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5 Subtle Ways Satan Sneaks into the Pulpit

3. Satan will tell you that your people need an exhorter in evangelism.

A pastor who has spent any time in the Word knows II Timothy 4:5: “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” When Paul wrote that, he was not addressing Timothy as a gifted evangelist, but Timothy as a gifted pastor-teacher.

Unfortunately, Satan will try to define that verse for you. He can convince you that you have to stand before your people and say, “Evangelize, evangelize, and evangelize.” That way, you feel that you have done your part.

It is what Satan doesn’t tell you that matters. He doesn’t tell you that people are most apt to do what you do, not what you say. If you talk about the lost, they will talk about the lost. If you talk to the lost, they will talk to the lost. Examples, not exhortation, change the hearts of people in evangelism.

As you show your church how you take advantage of opportunities to converse with the lost, soon you will have a church full of people who are not just “discussing” the work of an evangelist but are doing the work of an evangelist. How do you get there? It’s simpler than you might think.

First, as Paul did in Ephesians 6:19-20, ask your people to pray that when you open your mouth, something will come out of it (utterance) and boldly. Secondly, once again, find an accountability partner. This may be the one you’ve asked to check your pride or maybe a different one. But once a month, have that person ask you, “What have you done to reach out this week to a lost person?” I assure you, I know pastors who have taken up that challenge, and it is changing their lives and—guess what—their churches.

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