THE QUESTION OF THE MESSENGER: WHO IS AUTHORIZED TO PRESENT THE MESSAGE?

The obvious answer to this question is that every believer is authorized, indeed, commanded to present the message of the Gospel to others. In addition to the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19-20, previously quoted, a similar direct command can be found stated in I Peter 3:15. We should always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us. While some object that the Great Commission was given directly only to the eleven remaining Apostles who were present to hear it, Peter's command was given in a letter to all believers (see I Peter 1:1-2) and cannot be said to have applied only to the original Apostles. Indeed, as Peter also wrote, we are all, collectively, a royal priesthood and a holy nation who show forth God's praises. I Peter 2:9. That is why we are here. When we speak, we should speak, as it were, the oracles of God. I Peter 4:11.

The other New Testament writers agree that all believers can, and should, present the Gospel to others. For instance, John records Jesus' promise in the Upper Room that, when the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, came, he would testify of Jesus and that the disciples also would bear witness. John 15:26-27. Later, in the high priestly prayer recorded in John 17, after first declaring that he had sent the disciples into the world in the same way God sent him into the world, Jesus prays for all those who will believe in him through the disciples' words (all of us), that we all might be one in him, as he is one with the Father. He then declares that he has given all of us the same glory the Father gave him, that we all may be made perfectly one, in order that the world may know that the Father has sent him and has loved all of us. John 17:18, 20-21. But if we are being made one with Jesus, who was sent by the Father, and with his original disciples, who were sent by Jesus, this implies that we are also sent into the world for the purposes for which Jesus prayed�that is, so that the world may know that the Father sent Jesus and loves us. Indeed, John stated this quite clearly in his first epistle, when he wrote:

Hereby we know that we dwell in Him and He in us: because He hath given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God.

I John 5:13-15. A person in whom God lives through His Spirit will naturally testify of the basic truths concerning Jesus, the Son of God. It was not only the original disciples who were "sent" into the world for this purpose.

Paul's letters also contain numerous references to God's purpose to speak to the world through us. For instance, the "shoes" in the armor of God are the "preparation of the Gospel of peace," which symbolically prepare our feet to go into the world declaring that Gospel. Ephesians 6:15. According to I Corinthians 12:3, the presentation of the message of Jesus is identified as the work of the Spirit in our lives, since no one can say "Jesus is Lord" but by the Holy Spirit. Paul told Timothy to preach the Word, to be ready at all times "in season and out of season" to preach it and to "do the work of an evangelist." 2 Timothy 4:1-2, 5. The Colossians were told to let their speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that they might know how they ought to answer every man. Colossians 4:6. In Philippians 1:14, Paul rejoices that, because his chains are so widely known, many of the brethren have become much bolder to speak the Word without fear. But Paul gives his clearest expression to God's purpose in this matter in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20:

Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the Word of reconciliation. Now we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God was beseeching you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Acts, Luke's record of the early church, also contains abundant testimony that ordinary believers presented the Gospel. Of course, Jesus' promise in Acts 1:8 that they would receive power to be his witnesses, after the Holy Spirit came upon them, was spoken directly to the apostles whom he had chosen. See Acts 1:2. But the fact that this promise was not limited to those original apostles is demonstrated numerous times in Acts. First of all, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came visibly upon all of the believers gathered together, not just the apostles, and they all began to speak in tongues. Acts 2:1-3. In explaining this occurrence to the crowd of unbelievers that gathered, Peter quoted the prophecy of Joel that God would pour out His Spirit on "all flesh." Acts 2:17. In verse 38, this prophecy then becomes the basis of a promise that anyone who repents and is baptized "shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Two chapters later, as if to underscore that all who believed received the Spirit and spoke the Word, after the arrest and release of Peter and John, the whole body gathered together prayed that God would "grant unto Thy servants that with all boldness they may speak Thy Word, by stretching out Thy hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of Thy holy child Jesus." Acts 4:29-30. And what was God's response to this prayer? "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness." All of them, not just the Apostles, spoke the Word boldly.

Acts also contains a number of accounts of believers who were not Apostles effectively presenting the Gospel. For example, Stephen, "full of faith and power," did great wonders and miracles and spoke with such wisdom that his enemies could not refute him. Acts 6:8-10. After Stephen was martyred, those who were scattered from Jerusalem as a result of the ensuing persecution "went everywhere preaching the Word," while the Apostles remained in Jerusalem. Acts 8:1-4. During this time, Philip went to Samaria and "preached Christ unto them," casting out demons, healing and doing miracles and signs. Acts 8:4-7, 13. That the "Philip" who went to Samaria was the deacon Philip referred to in Acts 6:5, not Philip the Apostle, is evident because, when "the Apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John." Acts 8:14. This would not have been necessary if the Philip who preached in Samaria had been one of the original Twelve. It was only after Peter and John came that the Holy Spirit came upon the Samaritans. Acts 8:15-16. After his work in Samaria was finished, this same Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch in the chariot on the road, then preached in every city he came to. Acts 8:26-40.

In Acts 9, Ananias of Damascus was sent to Saul, who had seen a vision of Christ, to restore his sight, baptize him, and cause him to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 9:17-18. Saul himself�later known as the Apostle Paul�preached Christ to many, and opened Europe to the Gospel, even though he was not among the original twelve Apostles. Barnabas and Apollos are also named in Acts as men who preached the Word effectively, though they were not recognized in that book as "apostles." See, Acts 13:43 & 46; Acts 18:24-28. Thus, it can be seen that neither Jesus' command to make disciples of all nations nor the power to do so effectively were limited to "apostles," or to any other special class of Christians. Rather, both the command and the power to perform it belong to all believers.

This point must be made very strongly because it is contrary to the common practice of most of the Church today. While most Christians (at least those in the Protestant tradition) would agree intellectually that every believer can and should have a part in proclaiming the Gospel, most seem to limit their involvement to supporting their local church�which hires vocational "ministers" to present the Gospel�and maybe occasionally giving someone a tract or an invitation to a church meeting where more "qualified" paid ministers can present the message.

There are probably several reasons for this. One explanation for our common preference to leave the presentation to paid ministers is the traditional separation between laymen and clergy ("ministers of the Gospel"). This clergy-laity distinction was drawn sharply at a relatively early time in Church history at which, for social and legal reasons, the organized Church in the Roman Empire felt compelled to recognize as church "members" large numbers of unsaved but baptized people. Obviously, unsaved fake Christians are unqualified to present the message, and the organized Church therefore attempted to protect itself from error by limiting the presentation of any message to clergymen who had proven their loyalty to the organization and been thoroughly trained in its doctrines. Unfortunately, much of this thinking still lingers, even though we know Jesus' command applies to us. We fear that, if we really get involved in presenting the message, error may result, bringing God's judgment on us, so we leave the work to more "qualified" people. But, as was previously stated, the Gospel is really a very simple message. Anyone who has the Holy Spirit is capable of presenting the core message of the Gospel without error.

Another explanation for our tendency to leave outreach to vocational ministers is our own laziness. We have our own lives to live, and we pay other men to minister the Gospel in our stead. This tendency to laziness combines with our fears�primarily the fear of giving offense, the fear of being rejected, criticized or persecuted, and the fear of introducing error into the message�to effectively inhibit our witness.

But the most important explanation for our tendency to leave outreach mostly to hired professionals is inertia�our collective understanding that this is the way it has always been done in our churches. For centuries our outreach has been event-oriented, focused on getting people to come to church events where professionals will present the Gospel. An "evangelist" has long been simply understood to be merely a type of professional minister who travels from place to place preaching evangelistic sermons, mostly at "evangelistic meetings" or "revival meetings" organized by established church organizations. For just as long, it has been generally understood that the primary role of "laymen" in this process is to develop enough courage, from time to time, to actually go forth entirely on their own and invite some unsaved people in their circle of acquaintance to attend a church event. We do not expect churches to provide much in the way of either support, organization or training to laymen going out to present the Gospel message outside of a church event, because that is not a layman's "job." However, none of these collective understandings and expectations are in agreement with the New Testament models of evangelism, as will be further shown in subsequent sections.

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