The following “Question“ was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and “Answered“ by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Nelly Kaye of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, from the tape, GC 1301-E, titled “Bible Questions and Answers Part 7.“  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. ©1976. All Rights Reserved.

Question

What should be our responsibility relative to evangelism? What is the priority of evangelism in the Christian life? How does it fit in with the priority of Fellowship, Bible study, and Prayer? It can be very confusing if a person tries to run around doing everything. They often are sort of intimidated into evangelizing, jumping into the world to preach the Gospel, and not meditating on the Word in preparation.

Answer

Well, that’s a difficult question to answer because it’s so unique to everybody’s life. And I’ll give you a rather general answer.

I kind of look at evangelism, and I have always looked at it this way, and my study of Scripture has never done any thing but confirm it. But true evangelism is an overflow of a lifestyle. The purest, truest, most beneficial, dramatically effective evangelism there is, is not the superficial, run around, zap everybody on a shallow basis evangelism. Now, there is some conservation and some harvesting to be done at that kind of evangelism, because some people are ready, and all you have to do is just give them the Word and they’re plucked.

But on the other hand, the New Testament style of evangelism was a corporate group of believers, living in a community with such godly lives, that the attraction was their lifestyle, their living pattern, their joy, their happiness, their peace, all the fruit of the Spirit that drew the surrounding people to find out what it was that they had.

For example, in the book of Acts when the church is born you have a pattern set. The church met together. As far as we know this is what they met for: prayer, fellowship, the apostles doctrine and the breaking of bread. It doesn’t say they had a Tuesday night evangelism class. It doesn’t say they went out on the street and had street meetings. But what it does say is that they loved each other, they had all things in common, they prayed together, they fellowshipped, they studied the apostles’ doctrine, they went into the temple daily, and out of the overflow of their life came the Gospel and the Lord added daily to the church such as should be saved. And I think sometimes we can be forcing ourselves to run around and talk a gospel that we haven’t really yet known what it is to live. And that’s the real guts of evangelism.

I think God wants me to live the life in my community around the people who are right around my world, to win them to Christ. Not that He doesn’t want me to go out door to door, or to go out and reach people, or to talk to the guy I meet on the airplane, or whatever. He does. But that’s just the edge of evangelism. The priority is to be right with God.

And I’ve said this again and again, you take care of the depth of your ministry, you take care of the depth of your life before God and He will multiply the breadth of it. You be a holy vessel and you’ll be amazed what God will do with you. But you run around trying to do everything and don’t take care of the righteousness aspect of it and I’m not sure you’re much use to God at all. He’ll be working in spite of you.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's “MacArthur’s Questions and Answers“ by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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