The statement in the bulletin reads: "On Thursday night, Samuel and Karla Jenkins were baptized into Christ. They had been studying for several weeks with brother Nick Lee." This announcement, though it includes fictitious names, is very similar to those genuine announcements that are made in congregational bulletins throughout the world. The joy of hearing the news that new souls have been saved never diminishes, regardless of how many times we have heard such reports in the past. It is always exciting to learn that the Kingdom is growing!

In the above-mentioned bulletin announcement, a brother Lee had been active teaching the gospel. Are you like brother Lee? Percentage wise, how many members of the congregation where you attend are actively involved in trying to set up and conduct Bible studies?

Just what is the proper place for evangelism, anyway? I am not asking about where we should try to teach the gospel. Rather, I am asking, when it comes to our thinking and action, where should evangelism fit in? Have you ever given thought to such a question? Evangelism does not take the place of worship. Evangelism does not remove the need to build up or edify those that are already in the Christ, and it does not do away with benevolence. But, evangelism does have its place – and, may I add, it is a mighty important one!

When evangelism is in its proper place, then it will be part of our Planning. We must plan for evangelism. Jesus wants every person in the world to hear the gospel (Mark 16:15). Entire geographic areas do not get evangelized by accident (Acts 19:10). The truth is, teaching the gospel to lost people does not come about by accident, period. What plans does our congregation have for getting the gospel to every person in this area? What are some of the specific things that we are presently doing to teach God’s salvation to lost people? Brides-to-be usually plan their weddings in great detail. Families often do the same with their vacations or family reunions. Politicians surely spend a great deal of time in preparing a plan of attack to reach voters. Is not the Lord’s work worthy of serious, well-thought-out, precise planning?! When it comes to evangelism, we need to make it part of our congregational plans, family plans, and personal plans. Teaching the lost must first be part of our thinking. If it is not, then it will never be part of our activity. That is a fact.

When evangelism is in its proper place, then it will be part of our Prayers. Jesus said there is a need to pray for more workers in evangelism (Matthew 9:37,38). Paul asked brethren to pray for his boldness as a gospel preacher (Ephesians 6:19,20). Paul also requested saints to pray that God would grant him and others open doors – opportunities to teach the truth (Colossians 4:3,4). That same great apostle instructed Christians to pray "that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified" (2 Thessalonians 3:1). He went on to ask those same brothers and sisters to pray for the safety of those that were teaching the gospel, that they might be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men (3:2). We have listed five New Testament connections between prayer and evangelism – pray for more workers, for teachers’ boldness, for their safety, for open doors, and the gospel’s spread.

Please consider some questions. How much do you and I pray about these five items or any other matters related to evangelism? How much do our brothers ever mention efforts related to evangelism in their public prayers? When they do, how much akin are their prayer requests and praise to any of the items that we have just noted?

When evangelism is in its proper place, then it will be a top Priority. We must properly prioritize and make evangelism, coupled with worship, the heart of our activity. Teaching the lost is more important than padded pews, plush carpet, pictorial directories, and perfume-scented flowers. There is nothing wrong with these material items, but none of them is even a close second to the importance of evangelism. Brethren, we not only need to make plans for and pray for evangelism, but our evangelistic plans must be at the top of the list of our prioritized activities!

How can we tell if we are making evangelism a priority? Here are some matters that we might evaluate, and I believe the answers that we give will, at least in part, show how much we make evangelism a priority: (1) How much of our congregational contribution is budgeted to evangelism? Has that figure, percentage wise, gone up or down over the past few years? (2) How much do our leaders talk up evangelism? (3) How much is evangelism a part of our public and private prayers? (4) What kind of effort is our congregation putting forth to train its own work force/members to prepare themselves to teach the gospel to lost people? (5) Through our combined efforts with other faithful brethren, how much effort are we really putting into carrying the gospel to every single person in the whole world? (6) How much does our preacher emphasize evangelism in his speaking, writing, and personal life? Is personal evangelism a part of the lives of our elders and deacons? (7) How much time do we, as individual members, spend in evangelistic activities on a monthly basis? (8) How much have you and I ever personally sacrificed or given up in order to help, in some way, to teach the gospel to lost people?

No doubt, there are other questions that deserve consideration, but our answers to the above eight inquiries should give us a pretty good feel for how much we make evangelism a priority. What did your answers to these questions reveal? Brothers and sisters, let us not be afraid to take a look at our past efforts and honestly evaluate what we have done [That is true not only for our past evangelistic efforts, but for our Bible classes, the kind of spouse we have been, or whatever]. Honest evaluation of our personal and congregational efforts gives us the opportunity to see those areas in which we can work to grow and make progress. Self-evaluation has the potential to be an extremely positive thing. How helpful it turns out to be, of course, depends to a great extent on what we are ready and willing to do after our self-analyzing is complete. If we have worked without flaws in the past, then we need to strive to continue our perfection. If our self-evaluation shows that there are areas in which we can make improvement, then we need to strive to work for progress. It is also the case that if our evaluation of our past evangelistic work causes us to see that we have violated God’s will by taking inappropriate action or by neglecting our duty, then our repentance is in order. Consider a fourth matter.

When evangelism is in its proper place, then it will be part of our Personal Involvement. That is right: each of us needs to be Personally Involved in evangelism. Teaching the gospel to lost people is not just for him, her, and them – it is for me, too! Our brothers and sisters of nearly 2000 years ago got personally involved in teaching. "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word" (Acts 8:4). The Spirit of God declared that "the servant of the Lord" must be "apt to teach" (2 Timothy 2:24). The more people we have sowing the seed on a more frequent basis, the greater opportunity we have for finding more good and honest hearts! (Luke 8:15). When is the last time your family talked about what it can do to help teach the lost? Dads or husbands, when was the last time that you led your family in spreading the gospel to others? Each member of the Lord’s body needs to find what he/she can do to help get the gospel message to lost people. You may not be ready to conduct a one-on-one study or knock on doors, but there are many other means of sowing the seed that we all have available to us.

Let’s make sure that we have evangelism in its proper place. As we have pointed out in this study, that includes making evangelism part of our Planning, our Prayers, our Priority, and our Personal Involvement. May the Lord help us to get fired up and stay fired up about helping people get ready for heaven!

-- Roger D. Campbell