In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Evangelism is the dream of the entire church. Our church has always been evangelizing, and evangelism is a commandment. However, our church was hindered by problems of pastoral care and the pressure of society in Egypt and gathering its children. Today, God has arranged for there to be a presence for the Coptic Church in the entire world. It is as if God planted a seed in every country to enlighten the entire country - not just gather the Copts in the country.
We all have the dream that every Coptic church will be evangelizing in the society in which it is. A church in Egypt evangelizing in Egypt. A church in Austria will preach in Austria, in Germany, in Australia, in America, and in Russia. This means that it will be an evangelizing church.
This course will cover many things:
- What does preaching look like from a biblical perspective?
- What does it look like in reality?
- What does it look like historically?
- What are the values that move the preacher?
- The concepts and principles that the Christian person needs to be a preacher
- The frustrations, obstacles, challenges, and problems that the evangelist faces
Our dream is that whoever follows this course will find that his mindset has changed - that he is looking at the world in a new way and sees his life in a new way and has a different goal than before the course. At the same time, there will be a movement of zeal in his heart that he really wants all people to know God and love the church.
The Eyes of the Evangelist
Generally speaking, when we go outside our country, we tend to isolate ourselves. Most Egyptians who have gone outside Egypt are a little afraid. We are not afraid of mixing with society, but we are afraid that they will hurt us or tire us out. So we step aside. We just get to know each other. Then when we gather, we do not know how to love each other and we end up clashing with each other. The story is neither beneficial to us nor beneficial to the society we live in.
Rather, the preacher sees just as Christ sees. Our Lord Jesus, when He looks at any person, has one goal - that this person will have a place in heaven tomorrow. There is nothing that moves our Lord Jesus in His dealings with all people of all categories - sinners, bad people, women, men, Pharisees, priests - except one perspective:
"I want everyone to be saved."
The idea of salvation of all is the motive that moves the preacher all the time. When he deals with any person, he doesn't deal from the perspective of whether he is good or bad. This is not the issue. He does not know Christ and will perish in hell. So the evangelist is moved by compassion and wants to do anything to change his fate.
If this awareness is deeply rooted in you, you will notice that wherever you go - when you buy something from a store, when you ride a taxi or a bus, when you attend a class in college or work with a colleague, when you are a doctor at the clinic or a patient with a doctor - all of these relationships will change just because there is one idea that moves you: I want this person to know God.
This question occupies the evangelist - not in an artificial way, but naturally, like a mother who looks after her children all the time. She doesn't think of herself, but her children. For a person to see people in this way, he must first be filled with the spirit of God.
The Evangelist Is Filled with the Holy Spirit
The most important topic is that the evangelist is a person filled with the Holy Spirit. You all remember that on the day of Pentecost something important happened. Our Lord Jesus, although He commanded His disciples on the day He ascended to go and preach to the whole world, also commanded them not to move from their place. They had good news - they wanted to tell the world that Christ is risen, that Christ is God, that there is eternal life. But He told them not to say anything and not to move until they are clothed with power from above.
That's why in this course there is a very fundamental spiritual aspect. Because no matter how much we study, no matter how much we know, and no matter how much we learn, the issue is not a question-and-answer and not about communication skills. It's not just relationship skills, but more important than all of this: Who are you on the inside?
Because what will produce a real result is your inner state, not your outer appearance. The kingdom of God within you is what will produce results in evangelism. The rest is all good and important. God will use it as talents. But if the Holy Spirit is not a flame within you, there can be no evangelism.
Evangelism Is Fire
The Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost descended on the disciples in the form of tongues of fire. Preaching is fire. When we started preaching missions 8 years ago, I was talking to our bishop, Anba Bemen. I told him I am preoccupied with evangelism. So he told me a sentence I will never forget:
"Evangelism is fire, and the evangelist must be a flame of fire."
In the Bible, the expression "flame of fire" describes a man named Jehoiada, the priest, in the book of Zechariah. The Jewish people at his time forgot our Lord. But Jehoiada was a flame of fire. He truly loved our Lord. He and another man named Zerubbabel were both flames of fire. The two of them brought the whole people back to God because they moved their hearts and put zeal in them.
This is what Christ said:
"I came to send fire on earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" - Luke 12:49
He meant there is nothing He wants more than this fire to spread and move in the whole world - the whole world to be filled with the fire of divine light inside the heart of every Christian.
The Fire Fills You Through Spiritual Life
If the Holy Spirit filled you, you would automatically become a preacher. This alerts us to something that brings us both joy and sadness.
What brings joy is that if you are a true Christian, you have the fire of the Holy Spirit within you and you are an evangelist whether you studied or not. In the book of Acts, there was no evangelism course. But all the people of the church were fire. They all loved God strongly. They all saw heaven. They all lived a holy life. They had grace in the eyes of all people.
What saddens us is that unfortunately, not every person doing evangelism is a true Christian. You can learn how to talk, defend your faith, and debate, but in your inner life, you are not leading a pure life. When a servant of evangelism cannot love his fellow servants, then his service becomes pointless. The fire within is extinguished.
"For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." - Matthew 12:34
If you truly love God, you will talk about Him without anyone teaching you. You will find yourself unable to keep silent. But if you love Him somewhat, you will speak about Him sometimes. And if you love Him little, you will speak about Him little, and the words will come out weak.
The Holy Spirit fills the heart through every spiritual deed we do - as long as we do it wholeheartedly:
- When you pray and know that you are talking to God for real, the Holy Spirit is refreshed in you
- When you read the Bible honestly, desiring to hear the voice of God, the Holy Spirit fills you
- When you come to liturgy with passion for the Body and Blood of Christ, the Holy Spirit fills you
- When you stand before your father of confession, ashamed of your sins and wanting to be transformed, the Holy Spirit will fill you
- When you are with your loved ones, taking the last seat, serving them, bearing with them, the Holy Spirit will fill you
And the reverse is also true. Routine prayer quenches the spirit. Reading the Bible just as a checkmark has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. Service with contention - competing over who is the greatest, who is first, who is most knowledgeable or most popular - all of this has nothing to do with being filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Prophet Jeremiah: Unable to Keep Silent
Jeremiah was a prophet to the Jewish people. The people in his time were very difficult to deal with. God told him, "You must speak about Me." So he spoke several times. Every time he spoke about our Lord, he found a very bad reaction. People didn't want to listen to him. They mocked him, cursed him, and insulted him. So he said, "I will not talk about Him anymore."
And then he says:
"His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not." - Jeremiah 20:9
Imagine - we are the ones who are not able to speak the truth. While the correct mindset is that we are not able to keep quiet. If the spirit of God is strong inside you, how would you see someone who could be in hell tomorrow and not say to him, "Watch out"?
When you see someone driving like crazy and will crash or fall into a hole, you scream and shout. You are not able to keep quiet. "Watch out!" Saying "Watch out" is evangelism. If you love people, you will find yourself reacting spontaneously. Of course, you need methods and wisdom, and little by little we will study and learn. But the spirit must come to you on your own.
Abraham and Lot: The Heart of the Evangelist
Lot exploited Abraham's kindness. You can say that Lot tricked our father Abraham. Lot was young, Abraham older. Lot was Abraham's nephew - he wasn't of much value. Abraham made him of great value. Then came a difficult moment when the shepherds fought over the land.
Lot went to complain to Abraham. Abraham told him:
"We will not disagree. We will not quarrel. I do not care about the land, I do not care about the gain, I do not care about life. All I care about is you, Lot."
Lot did not understand the message. He did not understand that our father Abraham was concerned for him because Abraham saw what was going to happen through Christ's eyes. Lot saw the land and the world and the gain and the opportunity - and chose Sodom and Gomorrah.
Our father Abraham's heart remained not upset about the land that was lost, but upset about Lot who was almost lost. He wasn't afraid that he might become poor. He was afraid that Lot would perish.
When Christ came to Abraham and said that Sodom and Gomorrah's evil had risen before Him, Abraham could not bear it - because Christ's words implied that Lot would be destroyed. So he interceded for all of Sodom and Gomorrah:
"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" - Genesis 18:25
This is the heart of the evangelist. Sodom and Gomorrah took Lot from you and Lot wronged you. Let them perish. What is it to you? No. The heart of the evangelist is a heart that loves people and does not want the fire to devour them. He wants them with him in heaven. Even if they stepped on him, even if they wronged him, even if they burdened him - what is important is that they do not perish.
A Biblical Commandment
Evangelism is a biblical commandment. When Christ said, "Go and preach to the whole world," some people say this was just for the apostles. As a matter of fact, it was not only for the apostles, because in the Sermon on the Mount, Christ told all the people:
"You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth." - Matthew 5:13-14
These words were not just for the apostles. The Sermon on the Mount is the constitution of the Christian life.
You Are the Light of the World
The idea that you are the light of the world means that everyone who received the Holy Spirit is responsible for shining to those around him. Our Lord Jesus put it in a beautiful way:
"Neither do men light a candle and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." - Matthew 5:15
Every Christian who doesn't evangelize is as if a basket has been put over his light. Although this light was not for you but for those around you. You are called to succeed in life, grow, get degrees, and have many good relationships so that your light can impact many people. You should be on top of the lampstand in the highest place so that you shine your light to the largest number of people.
You ought to be successful people and have great achievements and know many people - not for the sake of money or fame, but rather to shed your light on other people's lives. But if you put yourself under a basket and thought of yourself only, then the light won't be of any use.
You Are the Salt of the Earth
There are two ways to understand the salt of the earth. First, the salt for food to give it good taste. But second, as a fertilizing agent, giving nutrition to the land so that it may bring forth fruit. Some land, if you don't give it this sort of salt, won't produce fruits.
We are the salt. The earth is barren. The world is full of evil. Who will help produce good from this world? The children of God. Who will stir love in the world? The children of God. Who will help people forget the earthly things and think of the heavenly things? The children of God.
If the salt loses its flavor - if the fertilizer that is needed to feed the earth is itself spoiled - then it becomes useless and will be thrown away. Similarly, any Christian who is not evangelizing will be thrown away, since he is good for nothing.
You Are the Fragrance of Christ
"For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." - 2 Corinthians 2:15
Christ has a sweet fragrance. He shows us the ideal image of a human. Christ is not only God - He is also the perfect man, the proper image of humanity. Every one of us, when we resemble Christ, will be the fragrance of Christ. People see the true human, the role model, in us.
This doesn't mean that everyone must love us. Some will hate us the same as they hated Christ before. But this should not be a problem. If we reflect Christ and they hate us as they hated Christ, the responsibility is on them, not us. But if we don't reflect Christ, then the responsibility is on us.
You know the air freshener - if it runs out of the fragrance material, it becomes just an idle object. Sometimes we are like that: Christians, but idle. We have run out of the sweet smell that makes people around us refreshed and happy.
The Imperative of Evangelism
This is what made St. Paul say:
"Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For necessity is laid upon me." - 1 Corinthians 9:16
All Christians who live only to make money are not Christians. All Christians who live only to earn degrees are not Christians. All Christians who live only to raise their kids are not Christians. A true Christian is someone who loves God very much and loves people very much. That's it.
He fulfills the first two commandments that Christ called the greatest:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself." - Mark 12:30-31
If you love your neighbor, you cannot bear to see him perish in hell. If you loved him, you will long to tell him, "Take Christ." I don't have money to give you, but I have Christ to give you. I don't have many things I can help you with, but I can give you the most precious thing of all - eternal life.
A Practical Exercise
Every person you see, pray for half a minute in your heart: "O Lord, do not leave this soul to perish in Hades." Every person you meet, even if he is a good person - "O Lord, protect him from hell. O Lord, protect him from destruction."
Because when you get used to seeing people and praying for every person that he does not perish, the day will come when you will be able to talk to him. You will not be able to keep quiet.
Maybe in the book of Acts, God left His disciples for 10 days, praying before they received the power of the Holy Spirit. What do you think they prayed for? For sure, they were praying for the whole world to know God and to love Him. They were asking God to make them able to talk about Him and not to be a hindrance for the word of God to reach people.
Throughout this course, we need to pray and ask God to change our minds, our eyes, and our hearts. Help us to see people in a new way. Help us to love them like Christ does. Help us to be zealous for their salvation - passionate and feeling responsible for them.
Conclusion
May the Lord give us grace so that we take this course seriously. Start with the exercise - pray for everyone you meet, saying, "Please, Lord, protect him from perishing eternally."
"As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world." - John 17:18
Key Takeaways
- Evangelism is the dream and commandment of the entire Coptic Church - not just for clergy, but for every baptized Christian
- The evangelist must be filled with the Holy Spirit; without the inner fire of God, no technique or skill can produce real fruit
- You are called to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth, and the fragrance of Christ - shining, preserving, and drawing others to God
- The heart of the evangelist sees every person through Christ's eyes and is moved by compassion for their eternal salvation
- Spiritual life - prayer, Scripture, liturgy, confession, and humble service - is what fills and sustains the fire of evangelism
- A practical starting point is to pray silently for every person you encounter, asking God to protect them from perishing
Dive Deeper
Resources coming soon.
To our God be all glory and honor, now and forever. Amen.