Weekend Talk: Be evangelistic-minded
One day, I heard someone who described himself as a major prophet exclude his prophetic mission from the other 5-fold ministry, and that greatly surprised me.
“I am a prophet, not an evangelist,” he said emphatically.
“I deal with your well-being, prosperity, and healing.”
He insisted that his role as a prophet was to enter the spirit world “to determine what is disturbing you and to show you how to overcome evil forces.”
Disturbing statement
The most disturbing statement he made was: “I don’t preach about going to heaven or about the kingdom of God.
That is the work of evangelists. They preach John 3:16; I don’t.”
Presumably, he knew about John 3:16, which is the gist of God’s salvation plan for all mankind through Jesus Christ, His Son.
It amazed me that this “major” prophet had isolated one part of the 5-fold ministry and assigned himself to only that. He buys airtime on different radio stations at night, just inviting people for consultation and divine direction.
The 5-fold ministry
We must understand that the 5-fold ministry (or offices) mentioned in Ephesians 4:11-13, namely apostle, teacher, pastor, prophet, and evangelist, are not exclusive of each other.
Rather, they are interlinked to provide a solid foundation for the growth of the church.
Bible teachers over the centuries have taught that the 5-fold offices, given by Jesus, are roles that function as a team to build up the body of Christ, not as separate offices.
His priority
The Lord Jesus left a supreme instruction for all believers: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you . . .” (Matthew 28:19, 20).
That was his mission, his ministry, the reason for his unprecedented suffering and painful death. So whether you are a prophet, teacher, pastor, evangelist, or apostle, you are called to make disciples.
That was Christ’s priority, for “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
Therefore, to turn away a potential believer with the excuse that you are not an evangelist and therefore cannot lead the person to Christ for salvation is a serious misplacement of the Lord’s priority.
First things first
One day, Jesus asked his followers, “What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world and forfeit their soul?” This question implies that the soul is more important than anything else a person can gain in this world.
Hence Jesus tells everyone, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness . . .” (Matthew 6:33).
This “first-things-first” biblical truth enjoins us to be evangelistic-minded because God’s ultimate objective, for which Christ died, is for us to repent so as to receive eternal life.
Therefore, anyone who purports to work for Jesus within the 5-fold ministry but is not concerned about the salvation of souls must question their true motives.
It is thus expected that a prophet, teacher, pastor, apostle, or evangelist would seek first the salvation of the people they encounter before anything else.
In fact, more souls would be saved if the eagerness with which some prophets invite people for consultation were directed towards the salvation of their souls in addition to the divine direction they offer.
Prophets of old
Prophets look into the future or the past and reveal to us critical messages from God about us in order to convict us of some wrongdoing or instruct us to live better to glorify God.
Prophets of old like Samuel, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea, Joel, John the Baptist, and others urged people to forsake their evil ways and turn to God.
That was spiritually rewarding.
But modern-day prophets who rather love to predict which political candidate would win an election weaken their divine calling and attract public ridicule if their predictions fail.
These days, people pay prophets handsomely when they consult them.
Could that be the reason why the prophetic ministry is on the ascendancy while the evangelistic mission is declining?
Every human being is a lost soul until they find salvation in Christ, including those who go to prophets for divine direction.
To such people, Hebrews 2:3 asks, “How shall we escape the wrath of God if we neglect so great salvation” in preference to material gain alone?
Placing a higher value on temporary earthly benefits above permanent heavenly blessings is largely responsible for our lukewarm attitude towards the things of God.
It is also the reason why people flock to new movements in droves, where material gain is the bait that tempts them.
But we must learn from our Lord Jesus, who refused Satan’s temptation to worship him in exchange for worldly glory and gain.
The writer is a publisher, author, writer-trainer and CEO of Step Publishers.
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