What Is an Evangelist in the Bible — In Biblical Context

The Biblical Context

An evangelist is a minister of the gospel whose primary calling is to proclaim the good news of salvation to those who have not heard or believed. The word 'evangelist' comes from the Greek 'euangelistes,' meaning a messenger of good news. Philip the evangelist, one of the seven deacons in Acts 6, is the only person in the New Testament explicitly called an evangelist. He preached in Samaria, bringing the gospel to a people whom Jews traditionally despised. He performed miracles, cast out unclean spirits, and healed the paralyzed and lame. When the Samaritans believed and were baptized, Peter and John came to lay hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Philip's most famous evangelistic encounter was with the Ethiopian eunuch. An angel directed Philip to the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza, where he found the eunuch reading Isaiah 53. Philip 'began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.' When they came to water, the eunuch asked to be baptized. Philip baptized him, and the Spirit caught Philip away. The eunuch 'went on his way rejoicing.' In Ephesians 4:11, Paul lists evangelists alongside apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers as gifts Christ gave to the church. Evangelists are not merely missionaries to foreign lands but those who proclaim the gospel wherever they go. Some, like Billy Graham in modern times, have a gift for large-scale preaching. Others, like the Samaritan woman at the well, simply tell their personal story and invite others to 'come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did.' Every believer is called to witness, but some are specially gifted as evangelists. Their role is crucial because 'how shall they hear without a preacher?' They break new ground, reach unreached peoples, and awaken the church to its evangelistic mission. The evangelist's message is always the same: 'Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.' Their method may vary, but their mission is singular — to seek and to save the lost, one soul at a time or thousands at a time, until the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.

Where It Sits in Scripture

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