The Evangelist: Growth and Expansion

This is the third post in a series exploring the five leadership types from Ephesians 4: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers. In the previous post, we explored the Prophet - the visionary leader who casts direction. Now we turn to the Evangelist - the growth specialist who takes that vision and makes it contagious.

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Leaders need to be attractive. That’s not necessarily to be loud or boisterous, but attraction is a very curious phenomenon. In some ways, it is one of the most fundamental aspects of forming a group; there needs to be attraction to the group - and what it represents - or its individuals, before there is membership.

The Evangelist plays this role in the Ephesians 4 framework, the one who attracts others and brings them into the fold. They are the ones who go out and talk to people, befriend them, invite them, and introduce them to the rest of the organization.

Think of the salesperson; they might not be the one inventing the product, but they certainly know how to get others excited about it.

Evangelism needs foundations

Evangelists do have to watch out; attraction is one thing, but growing an organization is hard work. Each person brought into the fold brings with them new ideas and strengths, but also new challenges and opinions. An unchecked growth trajectory often ends very messily.

As such, Evangelists work best when there is a foundation already laid. After all, it is much easier to attract people into something that already exists, and to build on that momentum to grow the spark of a vision into a movement that can even outgrow the organization.