At last year’s annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention, Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, announced a statewide evangelism initiative to bring the gospel to every individual in Georgia.
The goal, Hammond said, is to train every Georgia Baptist to clearly articulate the gospel and help every church to develop a strategy to intentionally pursue its mission field for Christ.
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Evangelist Jon Reed, president of the Georgia Baptist Evangelists, and secretary-treasurer Jeff Cleghorn are delighted with the emphasis that is being placed on evangelism.
“Look at the early church,” said Reed. “Historians estimate that as many as 300,000 people came to Christ in the first year after Pentecost. Those early believers were so passionate and effective that most were martyred for their faith, and the apostle John was exiled for simply refusing to stop preaching Jesus.”
The problem today, according to Reed, is “not just the petulance and perversion of the world, but the prayerlessness and powerlessness of the church.”
He quoted English evangelist Leonard Ravenhill, who said, “The church is asleep in the light.”
Reed continued, “Our pews are full of good people living powerless lives because they have never been confronted with the full demands of discipleship.”
That lack of discipleship, he explained, includes prayer and sharing the gospel. “The average Christian prays less than five minutes a day. The majority never share their faith. We’ve accepted carnality as Christianity, and now we are wondering where the power went.”
Ephesians 4:11-12 says God called certain believers to be evangelists. These gifted individuals, along with pastors and teachers, are a part of God’s divinely ordained team to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.
Reed emphasized, “Each week, church members are blessed to hear from a pastor and a gifted teacher. But rarely do they hear from an evangelist—someone called and equipped by God to call the lost to Christ and stir the saved to mission. Evangelists don’t preach better; we preach differently. Our calling is unique, and our burden is deep.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by J. Gerald Harris and originally published by the Christian Index.
