What Does 2 Timothy Teach Me About Evangelism?

Evangelism and evangelist are loan words borrowed from the Greek language. The etymological components of these words are a prefix that means “good” and a word that means “message” or “news.” This means that evangelism is the telling of good news and an evangelist is one who evangelizes (i.e., tells good news). These words in Greek are tied to one of the more common descriptions of the New Testament found in the Bible. It gets translated as “Gospel,” but it literally means “Good News.” So, since the news is good and the telling of that news is good, it should be a pretty easy thing to be an evangelist, right?

Anyone who has ever shared the Gospel knows that though the message we tell is good, the response we get can be anything but good. “The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one,” John says (1 John 5:19), a state frequently described as “bondage” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:3, 9; 5:1; Hebrews 2:15). Psychologists speak of a condition described as “Stockholm syndrome” which sees captives and hostages come to love the ones keeping them captive. Too many people that live as slaves of Satan are convinced that the Good News of Jesus is worse than the terrible news that fills their lives. When we try to reach out to them with the Gospel, they often bite the proverbial hand that feeds.

When Paul wrote an evangelist named Timothy the letter we now call 2 Timothy, Timothy was afraid. He either was or was tempted to be ashamed of someone like Paul who had been made a prisoner for the sake of Jesus (2 Timothy 1:8). He had to be encouraged to stir up God’s gift and not let fear motivate him (2 Timothy 1:6-7). We can learn a lot about being an evangelist today from Paul’s advice in this short epistle.
Here are some lessons that stood out to me as I read through 2 Timothy. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but I pray that it will be helpful!
 

• Live with a “pure conscience” (2 Timothy 1:3)
• Remember fellow evangelists in prayer (2 Timothy 1:3)
• Long to spend time with fellow evangelists (2 Timothy 1:4)
• Pass faith along in your family (2 Timothy 1:5)
• Don’t bury your talents, but employ them in telling the good news (2 Timothy 1:6)
• Don’t be dictated by fear, but embrace power, love, and proper thinking (2 Timothy 1:7)
• Don’t be ashamed of Christ or Christians (2 Timothy 1:8)
• Allow your beliefs to persuade you and create confidence (2 Timothy 1:12)
• “Hold fast the pattern of sound words” (2 Timothy 1:13)
• Keep what has been committed to you (2 Timothy 1:14)
• Refresh fellow evangelists (2 Timothy 1:16) and zealously seek out opportunities to do so (2 Timothy 1:17)
• Teach faithful men as well as non-Christians to multiply your efforts (2 Timothy 2:2)
• There will be hardship, but we must endure it with the discipline of a soldier (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
• There are rules in evangelistic service, just as there are in any athletic competition (2 Timothy 2:5)
• We must partake of what we are trying to plant in others (2 Timothy 2:6)
• Seek the Lord’s understanding and wisdom (2 Timothy 2:7)
• Remember the Resurrection (2 Timothy 2:8)
• Don’t let the Word of God be chained (2 Timothy 2:9)
• Focus on the salvation of others (2 Timothy 2:10)
• Put difficulties in evangelism in proper context (2 Timothy 2:11-13)
• Remind the faithful of our goal and don’t get involved in silly disputes over unprofitable words (2 Timothy 2:14, 16, 23)
• Rightly divide the Word so that you can please God and share it faithfully (2 Timothy 2 Timothy 2:15)
• Be mindful of the cancerous influence of the unfaithful (2 Timothy 2:17-18)
• Embrace your foundation in faith (2 Timothy 2:19)
• As a vessel in God’s house, cleanse yourself from dishonorable vessels (bad influences) and seek to please your Master honorably (2 Timothy 2:20-21)
• “Flee youthful lusts” (2 Timothy 2:22)
•  Quarreling is not teaching, so avoid it (2 Timothy 2:24)
• Correct others in humility (2 Timothy 2:25)
• Recognize that the unfaithful and the lost have not come to their senses (2 Timothy 2:26)
• Recognize the times we live in and their difficulty (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
• Don’t have a form of godliness while denying its power in faith or action (2 Timothy 3:5)
• Be prepared to turn away from those who are overtaken by the thoughts of this age (2 Timothy 3:5)
• As you tell good news, others are telling bad news (2 Timothy 2:17-18; 3:6; 4:3-4)
• Don’t be so open-minded that you don’t have any convictions (2 Timothy 3:7)
• Not only Satan but also people resist the truth that we are trying to tell (2 Timothy 3:8-9)
• Follow the lives and teachings of faithful and successful evangelists (2 Timothy 3:10-11)
• Expect persecution (2 Timothy 3:12)
• Expect the world to grow worse (2 Timothy 3:13)
• Pursue and mature in the things you know (2 Timothy 3:14)
• Remember that only the Scriptures can “make you wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15)
• Value the Bible as a God-breathed document (2 Timothy 3:16)
• See the Word of God as all sufficient (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• “Preach the Word!” (2 Timothy 4:2)
• Be ready to tell the good news when people are ready to hear as well as when they are not (2 Timothy 4:2)
• Recognize the need for negative teaching: reprove & rebuke (2 Timothy 4:2)
• Recognize the need for positive teaching: exhort (2 Timothy 4:2)
• Recognize the need for patient teaching (2 Timothy 4:2)
• Be watchful and do the work of evangelism (2 Timothy 4:5)
• Remember the salvation that waits at the end of the journey (2 Timothy 4:6-8)
• Try to be useful to fellow evangelists (2 Timothy 4:11)
• Expect people specifically to harm you, but leave them to the Lord (2 Timothy 4:14)
• Don’t hold the failures of others towards you against them (2 Timothy 4:16)
• Remember that the Lord stands with you (2 Timothy 4:17) and will deliver you (2 Timothy 4:18)

Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org