Five Components to Evangelism

Evangelism in the local body consists of believers engaging the lost as a body of Christ to share with others their spiritual need of a relationship with Jesus. As the Body of Christ, we carry out evangelism with several distinctions that we must not neglect. These distinctions serve as challenges to approach a complete approach to sharing the gospel with the lost.

First, we must be a people of UNITY. The Body of Christ is knitted and formed together by the Lord. Each believer participates in the Body of Christ with the giftedness given to them by the Lord. The Body's activity illuminates the Lord's forgiving nature as believers show how true forgiveness functions with one another in the Body. As believers live life together, support one another as the body, and show God's grace in the Body's life, the outside world begins to see the change that has occurred in the believer's life and prepares the way to receive the vocal message of the gospel.

Second, we must be a people of SHARING. The Great Commission calls individual believers and the local church to share the gospel's message. We must learn to live in our communities, ready to declare Christ to those needing a Savior. We must learn to live ready to give an account and to reach into any dynamic to share the gospel. When we live ready, we live with the heart of serving the Lord's mission of seeking the lost so that they may be saved.

Third, we must be a people of SENDING. When we serve as the Body of Christ, we must seek to find those called to the ministry, train them, commission them, and send them out into the field to sow the gospel and harvest the spiritual produce. When we become a sending people, we recognize that each believer is called to be on a mission for the Lord as they go through their daily life in their daily setting, but we also acknowledge that some have been called to go to the end of the world. Thus, a component of evangelism is to call out the called, send them to the nations, support them faithfully, and continue to be on the mission where we live.

Fourth, we must be a people of SUPPORT. The Body of Christ must be a people that supports the work of the Great Commission. We support the work of evangelism through the practice of stewardship. We support the work of evangelism when we steward the abilities and calling from the Lord in our lives. We support the work when we steward the monetary support to carry out the mission of the Lord. The Lord provided the abilities and the financial resources to carry out the Great Commission when his people practice proper stewardship.

Fifth, we must be a people of PRAYER—the Body of Christ ministers in harmony as we pray for one another. When we pray in harmony, we commit to one another to be a praying person who lifts one another before the Lord. Concerning evangelism, this mirrors when the apostle Paul requests prayer from the early church concerning his ministry. We must pray for each other's ministry. We must pray for the lost. We pray for one another by praying for the lost. We pray for their salvation and their ability to receive the gospel. We must pray for the laborers. We pray that the Lord would open opportunities for us to be laborers in our setting and that he would continue to call people to serve him.

Evangelism is an individual and community effort. Each believer plays a strategic role in carrying out God's calling to proclaim the gospel. We must pray through these five components and ask the Lord to reveal where we need to grow in faithfulness as we seek to be the ones sent, sending, and supporting.