A Sherpa for the Moment of Decision... The Gift of Evangelist ~E Reiss

The last of the Ephesians equipping gifts is the gift of Evangelist. See our passage from Ephesians here.

The Evangelist is uniquely gifted to be the right person at the right time to help someone make the jump from non-belief to belief. Of course, Jesus was amazing at this particular transition… see Nicodemus, or the Woman at the Well, or Zacchaeus, or a myriad of others. Another famous biblical example of the Evangelist was the deacon Philip, who with Stephen, was one of the seven deacons selected to help the primary disciples of Jesus administrate and extend the work of the early church in Jerusalem and beyond.

Let’s take a look at this amazing story to see what we can see.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
    Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.              ~Acts 8:26-20



1. The Evangelist will be comfortable with supernatural timing and influence.
An angel points Philip south instead of north, and it is presented as an ordinary part of the story. The Spirit tells him to hitch a ride with a chariot and he doesn’t question, or hesitate, he just goes. Evangelists in their full power will be unusually comfortable hearing from God and moving to the divine appointment. It was no accident that Philip was at the correct location at the exact time he was needed to help the Ethiopian make this connection. The timing was supernaturally fortuitous from meeting, to reading, to conversing, to a body of water. At some point, the 10,000 happy accidents that all line up perfectly become credible and guys like Philip will have a high level of reaction and trust.

Then he gets teleported to another location, which again was the opportunity for connecting people with the gospel in perfect timing.

2. They enter (and sometimes exit) the story in the middle.
The Ethiopian Eunuch was already reading Isaiah and was experiencing a spiritual hunger and longing that he was responding to, even before it was clearly understood. God was working on this historical individual before Philip came along, and he was rejoicing at the Gospel even as Philip went via private spirit plane to his next appointment. They will recognize and tend to interface with the moment of decision, more than the moments of preparation.

Why was this man near Jerusalem, where was he going? Why did he have a scroll of the Hebrew bible and why was he interested? How does he know Isaiah was a prophet? How does he know about baptism? We don’t know all the surrounding details, but at least 5 of these 6 details were attached to this official in God’s plan by people other than Philip. Yet it was the convergence of these things that had led our Ethiopian to the precipice of belief. 
As Paul famously says, some sow the seed, some water the seed, others gather the harvest. Evangelists are the ones God sends to help gather the harvest.

3. They will amplify and illuminate God’s word, and they will use questions well.
Our Evangelist is not speaking or moving in his own authority or agenda here. Instead, he is working on direct orders from God to help, encourage, answer questions and give permission to someone who has already taken a lot of steps on their spiritual journey.

Philip isn’t bullying, cajoling, convincing or changing the Ethiopian’s trajectory. Instead, he is assisting our new convert on a journey he is actively assenting to before Philip even arrives. Evangelists, in general will have a real knack for apprehending the right scripture needed in the very moment, to build a bridge from here to there.
Philip doesn’t make a philosophical argument, or an emotional plea, or a primer on self-help  style improvement. He starts with scripture, that was already at hand… and leads him biblical step by biblical step to where God is leading. 

The trigger from Philip’s perspective was a question, “do you understand what you are reading?” And we’re off to the races. 

If you watch someone gifted in this area deal with someone at the moment of decision, watch how well they use questions in their interaction - it really is amazing.


So what can we learn from Philip and this incredible story? Remember that the Evangelist gift is an “equipping” gift, while incredibly gifted themselves, their role is not just to be a solo act using their gift well… but their gift teaches us how to be better at their peculiar slice of divine connection, in this case the moment of evangelism done beautifully and well.

First, they teach us to be more open and more sensitive to God’s leading, day to day. If you are feeling like the Spirit is nudging you, ask yourself:

- what would happen if I don’t do this?
- what would happen if I go for it?

If the answer isn’t immoral, illegal, or unethical or problematic in any way, and the biggest downside is a bit of wasted time, can I encourage you to go for it? God may be drawing you into a Philip moment. The worst thing that Philip risked in the actual asking of the question was a rude and dismissive response before the next assignment.

If the answer is more complicated and you aren’t clear, seek counsel from someone smarter and more spiritual than you are… they will tend to have perspective.

Second, we should learn to diagnose where someone is and be sensitive to that. Both in not pushing, but also, not missing the opportunity when the right question can be a window of divine illumination.

Third, don’t lean on your own opinions of wisdom. Follow Philip’s playbook and be the wingman. If we can understand that the primary motion is between Spirit and person, then we can helpfully point to the treasure map, or hold the door open while someone comes in out of the rain. 

It’s not a rescue mission as much as pointing out that the restaurant is right over there - and the food is delicious.
For those of us who believe, take a moment and remember the person who played the role of Philip in your life.

For me it was JoAnn Palesano, in the little gym at First PH in Apache as we were playing basketball, as feral children often did in those days.

​I can visualize that moment and her gentle question as if it were happening now.