II Timothy 4:1-2

I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.  Preach the word, be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.

The local church in Las Vegas has been blessed with a growing number of evangelists, people who are called by God to share the gospel message to the world.  In nearly all occasions, the call to be an evangelist is overwhelming and is seldom faked.  And often when the call comes, there is a battle with God over whether the call is true.  The same is true for some individuals who are called to be pastors.  In Ephesians 4:11 both the evangelist and pastor are listed as people who are called.  And both calls are vital to the body of Christ.

I struggled with my call as an evangelist on April 8, 2005.  I was heading to work after leading an evangelistic outreach on the Las Vegas Strip.  I didn’t get my official call through an audible voice but still the Holy Ghost let me know that this was real.  I expected to be ecstatic when I received the call, since I had prayed to God for seven years to receive it.  For those seven years of praying the only answer I got from God was, “Wait”.  But that Friday morning when I heard from God, I initially doubted Him.  I asked why he wanted me to be an evangelist when it was such a struggle to share the gospel with people.  I questioned why he didn’t call me into children’s ministry or drama, where I was better suited.  And I will never forget the message I received, “Doug, I did not call you to the children’s ministry or drama because you would rely on your own strength and not mine.  Instead I have called you to be an evangelist because you are forced to rely totally upon me.  This way you will be the instrument and not the source.”  For the first time in my life I realized that the call was not mine to possess, but was God’s to execute through me. 

For the past couple of weeks the first part of II Timothy 4:1-2 has been ministering to me.  Paul has been a mentor to Timothy and has helped him to understand how he is to lead the church in Ephesus.  Paul is coming to the end of his instruction and he gives Timothy these words, “I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ”.  The Greek word for charge is diamarturomai, and means to testify.  Paul is telling Timothy that he has been called to preach the gospel and Timothy will testify before God and the Lord Jesus Christ on how well this is accomplished.  But not only is Paul telling Timothy about how he will testify, Paul is also encouraging Timothy to be successful.  It is this encouragement among the believers that makes the church more efficient in doing God’s will.

Initially this article was designed to ask the Pastors to be faithful in charging the evangelists to share the gospel.  The pastors need to hear this, because the evangelists have a huge battle each time they go out to share the gospel to a lost world.  The charge of the pastor is vital for encouraging the evangelists.  But instead of addressing the pastors I must first convict the evangelists.  My question to the evangelists is, “are you being faithful in encouraging your Pastor and submitting to their position of authority?”  The encouragement of the pastor is just as important as the encouragement of the evangelist.  Each Pastor is called to lead a number of members of Christ’s church like a shepherd.  Peter says to the pastors in    I Peter 5:2 & 3 “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; not as being lords over those entrusted to you but being examples to the flock” The pastor is responsible for revealing the word of God to the members and guiding them in their walk.  Even though this is the pastor’s responsibility the evangelists has a responsibility to submit, encourage, and support the pastor.  So evangelist, are you building up your pastor through love and encouragement to preach the word and to care for the flock?

Let me give you a couple of suggestions that you can either use to lift up the pastor you are under.