An open letter to Contemporary American Evangelists- (myself included)
By Scott Hinkle
The office of evangelist is an equally important part of the Ephesians 4:11 & 12 listing of 5-fold ministry gifts. There most certainly is a legitimate role of an evangelist to the church in stirring, equipping for evangelism, etc.
Yet it must be clearly understood, the great distinctive to the gift /office of evangelist is that they are called to be the voice to the lost declaring the gospel & calling them to Christ.
The other Ep.4:11 offices are church oriented being both inward and infrastructure focused.
The evangelist should be focused upon the outside world at large where the unsaved and unchurched live.
If that be true, why then is there amongst some evangelists a seemingly inordinate amount of energy spent in complaining about a perceived lack of recognition by other church leaders? As if other church leaders determine the call of God.
Would the effort and energy be better invested prayerfully and even creatively looking for ways to invade the darkness outside the four walls of church buildings instead of concentrating and at times whining about what is perceived as a lack of acknowledgement from peers? Or does the contemporary version of American evangelist seek validation by being invited to preach primarily in Christian gatherings or to be put another way— fish in bathtubs?
The great evangelists of history – both old and new- risked venturing into deep waters and at times unsafe stormy seas to be fishers of men.
Would not those be great models to follow after if our hearts truly were consumed with a passion to make Christ known to the least and fully lost men, women and children of our times? This necessitates leaving the safe harbor of “church-dom” and to quote the great missionary evangelist T.L. Osborn going “out where the sinners are.”
This letter does not come from a critical spirit but from a soul crying out on behalf of a broken culture and dying world. The darkness of our era is desperate for the light of Christ.
Now, more than ever, there must be another great awakening.
This is a call to not only raise the bar higher for evangelists but to extend a challenge to drastically expand the horizons of our perspective, vision and practice.
Grace to all sharing Good News.
A co-laborer and fellow servant,
Scott Hinkle
P.S From Mario Murillo: I have known Scott and Nancy Hinkle for over 40 years. They have not asked me to do this and they had no idea I would…but, this is excellent ground for your seed. To give to this worthy ministry click on the link below. God Bless you!
https://www.scotthinkle.org/index.html#give
Dear Mario and Mechelle,
This confirms my calling as an evangelist and one of the reasons why I came out to Dinuba.
May the Lord have His way in me as I serve as His evangelist to the military.
Godspeed,
Dawn *…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…* *Hebrews 12:1*
dawnquiocho@gmail.com 808.683.9858
On Wed, Oct 16, 2019 at 9:37 AM Mario Murillo Ministries wrote:
> mariomurilloministries posted: “An open letter to Contemporary American > Evangelists- (myself included) By Scott Hinkle The office of evangelist > is an equally important part of the Ephesians 4:11 & 12 listing of 5-fold > ministry gifts. There most certainly is a legitimate r” >
Thank you for sharing!!
Sent from my iPhone
>
Thank you Mario & Scott , Very well address and so true for those of us and other Evangelist want to fill full our God call to the office of Evangelist. And bring this great awakening to church & world Thank you ☺️
Sent from my iPhone
>
We love to hear the gospel. Never tired of it, but yes…fish in a bathtub. Expand to reach the lost as we go to the highways and byways of this present darkness.
AMEN!
Good article!
I believe however that both should be happening.
Inside the church and outside of the church.
It used to be that it was expected when evangelists came that those that were members of the church invited unsaved relatives, etc. Into the meetings. And there are those sittings in the pews that really don’t know the Lord. An evangelist can shake things up and motivate others to be out soul winning too!
We may not be a 5 fold minister but we should be ministering to a lost and dying world!
In agreement here, Amen, Amen.
Spot on! 1 Cor. 12:28 backs this up… evangelists should be laboring outside of the church, yet have full financial support from the Church in the area that they’re evangelizing.
“Evangelism trues you up. You will know if you are playing cosmic theological ping pong when you talk to the guy on the street because he is not going to believe you.” I think that might be more or less a Scott Hinkle line I still remember from bible college.
All of those power gifts in the Old Testament are still available today. God could also make up any new spiritual gift he wanted. For example the Bible says the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah and he outran Ahabs chariot all the way Jezreel. An Arabian horse runs 45 mph, but you really don’t need a gift like that preaching in church.
I remember when Scott Hinkle first accepted Christ at an assembly (or maybe after) in Great Bend, Kansas. What great fruit he has brought forth. Great going, Scott. I’ll see you in heaven if not before. So good to hear about you and from you again.
It seems like Mr. Hinkle, yourself and others, all accept the definition of the evangelist based on modern tradition.
Lets review
Ephesians 4:11-12
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
So what are evangelists for? The body of Christ. Very specifically to equip the body for the ministry. The ministry is the great commission. The ministry of the saints is to make disciples. The evangelist is not the lead sould winner or disciple maker, the saints are.
By definition, the evangelist proclaims the good news. Are we now so short sided that the good news only includes a salvation message. The Kingdon of God is complex and our God is a multifaceted god.
Good news can go deeper into the things of God; deep enough to provide a reproof, direction and healing.
The evangelist is needed to provide instructions for dealing with the prophetic.
Unfortunately many of today’s pastors have become gate keepers, not allowing evangelists to bring their words of correction or direction. Lots of reasons behind that, none of which are good.
Our current church model is a mess and the state of our nation reflects it.
We have gotten a lot of things wrong in this day and age but the good news is that He is restoring the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the offices.
The good news is that when we align ourselves with His perfect will we will see great fruit.
The good news is that the promised outpouring of his Spirit is upon us. The Kingdon of God is still at hand.
So i reject Mr. Hinkles definition of the evangelist.
I encourage you brother Mario to continue hammering at false teaching. Continue proclaiming the need for repentance in the model of 2Chronicles 7:14.
Evangelists like yourself share the heart of God. If the Laodicean church won’t listen, go to the highways and byways.
I believe the greatest mission field right now is the American church.
Looking forward to prayer night at Grizzlies stadium.
I still have a steak here with your name on it.
Respectfully, I disagree. I think what you’re describing sounds more like the apostolic. Establishing the fullness of all the facets of the Kingdom, including correction and exhortation, within the Church is an apostolic function, especially when addressing the prophetic. Evangelists need to be out (as Philip was) in the world and equipping the Church how to best get out… not being brought in as a house cheerleader to spark life that’s not there… that’s been the problem with what we have called an evangelist and “revival meetings”. If the pastor/teachers would stop being the gatekeepers who keep out the apostolic (an even the prophetic to some extent), then we could finally get some biblical order in the Church for the life to then flow into and out of Her.
Dearest brother Mario,
I have been doing just this for many years, even after diagnosed with MS. God is good. Preaching in Chinatown, Sydney
Kindest
Ev. Stephen M Hall (Certified AFIG San Diego California) 6/9 Herbert Street St. Leonards NSW Australia 2065
USA)
On Thu., 17 Oct. 2019, 3:38 am Mario Murillo Ministries, wrote:
> mariomurilloministries posted: “An open letter to Contemporary American > Evangelists- (myself included) By Scott Hinkle The office of evangelist > is an equally important part of the Ephesians 4:11 & 12 listing of 5-fold > ministry gifts. There most certainly is a legitimate r” >
The American church, to a great degree, is in deception. As are many pastors. They are affluent, well paid, comfortable, compromised, and asleep. They ignore the teens cutting themselves, worshipping the occult, having sex while still children, forming addictions to drugs and alcohol, and living scared and hopeless because of public school fear mongering that we are all about to die from global something. Demons roost in the rafters of churches, singing lullabyes and telling them “Sunday mornings for an hour and a half is all you need. You are good! Have fun till next Sunday!” Pastors get their paychecks, and have been convinced not to rock the boat or require anything of the good folks. “It is so wonderful to know Jesus!” Meanwhile, in reality world, the neighborhoods around the church are filled with death, destruction, divorce, addictions, depression, pain, hopelessness, suicide, rebellion, and deep, deep darkness. But!!! I do know evangelists who are gifted to go into a sad, dead institution, stir up the Holy Ghost power, and refire these churches. With fruit still evident after several years. God bless these evangelists who meet the roosting demons head on. I seriously know of a church where a passerby called 911 and reported smoke rising from the church as a Holy Ghost and fire meeting was going on inside. The only fire was from the Spirit. After years of pastoring and a self image of minus 10, God redirected my wife and I to prison, and drug and alcohol recovery ministry, all outside church walls. (God had to allow some pain into our lives and put some thorns in our comfortable nest to move us from pastoring to evangelism, but now we would not trade where we are in ministry for anything. The pain truly turned to a blessing. Maybe someone needed to read this!) Hundreds are coming to Christ, miraculous healings, deliverances, and transformations. Demons are being “evicted” by Holy Ghost anointing. For us, God did save the best for last. We are witnesses of the great outpouring of the Holy Ghost. We stand in awe of His glory continuously. To Him be all glory and honor and praise. God send a Holy Ghost revival to our land. Thank you so much, Brother Hinkle, for this post.