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Developing Evangelistic Leadership in the Church

By Bill Bright

Helping to fulfill the Great Commission is the single most important task of the Church. Therefore, developing evangelistic leadership to carry out that mission should be a top priority.

Adding to that sense of priority should be an awareness of the unique time in which we live. After almost 2,000 years, we are within reach of actually fulfilling the Great Commission. Many of us Christian leaders believe that with God's help it can and will be done by the end of the year 2000.

God's help is already evident. Witnessing opportunities are unprecedented. For example, we now have a rare window of open doors in heretofore closed societies such as those in former communist nations. And in the United States and abroad we have a freedom and general tranquillity that are conducive to evangelism. How long will this window remain open? Ominous storm clouds are in much of the world, and we do not know how long God will hold them back. Therefore, we must move with swiftness and resolve in a great sense of urgency.

The Lord has provided incredible resources with which to finish the job. This includes high-tech tools such as radio, television, film, and videos, not available to previous generations. For example, just one of our tools, the Jesus film, the full-length movie on the life of Christ taken directly from the Gospel of Luke, is seen daily in hundreds of cities and rural areas. Often it is projected on bedsheets spread before village crowds on moonlit nights in the farthest corners of the world. As of January 1, 1998, over 1.3 billion people had viewed it in 440 languages in 222 countries. Millions have indicated decisions to trust Christ.

The goal of our Jesus Video Saturation Project is to make the story of our Lord and the gospel available to every home in America. Church workers are freely leaving this same movie on videotape in homes. Using an effective follow-up program, response percentages have been remarkable. Many churches throughout America and overseas are using this highly effective, low-cost video strategy as their own and are blanketing their neighborhoods and cities with the knowledge of the Lord. (Anyone wanting more information on this can call 1-800-29-JESUS.)

With film, videos, one-on-one sharing, and working with hundreds of missions organizations and thousands of churches of most denominations, the aim is to give every person worldwide an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ by the end of the year 2000. This includes not just unreached people groups in the far exotic corners of the world but right here at home—our neighbors and communities—where aggressive local church evangelism is so badly needed.

From these realities it should be clear that two of the most important traits to develop in church evangelistic leadership are vision and urgency.

Vision. Vision must be instilled in evangelistic leaders. Where there is no vision for evangelism, a church dies spiritually, along with the population it could have reached. A leader should clearly see and be captured by the immediate relevance and imperative nature of the Great Commission. The leader should not be a small thinker but have a big vision, trusting God with big plans and goals to reach the lost for His glory. Our vision should be so large that its accomplishment is impossible without God’s intervention. Constructing a vision capable of achievement with our mere available human resources can prevent us from trusting God, with whom all things are possible.

Urgency. The leader also needs a sense of urgency. This does not imply that we want to get ahead of the Holy Spirit, for He alone is the One who draws people to Christ. But we want to be in step and keep up with the quick work He is doing in the world today. The leader needs to be in tune with the times, motivated, and quick to seize and act upon the evangelistic opportunities the Lord may provide, such as effective means of communication.     Probably the single most important attribute to be developed in an evangelistic leader is that he or she must be a person of prayer. Spiritual victories are won and souls are saved in the prayer closet. God’s army is the only army that fights on its knees. An evangelistic effort, either individual or group, should never be undertaken unless it is undergirded by intensive prayer. To this, I strongly recommend the biblical discipline of fasting which, with prayer, helps us focus on the Lord. Denying our fleshly appetites helps us humble ourselves and meet the conditions of 2 Chronicles 7:14.     Many other traits that should be developed in evangelistic leaders are the same ones that should be developed in any church member. However, in leaders I would especially stress the following:

• Be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit, walking in obedience.
• Have a Christlike love for souls.
• Have a love for God’s Word and be a serious student of the Bible.
• Have a solid understanding of the basic truths of the Christian faith.
• Be trained to lead people to receive Christ and to train others.
• Have a servant’s heart.

Servanthood. The apostle Paul considered himself a slave [servant] of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1), who humbled himself and became a servant of all (Philippians 2:7). We must emulate our Master and be slaves to Him and to one another.

Our Lord Jesus gave one major prerequisite to leadership—servanthood: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:26-28, NIV).

Our motivation should always be to serve and not be served. In evangelism we must see ourselves as servants of the people and communities we want to reach, expending our lives and energies on their behalf as our Lord Jesus did for us.

Churches that develop evangelistic leaders who have vision, a sense of urgency, a love for souls and for God's Word, and a servant's heart; who are prayer warriors, filled with the Spirit, and properly trained will be the most effective in helping to fulfill the Great Commission. These servant-workers now helping build God's kingdom will someday hear our Lord say these precious words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Dr. Bill Bright is founder and president of Campus Crusade for Christ International, Orlando, Florida.