Quote:
|
I believe this command is given to the church corporate and ministers of the gospel specifically. Therefore, the church is commanded to evangelize through the preaching of the gospel. But in the OP your question was directed at two groups: the church corporate and individuals. Not every person can preach. But everyone can employ an evangelistic heart in the presence of their family, friends, classmates and coworkers.
|
I agree that not all persons are gifted and called to preach in the sense of delivering sermons. But does employing an evangelistic heart normally include verbal witness in your view, as opposed to mere "lifestyle" evangelism. As I noted earlier, some appear to make a distinction between the called pastor or missionary's duty to communicate the gospel
proactively and the layman's role to communicate the gospel
reactively. The text used to distinguish the layman's reactive or responsive role from that of the ordained man of God is 1 Peter 3:15. I'm still wondering if this distinction finds its root in Reformed or Puritan theology.