Whether we are football fans or not at one time or another we have seen stadiums packed with people, cheering or booing their respective teams. All the action goes on among the 22 men on the pitch. They are the ones who spell either victory or defeat for their nation or club. Their every move is carefully commented upon and criticized. The games are replayed over and over again after the match on video to analyze the errors and improvements to be made. During the course of the game the ones who sweat most and get criticized most are the players. 50,000 men sit in the stands sipping Coca Cola and making outrageous criticisms yet they never even lift one foot to kick the ball nor will they ever do it. This is the current state of the church when it comes to evangelism. 22 tired men who represent those in full time or part time ministry such as the apostles, evangelists and pastors slave it out in the pitch of the unsaved world while the rest of the body of Christ actively criticizes their every move yet never take time to preach to even one sinner per month. No wonder when Charles Finney one of the famous evangelists of the 19th Century was criticized about his methods of winning the lost by one Christian, he replied, “I prefer the way I do it to the way you do not do it.”
            The word evangelism has become a cliché in the Christian world yet few understand the true meaning of the word. Apostle Paul told his Timothy his son in the Lord, “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (2Ti 4:5). Here the word evangelist is euaggelistes  a Greek word meaning a bringer of good tidings or a preacher of the gospel. The word gospel is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word which meant “the story concerning God.” In the New Testament the Greek word translated gospel is euaggelion, meaning “good news.” So when we see Jesus giving us the great commission, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel (euaggelion) to every creature” (Mar 16:15), we understand that he means we ought to take the good news of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ to all creation.
Who is supposed to preach the gospel?
This question is pertinent for us to understand since it will lead to either the collapse or the growth of Jesus’ work on earth. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry he was doing the work of preaching the gospel alone. Subsequently he appointed 12 apostles and delegated the work of evangelism to them also, “And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach” (Mar 3:14). These twelve apostles were given a mandate to preach the gospel as one of their first assignments. Next Jesus commissioned 72 disciples to preach the gospel, “After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come” (Luk 10:1). This was the second group Jesus commanded to declare the word to the lost. The next commission Jesus gave was after his resurrection and included all the believers worldwide when he said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mar 16:15). This was spoken in the hearing of five hundred brethren and applies to all believers worldwide and throughout all ages.
            The book of Acts is the second treatise written by Dr. Luke, the first being the Gospel of Luke. Dr. Luke describes the first treatise as being the beginning of what Jesus was to do on earth, “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach” (Act 1:1). He implies that what Jesus continued to do and teach is spelt out in the book of Acts, also known as the Acts of the Apostles or Acts of the Holy Ghost. What is written about the various believers and their deeds is a continuation of Jesus’ ministry. This shows us that Jesus is not going to come and preach the gospel on our behalf since he has delegated this responsibility to us as believers. “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Col 1:18), here Jesus is described as the head of His  body which is the church. As an experiment next time you are going to sweep a room, hold the broom with your head and see how much you will be able to accomplish. I hope you can see the baselesness of the argument that if Jesus was around he would do a marvelous job of preaching to my neighbor. He will only do this job of preaching to your neighbor through you, since you are his hands and feet so to speak through which he operates on the earth.
            In the early church it was not only the Apostles who used to preach the gospel. Every one of the believers got involved as we see from the incident just after the stoning of Stephen, “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (Act 8:1, 4). The Lord made certain to include the fact that those who were scattered abroad and went preaching the gospel were not the apostles, but the rest of the believers in Jerusalem. This is still the will of God today and when he sees that the church is sluggish in fulfilling this commission, he will send persecution to prompt the growth of His church as He did in Jerusalem.
            One other common misperception is that all those who are preaching the gospel worldwide are seeing great results because they are sinless. The devil heaps condemnation upon the average believer and makes them think that because they may sin occasionally this makes them unfit to preach the gospel. This is contrary to the word of God, simply come as you are, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1Jo 1:8). Anyone who claims to be totally sinless in this life is a deceiver. Even notable Apostles like Paul were effective preacher yet sometime gave in to sin, but this did not stop him from winning the lost, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Rom 7:19). If Apostle Paul could do it so can you. Even Apostle Peter made it clear that the signs and wonders happening did not happen because of his holiness, “And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?” (Act 3:12). You are not where you are supposed to be but with time you will get where God wants you to be in your spiritual growth. How foolish would it be for someone to say that they will never speak English or any other language till they have learnt all the words in that language. Do not be deceived, step out and preach the gospel regardless of your current level of spiritual growth.