Evangelist Article
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in
them” (Ephesians 2:10, NASB).
don’t care how
much you
know, until they know how much
you care!”
Many of you have heard this
catchy saying before, but it’s more
than just a cute or catchy thought,
it actually gives us a great example
of what servant evangelism is.
Check out this definition and you
will see how servant evangelism
works. 1 Servant Evangelism is a
combination of simple acts of kind-
ness or service, and intentional per-
sonal evangelism.
This is the simplicity of servant
evangelism, it is an important ele-
ment within the ministry of CMA
and it works for all of us. When you
serve or “meet a need” for another
person, they can see tangible evi-
dence that you do care, and it
opens the door for you to share
what you know, the Gospel of Jesus
Christ!
Servant evangelism is very effec-
tive in leading the lost and dying
world to Jesus. It all begins and
develops through those one-on-
one personal relationships we
develop. When you consider the
lives that are changed and the souls
that are saved through CMA mem-
bers around the world who serve
and share, the impact for the
Kingdom is tremendous.
Think about it; what biker does-
n't like to be given a cold drink of
water on a hot day? Or a hot cup of
“P EOPLE
coffee early in the morning, or even
late at night? Of course, there are
many other areas where we can
minister (definition of minister - 2 to
give aid or service ) that will impact
others in a positive way. This is
especially true if the one serving is
smiling, joyful, and having fun.
When we serve and minister to
the needs of others it changes peo-
ple’s perceptions of Christians. We
no longer become just those Jesus
people shoving a Bible down their
throat or looking down our noses
judging their actions or lives, we
can actually be seen as someone
who really cares about them. When
they see that we care about them,
their hearts open. It’s very simple
and quite effective, servant evan-
gelism wins the heart before it con-
fronts the mind.
When we engage the heart of a
person, they are likely to set aside
their skepticism and be more open
to hearing the message we are
delivering. Christians often assume
that if we can change the mind of a
non-Christian their heart will follow
along. But, through our acts of
service, we touch the heart first,
and allow the mind to follow along.
These acts of service or kindness
touch people’s hearts and nudge a
person closer to God, often in a
profound way because it bypasses
one's mental defenses.
It’s pretty safe to say that any
Christ-follower is willing to hand a
stranger a cup of water or coffee
because it is a low-risk situation.
But, once that happens grace often
jumps in and takes shape in the
typical reaction that we see in
return. “Oh, thank you!”; “This is
great, it’s just what I needed!”; “I
can’t believe this is free!”; and,
“Why are you doing this?” Our
answer is really very simple, but
deeply profound and heart touch-
ing, “I’m doing this because Jesus
loves and cares for you.”
Meeting a need is great, but we
need to understand that the main
reason we are serving is so others
can see why we serve and who we
serve! We minister and serve
because Jesus loves us and He loves
the one we are serving. It works a
lot like “Show and Tell.” You can’t
just demonstrate this love of Jesus;
you have to tell them about the
love of Jesus. Just because they see
a good person serving doesn’t
mean they will know that Jesus is
the reason and that He loves them.
We tend to think of evangelism
as someone telling someone else
about Jesus Christ and that person
accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Savior. The truth is it works a
lot like growing and harvesting an
ear of corn or some other crop.
During the evangelism process you
might have several people involved
who tell a person about Jesus
Christ, and others who serve
through acts of kindness and serv-
ice, all done in the name of Jesus
Christ. Then one day someone is
able to pull in the harvest when that
person gives their heart and life to
Jesus. Look at what Paul said-
1. Alvin L. Reid, “Reaching a Postmodern World through Servant Evangelism,” Atlanta: North American Mission Board, 2000, http://d3pi8hptl0qhh4.cloudfront.net/documents/sbjt/sbjt_2001spring6.pdf
2. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, s.v. “minister,” accessed December 5, 2019, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minister.
By RANDAL Tebeau