Pointer's to Progress

Paul’s charge to Timothy should come home to the heart of every preacher. Lis­ten to this old, seasoned veteran of a hundred battles as he gives counsel to a young officer in the Lord's army : "Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." "Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy minis­try."

Evangelism, then, is not a side line; it is rather the very heart of all ministry. Soul win­ning is the primary work of a minister. Many other duties will fall to his lot, but these are only a means to an end. He will be a man of many parts, but his real work is to win souls. There are naturally four main divisions of his ministry, and each of these is to be a channel for evangelism.

First, he is a preacher, a herald of hope, a carrier of good tidings. He bears a message from the King. He does not merely tell about the King; he speaks for the King. He talks to men on God's behalf, and to God on man's be­half. He speaks with the authority of an am­bassador of heaven and, "in Christ's stead," makes known the purposes of God. This is his PROPHETIC MINISTRY. By it he awakens inter­est.

Second, he is a teacher. He unfolds the mys­teries of God. He speaks of truth higher than the heavens and deeper than the ocean, but he has to bring it all within the range of human thinking. Jesus was the "prince of teachers." In fact, the title of teacher was applied to Him more than any other. He had a technique that was simple but marvelously effective. As He drew aside the veil from the face of nature, He enabled men to see God as their Father. He came preaching; and His preaching was with power. But by His teaching He developed the interest His preaching had awakened. Yes, the evangelist has a TEACHING MINISTRY, and through it he develops interest.

Third, the evangelist is a fisherman. His preaching and teaching are only preliminary ; they have but one purpose—the saving of the lost. Men struggling in the sea of sin must be lifted out and established on the Rock of Ages. The evangelist conies, not merely to inform, but to transform men; not merely to interest, but to catch men. Evangelism must win as well as warn. As a FISHERMAN, he clinches the in­terest.

Fourth, he is a shepherd. While he has been bringing home the lost, he has been building a flock. Now the sheep need his constant care. Feeding and guarding the flock are just as im­portant as finding and rescuing the lost. Strange it is how strong we can become in de­veloping devices to catch men, and yet how weak is our technique for holding them. It is stranger still that sometimes even the evange­list himself, whose sacrifice and toil have brought a flock together, seems to carry very little burden to keep them in the fold. The evangelist must be a SHEPHERD in order to hold the interest.

In nature the parental instinct is very strong, but under certain conditions some animals not only will abandon their offspring but will ac­tually destroy them if some kindly hand does not intervene to protect them. Their separation, then, becomes essential to their preservation. And we have known of some ministers who, unless moved on to a new field, would actually weaken the very work they have labored so hard to build up. In fact, the title evangelist has too often been associated with that unfor­tunate pattern of work, the idea being that one has to be always on the move in order to win souls.

Hiding behind the idea that he is an evange­list and not a pastor, such a man soon begins to cast his eyes about in search of some new field of labor even before the new believers are really established in the faith, He carries no special burden to see that his "children in the Lord" are integrated into church life and ac­tivity. Somebody else must do that. But that kind of evangelism, which leaves so much for others to do in establishing the new believers, always results in large losses. No evangelism is really complete until the evangelized become evangelists. And the man who can most suc­cessfully inspire the new converts to become convert makers is the one who converted them. This shepherding work of the evangelist, this training and establishing of new members, is vital if they are to grow into the full stature of Christian manhood and womanhood.

Paul was a tireless evangelist, a matchless theologian, but he was also a tender, watchful shepherd. Amid the variety and peril of his service, "the care of all the churches" was upon him continually. He was the ideal pastor-evangelist. Each main field of ministry was his to a remarkable degree. Preaching, teaching, fish­ing, shepherding—all came into the work of the great apostle, and were the avenues through which he challenged Timothy to give proof of his divine call.

In our day the issues are just as clear, and we are to permit all these fields of ministry to become effective channels for soul winning, for only by doing the work of an evangelist can we give full proof of our ministry.

R. A. A.