“And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists” (Ephesians 4:11).
“Do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5).
When the Lord set up the church at the beginning, He gave various gifts to those in the church, both to preach the gospel to unbelievers, and to encourage those who were already saved. The gift of an evangelist is a gift of giving out the gospel, whether preaching publicly, or speaking to people as individuals. Some are gifted in preaching to large groups of people. Men like George Whitefield and Rowland Hill, who lived more than 200 years ago, could preach to thousands of people at one time, and be heard clearly. And there were no loudspeakers in those days! Others are more gifted in speaking to individuals and showing them the way of salvation. God is still giving this gift today and using it to bring souls to Christ.
However, in these last days, sometimes we do not have these gifts as readily available to us, because the church has failed. For this reason, we find Paul telling Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.” Timothy was evidently a somewhat timid man, and not accustomed to pushing himself forward, whether in public preaching or in speaking to individuals. But in the state in which things were, he was to give out the gospel, even though he did not have the definite gift for it.
In the day in which we live, we should all be willing to give out the gospel. It may be simply by telling our friends that they need a Savior, and telling them how to be saved. At other times it may mean giving someone a gospel tract, and asking them to read it. Sometimes it is not what we say, but more how we live that speaks to others, and tells them that we belong to Christ. Then they may say something, and open the door to a conversation. In every way, we ought to be ready to speak about Christ, and to tell others how to be saved.