Why does the church feel so ill-equipped to share the gospel? Why are the laity, and even the leadership overcome with fear to share their faith? Why is it so difficult to get people motivated to fulfill the great commission in Mark 16:15 to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature? This book, The Forgotten Officer: Restoring the Fullness of God’s Design by Joe Kohler, brings to the forefront one of the greatest tools that the church has forgotten about, the evangelist. The modern church has pushed out the evangelist and replaced him with tent revivals, traveling preachers, and parachurch ministries. This book biblically shows how the evangelist is to work in and with the local church, alongside the pastor and teacher to grow the church, not shifting believers around from fellowship to fellowship.
The Problem
The main premise of this book is that the officers of Ephesians 4:11-13 (Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) were given by Christ to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, not for reaching the lost themselves. But he doesn’t stop there. He also insists that the local church leadership / eldership should be made up of the pastor, teacher, AND the evangelist. So, what is the model the modern church has taken on instead of the biblical one? The evangelist has been replaced with Youth Pastor, Maintenance Ministry, or Worship Leader.
Whether forgotten or neglected, the result is the same – evangelists are excluded from their proper place in their leadership roles for the church as they were given by Jesus, which will hinder the church from attaining unity of the faith, knowledge of he Son of God, maturity, and the measure of the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ according to Ephesians 4:13.
The Solution
The solution that Mr. Kohler offers is that the office of Evangelist needs to be recognized and emphasized as an important part of the leadership structure in the local church in order for the church to grow outside the walls of the community it is in. We have inherited a church culture that does not rightly understand, appreciate, value, or recognize evangelists in the local church. At best, we recognize the ministry of evangelists as a parachurch ministry. We have nullified the word of God with our traditions and therefore lacking an important officer whose job is to help us speak the truth in love, which is critical for us growing up in all aspects into Christ. Pastors and teachers dominate the leadership structures, not evangelists. Sadly, the presupposition that evangelists equal those with the spiritual gift of evangelism has caused pastors to ignore the evangelists all together in the final assessment of local church governance. “Spiritual gift of evangelism” is nowhere found in the bible.
The local church needs evangelists to train the people of God to do the work Jesus commanded believers to do. Without the outward focus of a church being maintained through the leadership of the evangelist, it will naturally become inwardly focused. This is natural because the pastor exists to care for the body by teaching, preaching, counseling, and loving with a focus on the people the Lord has brought to the congregation. Churches are inwardly focused because if only pastors and teachers are present in the leadership and pastors/teachers focus on the health of the body inwardly. We will not become mature when we don’t adhere to all the leadership designed by Christ in Ephesians 4:11-13.
One has to have the recognition of the church as well as the gift and doing the work to be a bishop, evangelist, or deacon in the church. Without some formal recognition and establishment as an official leader, the ability to equip and edify is greatly hindered. Why does the evangelist require a leadership position in the local church? Because why should the congregation adhere to the demands of the evangelist if there is no accountability to the evangelist. We must recognize Christ’s gifting and publicly establish and recognize them in some form in the leadership. Otherwise, the encouragement to obey the evangelist is laughable. We must know who the leaders are if we are to submit ourselves to them.
But this doesn’t stop here. Once an evangelist is publicly established as a leader and recognized as one, many will want to still go to the pastor for guidance in the area of outreach, treating the evangelist as a second-class leader. This practice needs to be corrected thoroughly and quickly. Outreach issues concerning the church should be directed to the evangelist when appropriate. The pastor must clearly communicate that the evangelist’s vision and plans for the body are just as important as his own in order for everyone to work as a team.
Personal Thoughts
I thought this was an excellent book stating the most obvious problem and a solution in the church today. As I started reading the introduction to this book, I was overcome with a feeling equivalent to my team winning the Superbowl. I was overjoyed knowing that many of the questions I had regarding my calling were going to be answered throughout the pages of this book, and indeed they were. I had joy reading the testimonies of Evangelists who are leaders of their local church, teaching members to share their faith, and doing the work they were called by Christ personally to do. I wasn’t jealous or envious or them. I was genuinely happy for them and praised God that they found their place in their calling. That’s awesome.
But being a biblical evangelist that was called by Christ but whose calling is not properly recognized as such by my fellowship and the leadership is a lonely walk. I am active, but dormant. One particular elder numerous times publicly discouraged others in my local church to join me on the streets to reach the lost. No wonder I call it, “Club Frustration”. Ideas get shot down, plans go awry, reminder dates get forgotten in the bulletin. It’s hard to look at an empty outreach signup sheet next to a full one for a pot luck, women’s study, or some fun youth outing. It’s disheartening. But when things do go well and something happens, it’s short-lived and the excitement doesn’t last. This never was intended to be a pitty-party. But the need for an evangelist leader in the local church is way overdue.
Conclusion
I encourage all Pastors, Teachers, Ministry leaders, and Evangelists who are or are not biblically inserted into local leadership roles to read
The Forgotten Officer: Restoring the Fullness of God’s Design by Joe Kohler. Its only $3.99 on Kindle. Think about what is written, what the author is saying. If you are a Pastor, ask yourself why your local fellowship isn’t growing. Shifting believers from one church to another is not growing the church. It may be growing our fellowships, but not the church as a whole. Ask yourself why your programs in the past have died off, or were short lived failing to produce any excitement in the body. Ask yourself why your congregation is timid, fearful, and uninterested in reaching the lost, and what have you done to help guide it. How much consistent quality time have you put in it? Could you as a pastor even do that with your busy schedule as it is? Ask yourself why there is no specific budget for outreach and reaching the lost to which Christ said was our highest calling as children of God.
The only thing that will grow the church, is to preach and evangelize the lost who are outside of it. That is what all Christians are called to do. All Christians. It is the evangelists job to lead them by example, hand in hand with them, teaching them how to do it on their own and make disciples. This is a team effort, and always has been, to work together for the Glory of God.
Gospel Reset: Salvation Made Relevant by Ken Ham
