Why Evangelism alone will not work

I preface this blog by saying that I do believe in the gift of evangelism and its unique power to communicate the gospel to Sojourners and non-believers alike.  People who posses this gift have an incredible ability to communicate the Living Word in such a way that it is alive and attractive. Furthermore the scripture compels every Christ-follower in their missions endeavor to utilize this gift.  That being said I do believe that evangelism alone is not sufficient to bring about good news to the lost and that Christian teachings that emphasizes evangelism ONLY without a robust teaching of "good news" may potentially be limiting the gospel.

The word for "evangelize" which comes from the Greek noun "euaggelion," literally means "glad tidings," or "good news."  This is also the same word for "gospel" in the New Testament.  Likewise the Greek verb "euaggelizo," means to "announce good news," or "to preach the gospel."  What this means is, yes we cannot bring about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ without "announcing" or telling others about the good news but telling people the good news alone without demonstrating (showing) the good news WILL NOT WORK.  My own missionary experience has affirmed this.

Though the word evangelism is repeatedly found in the Sacred Texts, a closer look into the narrative of Christ will reveal that evangelism was always done in conjunction with demonstration of the good news (Demonstration is physical act of serving, giving, loving, restoring, and bringing healing to those that need it most).  Consider the following verses from the book of Luke that depicts Jesus’ evangelism:   

·       "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel (announcement) to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted (demonstration), to preach (announcement) deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind (demonstration), to set at liberty them that are bruised" Luke 4:18.

·       "And it came to pass afterward, that He went throughout every city and village, preaching (announcement) and showing (demonstration) the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with Him" Luke 8:1. (Note in this passage, that “glad tidings,” the literal meaning of evangelism, comprises of both preaching and showing).

·       "And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching (announcement) the gospel, and healing (demonstration) every where" Luke 9:6.

The Hebrew word shalom (wholeness), calls us to seek a “whole-listic” understanding of the gospel and not a buffet-style gospel where we pick and choose what we want.  So I ask you today, what’s it going to be?  Will you let your both your words and actions do the evangelism.