Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 23:3 (Fall 2019)
Article: Challenges And Encouragements For Evangelism Today
Author: Timothy K. Beougher

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Challenges And Encouragements For Evangelism Today

Timothy K. Beougher

Timothy K. Beougher is serves as the Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth and as the Associate Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He also serves as pastor at West Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky. His books include Overcoming Walls to Witnessing (BGEA, 1993); Disciplemaking: Training Leaders to Make Disciples (Institute of Evangelism, 1994); Accounts of a Campus Revival: Wheaton College 1995 (Shaw, 1995); Evangelism for a Changing World (Shaw, 1995); Richard Baxter and Conversion (Christian Focus, 2007); and the forthcoming Invitation to Evangelism (Kregel, 2020). Tim is married to Sharon and together they have five adult children and ten grandchildren.

When a world-wide audience watched the March 2, 2018 funeral service for Billy Graham, commentators suggested Graham’s death marked “the end of an era.” But there was no universal agreement on exactly what was ending. Certainly Billy Graham’s preaching ministry, a ministry that touched millions worldwide, was ending—at least with live preaching (Graham’s sermons continue to be broadcast on Christian television and via the Internet). Perhaps it ended the practice known as “mass evangelism,” though history cautions us not to pronounce its demise too quickly.1 Some may have thought (or even wished) it ended the movement known as “evangelical Christianity” and one of its defining characteristics known as “evangelism.” But to paraphrase Mark Twain for this context: “the reports of the death of evangelism have been greatly exaggerated.”

Our word evangelism is taken from the Greek word euangelion, translated

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“the gospel.” Within the word evangelism we see the word evangel, meaning “good news.” The evangel which lies at the heart of the Christian faith is the good news about who God is, and how he has provided reconciliation for sinful humanity.

So evangelism is to announce the euangelion, the good news. The noun form appears over seventy times in the New Testament (NT), while the verb form, euangelizō, appears over thirty times. We find both the noun and the verb forms in Romans 1:15, “So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” And indeed, if you have good news, life-saving news, even eternal life-saving news, how can you not desire to share that message with others?