A Piece in the Puzzle

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"And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him" (Acts 8:38).

The conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter eight is one of my favorite stories, for it reveals the reality of evangelism, a duty every Christian should engage.

Yet, evangelism is not the purpose of the church.

On the contrary, worship of God is the sole purpose of the church - the collective, universal people of God.

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.  And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them.  And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.  I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.  And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules" (Ezekiel 36:22-27).

In his book Let the Nations be Glad, John Piper, renowned theologian and retired pastor, writes, "Worship is the mission of the church.  Missions exists because worship doesn't."  What Piper means is that reaching the lost with the Gospel is the means to the ends, that is, for all people everywhere to worship and glorify the Lord God in Heaven.

Thus, when evangelism is properly understood, knowledge produces liberty in the Christian.  No longer is evangelizing the sinner viewed as a drudging duty, but instead as a joyful means of worshipping the Savior of our soul.

The Christian would do well to understand evangelism in a further rectifying light: there are many parts to evangelism.  Take, for instance, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.  When the reader first enters the story, the Spirit has directed Philip to the chariot of the Ethiopian.  Upon arrival at the chariot, Philip finds the Ethiopian reading a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

Immediately, a few conclusions can be drawn.  First of all, before Philip's arrival, the Spirit of God had been calling the Ethiopian, for he had searched out a scroll, purchased it, was reading it, and was seeking to know the meaning of its contents.  In none of these things did Philip play a role.  Someone else had written the scroll, another had sold it, still another had built the chariot to carry him to Jerusalem to buy it, and still another person or two had, perhaps, been praying for the eunuch specifically.  Philip, used likewise of the Spirit to bring about the promise given to Ezekiel, merely played his part equally and bore witness to the Ethiopian of the Messiah, the Christ, from the prophet Isaiah's writings.

It is easy to get discouraged about our evangelism efforts when we don't see people coming in droves to "get saved".  The truth is, evangelism is not people coming to Christ or raising their hand to get saved.  Evangelism is bearing witness to the truth of God, revealed in Jesus Christ, all the time.

Our lifestyles - hospitality, kindness, thoughtfulness, manner of speaking, dressing, and living - ought to bear witness to the truth.  And when Providence allows - as He most certainly will - the words of our mouth also ought to bear witness to the truth.

Most certainly, prayers for the sinner are most assuredly an act of evangelism.  For in prayer the Christian employs the holy Spirit of God to draw, call, and save the sinner, through His means, that He might receive glory at bringing His salvation to the one lost in darkness.

Dear Christian, do not be idle in your prayers for the sinner, nor in your good works to all.  Instead, let us bear witness to the Spirit that is alive in us, to will and to work for His good pleasure - that He might be worshipped rightly.


"Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more" (John Piper).