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Question: Why did Paul tell Timothy “Do the work of an evangelist?” Keep in mind the Timothy letters are directed at leaders – specifically to pastors. I have heard many leaders try to make that line into a call to all the church to take to heart that they were to do the work of an evangelist. It is indeed true we are to be gatherers and inviters, however, to use that line of scripture in that way is a misuse of the context. He was writing to a pastor and pastors who would follow in general – not to general church people. If pastors are living out their calling in a balanced way there will be plenty of gathering going on.

Back to that question. Why the exhortation? My theory is each time Paul or any biblical writer made a point of saying “Do this” it was stated because the “this” wasn’t being done! That is, Timothy had not in any consistent way been doing the work of an evangelist. Timothy was likely one of those pastors who delighted in seeing people make steady advances in their spiritual life, he was a hand holder, and he probably spent dozens of hours working on his home run message for the weekend. Does this ring a bell?

We don’t know a heck of a lot about Pastor Timothy, but it appears from the letters to him that he was not too different from most pastors I know and work with. He was likely one who enjoyed seeing people progress spiritually on an individual level. He most certainly felt like he was over his head in response to what was going on in his midst in Ephesus (“don’t let anyone look down upon your youthfulness…”) I suspect he had had a “Sugar Daddy” show up who seemingly wanted to take him under his wing but had other motives in mind – to make him the man in charge of the show from behind the scenes. Most of us have either made a Faustian Deal or have come close to it out of desperation when finances were low.

But more than anything, Timothy was one who had seen God’s Spirit show up in their midst and do some amazing things – probably when Paul was visiting. Timothy had relied upon Paul’s anointing to draw in the not-yet believers.

Timothy was yet to learn a vital lesson most of us as well are yet to learn: How to create an environment that sees people continually come to Christ.

Paul gave two pieces of counsel to get things on track and growing in Ephesus.

1. He reminded him of “the gift” that had been called out upon Timothy’s life by the leadership team earlier in Timothy’s life and ministry. Just a thought: Ministry gifts are called out or “released” upon leaders – specifically leaders who understand how gifting works. The word “gift” here is ‘charismata’ – a beautiful word picture pointing to a ‘droplet of grace.’ When a gift of this nature is released in a leader’s life, as much as anything, confidence is imparted – a new and strong view of the future – a positive anticipation about something good in the future we are about to encounter.

My first significant mentor was a “Timothy” turned gatherer after he had been around a “Paul” who had showed up in his life. He spoke frequently of the need to recognize, pray for, walk in the “gift of gathering” if we are going to be effective. I wonder if Timothy received the gift of “gathering.” Archeologists estimate Timothy’s church grew in his lifetime to a weekly attendance of over 40,000. To quote another mentor in my life, “That’s a whole lot of God’s love son!”

2. He pointed out that he was to “do the work of an evangelist.” Obviously there is an office in the church of “Evangelist” as Paul himself mentioned in Ephesians chapter 4. In effect, Paul was saying, “mimic what an evangelist does, only on a smaller scale, on a regular basis, within your role as a pastor…”

I can hear Timothy’s mind now (and yours as well, “But I’m not that kind of a leader / pastor… I’m introverted… I’m quiet… That isn’t my nature…”

This is part one of a two-part article.

Between now and next week think about this: What does an evangelist really do? Knock on doors? Lead lots of people to Jesus one on one? OR something else even more strategic?

A couple of years ago I spent about an hour with Billy Graham in close quarters – him, his photographer, his right hand man and me. I had heard this before but thought it was a mere rumor. It is true though – Billy is a rather shy, quiet guy. He will readily tell you that. On stage it’s a different story, but his personality is nothing like an ‘archetypical used car salesman.’

Hint: Living out this new kind of effectiveness might be far easier than you think!

(Look for an E-Book by Steve Sjogren at PrettyGoodBooks.com in an expanded for that this brief article touches on. This e-book will give you many inspiring and practical ideas that will help launch you into effectiveness in your evangelism ministry.)

Some who are veteran readers of my articles and books may be surprised to find that I see weekend gatherings to be of the utmost importance. I have suffered through the slough of people “speed reading” my books over the years and mistakenly thinking my ideas are so simple there is no need to work out the details or to read the “fine print,” if you will.

“Simple” does not equal “simplistic” in the least.

One point I have made consistently is that there is a rather involved strategy with the outward-focused approach to winning a city to Jesus. Scattering seeds of kindness recklessly as the not-so-skilled farmer did in Matthew 13 did is a starting point. Then perpetually inviting the “city” to church each day – i.e., drawing people into the “net” is a large part of the plan as well. Without a great net, that is in fine shape, without holes, a net that is wisely thrown where the fish hang out – there will be a limited catch.

In saying “Let’s upgrade the net” I am alluding to our need to specifically improve communication skills at our weekend meetings.

I hope you consider yourself and your church environment as being one where “lifelong learning” takes place. It is with that assumption that I make this week’s remarks as well as the following several week’s thoughts and applications.

If we hope to connect with the ever-changing society around us, we certainly need to be upgrading our communication skills on a regular basis. As well, we need to be experimenting with the ever-present question of “What does it take to best connect with the people God has entrusted to us?”

Here is the huge question that must be clearly answered if progress is to be made in the area of connecting with those coming into the “net” at your weekend meetings: “What is the goal with our teaching on weekends?”

Once that question has been nailed down you will no longer need to deal with pesky church connoisseurs who are not so much looking for challenge at weekend gatherings as they are looking to reproduce something in their minds was a spiritual “high water mark” in their past (content is never the issue regardless of what they say – upon probing a bit with them you will discover what really caught their attention was the focus upon the end times, the voice of the pastor, the age of the pastor, the fact that he sat on a stool, his humor/lack of humor, his verse by verse teaching style instead of topical approach… it is never about “depth”; by your lack of clarification you are inviting others to take potshots at your weekend setup).

I will give you my goal as an example, simply to spark your thinking. This is my conclusion after many years of mulling things over. Like it or not, that’s fine. To find your goal, you need to journal, pray, listen to Jesus, gather with your talent team, etc. Plus a few decades under your belt doesn’t help anything.

I shoot for the following in general each weekend (in no particular order of importance):

Passion – if you as a speaker are not passionate, please don’t speak again until you have caught the passion bug from God’s Spirit; until you are in fact passionate about what you are conveying you are simply misrepresenting God’s kingdom.

Biblical content – every week my goal is that every person present will walk away with at least a couple of new insights to scripture they have never seen.

Challenge – this is missing from 99.99% of meetings in my estimation. Give specific things to put into practice – spiritual things as well as invitational things to try with our neighbors – whether we are introverts or extroverts.

Strong Sense of God’s Presence – sometimes not-yet believers are more aware of God’s active presence in a room than are already-believers; pray, seek, knock in that direction. Without Jesus showing up we are only meeting – we are not being changed.

Natural humor – in the circa 15,000 messages I have given I don’t recall ever telling a joke. However, we laugh at least a dozen times strongly. Yes, you can learn to see through the humorous end of the kalaidescope. Find that way and keep at it.

Consider…
Realize the power of strategic preaching to bring about change in your congregation.

I often confess the multitude of my leadership sins / missteps over the years. One mistake I have not made, is this matter of preaching in a strategic manner from early on in my church planting experience.

Paul lists what a true, biblical leader is several times in his writings. Each time he clearly draws out the need for a spiritual leader at any level to be able to teach. Why so? There are numerous reasons for this, but primarily it boils down to this: Only those who can teach have the ability to lead others. Spiritual authority rests upon those who can convey spiritual truth. There is no such thing as a non-teaching spiritual leader according to the descriptions of Paul in 1 Timothy and Titus.

A message series or even two or three that last, say, four weeks a piece, can change the course of your church. Amazingly, as you give “anointed messages,” God will speak / work through your words.

BTW, none of us are capable of giving a single anointed message – ever. When God shows up all things are subject to change. Some amazing things are afoot for you as a walk humbly but strongly in your dependence upon God’s present strength.

If the church was a mission to the moon, and I was the commander of the mission, my call to Mission Central would be: "Oh God, we have a problem!" The problem is that when the vast majority of people think of the Church, or of a Christian, their thoughts are negative!

The Church in America needs to go through a re-branding process. By re-branding I mean simply this: We need to begin to work hard to reshape the association that comes to mind when the average person thinks of one of those ‘C’ words.

Contrary to what is spoon fed to us by the Christian media, the problem with the image of the Church is not a result of an inundation of negativity from the ’secular media.’ Please please, let’s retire that word, it is so ‘us vs. them.’ Jesus never thought in those terms. When we use terms like that we sound like victims, like everyone is out to get us.

The truth is we have an image problem that we have created ourselves. Mostly out of sheer, 100% laziness. Instead of living out the life of Jesus on a daily basis, we have sought the ‘good life’ like all of our neighbors. After decades and generations of doing that we wonder, ‘Gee, I wonder why no one listens to us? I wonder why no one takes us seriously?’ My response: ‘Gee, my foot!’ Laziness leads to no credibility. It’s really that simple.

If we begin to live out the lifestyle of Jesus we will begin to see the results, the fruitfulness of Jesus all around us. It pretty much boils down to that simple proposition.

On my main website, ServantEvangelism.com, I want to add a thought-provoking weekly feature for readers, entitled ‘The Wait Person of the Week.’ We will feature a photo of a person who waits on tables, then a short mp3 recording of this person’s take on the Sunday afternoon after-church crowd, specifically how they behave and tip. I have a few of these recordings and photos ‘in the can.’ They are both hilarious and heart breaking at the same time. But one thing is consistent: Church people are consistently widely known for being:

1. Mean

2. Demanding

3. Cheap

4. A caricature of over-doing it with religiosity. They usually pray long-winded prayers that are full of language that hasn’t been spoken on Planet Earth in several hundred years. As they prayed their ’special prayer,’ as one waitress put it, the Church people had no compassion for her as she held several plates of steaming hot food. They made no effort whatsoever to speed up their prayer.

5. Joyless

6. Passionless

7. Judgmental

In general, they seem convinced that if they leave a little piece of paper, AKA a ‘tract,’ that piece of information is far more worthwhile than something practical like a normal tip.

[There is no extra charge for the following information: In my book, a ‘normal’ tip is at least 25% - that’s at a bare minimum. As a leader in the Church I implore you, if you leave less than 25%, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not under any circumstances make all Christ followers look like asses and pray for your food in public. If you insist on being a cheapskate, first go home after church, get into something other than clothes that might cause restaurant personnel to connect you with having gone to church, then again don’t pray, and at least show the waiting staff great kindness, smile a lot and give them as high a percent as you have the faith to give. Then for Pete’s sake, get to the 25% level of tipping as soon and as fast as possible.]

The churches we have planted in southwest Ohio have survived for the most part. As I count them, I have sent out 53 churches. Not all of them have taken the name of my denomination. I love my group, but I haven’t insisted that they take that name. Roughly half of them have been a part of that group. That is 25 in total.

Of that total of 53, only 3 have failed to my knowledge, though I don’t have absolutely clear data on all of those churches, that number is pretty close to accurate, within a church or two. In any case, we have had a success rate of right around 95% in our planting. For some reading this that percentage means absolutely nothing. Hold on to your hats I’m getting to a great point momentarily.

By contrast, over the past 20 years, during the wave of church planting that has gone on since the early 1980s, right around 80% of all churches across the board have failed. Of those that have been deemed a ’success’ the number of attendees is 200 showing up on a once a month basis after 3 years. In other words, after three years and a tremendous amount of work, and in most cases a tremendous amount of money (most denominations spend on the average of $200,000 per church plant, many spend far more) ’success’ is seeing about 100 in total attendance on an average weekend.

If you knew me you would realize that I could never live with myself if that was my definition of ’success’ no matter what was happening with other pastors in the area. That may be fine and dandy for some, but my internal, mental, emotional wiring is not, was not ever made for that kind of ’success.’

If that were my experience I would either get into selling used Volvos or jump off the nearest tall bridge after leaving an eloquent note on my laptop journal (mostly kidding about the bridge!).

If you know the story of what happened in Cincinnati, after 15 years we went from 5 people to averaging 7,500 on weekends. But more importantly, we had all of those spin offs. Oh, one more caveat, those spin offs were not ‘average’ sized churches either. They were, as churches go, large.

We continue to plant new churches on a regular basis around southwest Ohio. It is common for our churches to launch with a minimum of 200 and often with 300 on week one.

I’m sorry for the mainstream terminology, but it’s called ‘Branding.’ In my time launching and leading churches, growing from 5 to 7,500, we served and served and served. With each bottle of water that was given out, with each pack of M&Ms, with each pack of Juicy Fruit gum, with each toilet that was cleaned, and with each act of genuine service, the works of Jesus were being done and we were telling people, "This is a practical expression of God’s love." "We are Christ-Followers." "We are from the Cincinnati Vineyard."

When the works of Jesus are done the results of Jesus soon follow. We were re-defining some old words to have completely new meanings. Instead of agreeing on a given word, we were, and this is very important, "showing what we were telling." For the rest of our lives, this is the way we will communicate, redefining words with our actions in a positive way.

We did the above a LOT. Many will agree with our message and our methods but they make the mistake of missing what I call the ‘Law of Inundation.’ In order for this to "work," we must plaster the ever-living daylights out of our communities with these acts of Jesus.

One church planter I know of thought he’d show the love of Jesus as he launched so he touched 10,000 people with practical acts of love. As he told me this he thought I would be impressed by this project. I kept waiting for him to finish the story. After a long uncomfortable pause I asked, ‘Are you finished with your story?’

The ‘Law of Inundation’ says that we must ‘love, serve to the degree that the entire city, area can’t possibly miss the living demonstration of the love of God in a practical way.’

Our plan as we plant on the east side of Tampa? There are about 500,000 who live in that immediate area, maybe 700,000 who drive through there on a regular basis. We are going to serve 250,000 on a one-to-one basis over a 5-6 week period. You may ask ‘How in the world are you going to do that? With a gigantic team? That will take all day, every day’ Details to follow, after we’ve done it. Actually we’ve done it before and it wasn’t that hard and didn’t take that long each day.

Let’s work like dogs and cats this week, by the power of God’s Spirit moving through us, to re-configure the image that comes to mind when our neighbors think of the ‘C’ words.