Being Fishers of Men

An Engagement with Robert E. Coleman’s Work,The Master Plan of Evangelism, Part II

Introduction

Many are busy doing something for the Lord. The question is: Are we getting the job done? It is about the objective and relevance of our evangelistic work. It is about our methods of evangelism. Over the years, Evangelism has been misconstrued with many other Christian words and trends. For instance, if you ask Christians what is the first thing that they think of when they hear the word Evangelism, most would respond with the names of the world’s top most renowned Evangelists such as Billy Graham, Charles Stanley, or even Joel Olsten. And of course, the word Evangelist has had the same problem that the word Evangelism has had in regards to losing the true intended meaning of the word.

What is it?

In Matthew 4, Jesus called a few men to follow him. He planned to call men who could bear witness to His life and carry on His work. Jesus called men who were willing to follow Him and learn from Him. It seems that Christians nowadays have forgotten that all born-again believers are Evangelists, not just those who show up in a small town with a tent, a band, and a sign that says revival. Every soul that becomes saved becomes a messenger of the good news. I believe that this is the exact message that Jesus was trying to convey to His followers when He gave the great commissioning in Matthew 28. “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit”.

Jesus commanded the whole church to evangelize, and He expected that the disciples would obey. Next, Jesus imparted Himself to His disciples. But that was not the only thing Christ imparted, “And in receiving His spirit they would know the love of God for a lost world.” Jesus wanted His disciples to be ready to evangelize the world when He left, so He imparted knowledge and the secret of a victorious life to the men He had selected to represent Him.

Jesus led His disciples by example. He led by example when He taught them to pray when He taught them how to relate scripture to their lives and evangelize, and how to win souls. Jesus was always teaching. Christ first gave the Great Commission to His disciples. He delegated the work of the Heavenly Father to them. Jesus also had other disciples and sent them out two by two to spread His truth. He delegated work to them that needed to be done.

Next, Jesus supervised everything His disciples did. He would send them out, but He would follow them at a distance. He would check in on them. Jesus wanted them to report back to Him on how things went on their assignment. Lastly, Christ wanted His disciples to produce fruit. He expected His disciples to have disciples. This is the idea of reproducing “You have not chosen me but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bear fruits”.

Conclusion

Christ wanted His church to spread and the only way that it could start was through soul winning that He taught His disciples. We must invest more time in a few people in the church to develop the leadership in evangelism before we start reaching the multitudes. A few people trained and dedicated to the task will shake the world for God. Multitudes can be won easily if they are given leaders to follow. Victory is always achieved through the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us rely on Christ for the expandment of His church, and may we be faithful in our calling as those who are called to evangelize the good news of the gospel to the world.

By

Martin H. Kamaidan