roles God assigns to His Evangelists within and without the Body?

The supreme passion of the heart of a truly called evangelist is that as many people as possible be saved from perishing in eternal damnation which is the logical end of those who reject Jesus Christ,  the only lifeline that God has provided humanity. To this extent, Evangelists carry a dual burden: love for sinners and realization of eternal damnation for those who do not have Jesus Christ.

These three trends must be halted in their tracks within the community of prophets:

1. Tendency to minister out of wounded souls

A wounded soul is one which is out of sync with true spirituality. This happens when an individual is offended, hurt, rejected or in any other form of emotional disconnect from the ideal described in Philippians 4: 4 - 8. A prophet must recognize when his/her soul is hurt and desist from ministry. A wounded soul will release death rather than life. Words spoken are backed by the spirit of the person uttering them. When a prophet is hurt, feeling rejected and dejected, there will be tendency to release words that cannot build up or perfect the saints.

This explains the ugly tendency by some prophets to utter curses on people, even for flimsy reasons. There are those who will curse pastors and congregations for not spending lavishly on them. There are those who would curse those who they transacted businesses with and things did not quite go well. Any prophet who lays curses easily on people (and using the case of Elisha and the young children who taunted him as excuse) is out of order! The negative words uttered must be rejected, cancelled and rendered of no effect by other Prophets or Apostles.

2. New fad to cover the head with Jewish prayer shawls by male prophets.

We owe Judaism a debt of gratitude for being the root from which the New Testament sprang up. The moral laws of the Old Testament such as the 10 commandments are still valid for this dispensation. We are also grateful for the feasts which God instituted to mark His dealings with His people. Those feasts, such as Passover are worthy of study and application of principles enshrined thereto to enrich our walk with God. They are far more edifying than the pagan festivals Rome foisted on Christendom!