Max the Evangelist

Max, Troy and Steve

My friend Max is an evangelist. Everywhere he goes, people come to faith in Christ.

He’s one of those examples we point to when we explain why we can’t share the gospel. We’re not like Max!

Evangelists can obey the Great Commission, not us ordinary disciples.

But Max was an evangelist who, by his own admission, didn’t know what to do with the people he led to Christ. He’d sit down with them one on one, listen to their questions, and then turn on the firehose of his knowledge. It didn’t work.

Then one day, he met Troy Cooper and his kids at a skate park. He started hanging out with Troy and his family and team, learning how to turn converts into multiplying disciples.

Max was a born evangelist, but he had to learn how to make disciples.

The gift of evangelism wasn’t given so the rest of us could stand back and watch Max do all the work. The gifts we’re given are meant to serve the core missionary task—multiplying disciples and churches to the glory of God, everywhere.

Regardless of gifting, everybody has to learn to do the basics. Connecting with people far from God. Sharing the gospel. Making disciples. Planting healthy churches and multiplying workers.

Max was never going to see a movement by just focusing on his gift of evangelism. He had to learn to turn new believers into disciples in community, train them to make disciples.

Your mission is not to discover your gifts and put a label on yourself. Our gifts serve a greater purpose.