Who is the greatest evangelist of all time? What messenger has brought more people to Christ than any other? In my early Christian life, I loved learning and reading about some of the great Christians that shook their world for Christ. Corrie ten Boom helped fleeing Jews escape from the Nazi’s in WWII Germany. She worked with her father and sister in this endeavor. She was found out and sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Her book, “The Hiding Place,” has been a must read for Christians for decades. People have come to Christ by the hundreds from reading this book. William Tyndale was an English Christian. He realized the importance of the common people being able to read their Bible for guidance instead of having a priest tell them how to behave. He translated the Bible into English, and hundreds came to Christ because of his work. He fled England to save his life, seeking refuge in Flemings (near Brussels) only to be captured and held in a castle prison until he was martyred by being strangled to death. Thousands were saved by his work. Both the influence of Corrie ten Boom and William Tyndale continue even though they have been gone, one for decades and one for centuries. Would they be in the running for the greatest evangelists of all time? I don’t think so. There have been and still are, dedicated men and women of God that see their testimony and their influence reaches multitudes. God always has people in His work, no matter the era, that He blesses and in turn others in their presence are blessed. One of my favorite quotes is from Charles Wesley. “God buries his workmen but carries on his work.”
I think the greatest evangelist isn’t a person. In my mind the things that bring most people to their knees is pain and suffering. Healthy people often don’t give God a thought. They have lives to live, and every day is a new adventure. They are making good money, living large, and have the tiger by the tail so to speak. But when their lives are disrupted, possibly turned upside down with pain or suffering, then they look to the heavens. In my life, I have seen this play out on many occasions. Researchers would call my stories anecdotal evidence because of the small sample, but I think biblically it can be proven just as my experience testifies. Let me share a familiar story from the OT. David commits adultery with Bathsheba. A baby is conceived and a husband, Uriah, is essentially murdered by a plan from David to Joab. David, the king, marries Bathsheba thinking all this hidden sin is behind him. Then the prophet of God, Nathan, points his finger in the king’s face saying, “Thou art the man.” David’s sin is now public. The baby dies. Murmurings are a daily occurrence in the palace and the city. The pain worsens day by day. His prayers seem to get no higher than the ceiling, then finally David crumbles before God. Psalm 51 reveals David’s life and his heart. Only a few short months before he was riding high. So confident of victory, David didn’t even bother to go fight at the time kings went forth to fight. He sent his top General, Joab. But now, pain and suffering have arrived. Physically he is falling. The scriptures tell us that his bones waxed old. Mentally and emotionally, he’s spent, but most of all his relationship with God is severed. What brought him to his knees? It wasn’t the prosperity he’d always experienced. It was the evangelist of pain. A pain that only God can heal. Let’s cherry pick a few of the verses in Psalm 51. “My sin is ever before me.” That’s a heavy load no matter how strong you are. “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.” When I’ve had broken bones, it hurts. “Cast me not away from thy presence;…” The sweet past fellowship he’d experienced just sitting, thinking, and singing in God’s company was fleeing and he begs to not let that happen. “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it:” He was willing to pay any price to have his life with God back. What made him willing? The evangelist of suffering.
Now for an anecdotal story. As a boy growing up in SE Georgia, this man was larger than life. He was a big man physically at 6’3”, and strong as an ox. He was powerful in his voice and when he entered a room he commanded attention with his very presence. He had an opinion about most things, the majority of which I agreed with. There were a few things and one particular, salvation, that we disagreed with. I respected and loved this man. I cared about his soul. I would ask the Lord to give me the courage, believe me I needed it, to witness to him. On a couple of occasions, I had the opportunity while riding in an old pick-up truck to share the gospel with him. He wasn’t interested. Life was his oyster. Years clicked by and one day the doctor shared the results of some recent testing. He was terminal. Only a few days before he died, a Baptist preacher went to visit him in the hospital. While visiting, the pastor witnessed to him, sharing the gospel of Christ. This big, strong, independent man bowed his head repenting of his sin and asking Jesus to save him. Was it my weak attempt to witness years earlier? Was it the pastor that came in only days before he died? Perhaps those were a part of it, but I truly believe that it was when pain, suffering, and the impending death was honestly thought about that he knew he needed God. I look forward to seeing him in Heaven one day soon.
Back to the original question. Who is the greatest evangelist? In the 1500’s it was possibly the Black Plague, Black Death. It is estimated that 25 million died in Europe during this pestilence. The Christian faith was in full swing during this time with the Reformation and its protest against the Roman Catholic Church. What drove this? Possibly the suffering and pain inflicted by the disease and the persecution of the Roman Catholic Church. Nineteen years ago, next month, four planes and 19 Islamic Terrorists sought to inflict a mortal blow on our country. They flew two of those planes into the Twin Towers, one into the Pentagon, and were it not for a few heroes on that fourth plane, either the White House or the Capital would have also been hit. Immediately after that attack, churches were full. The pain and suffering our country experienced drove people back to God. It was short lived and soon the same people that had rushed back to God’s house were back to a lifestyle of apathy. The Coronavirus could be one of the greatest evangelists the world has ever seen. At this moment, in my thinking, I don’t consider it to be pinging the meter very high when compared with past pandemics. The Black Plague mentioned earlier, and the Spanish Flu of 1918 are two that come to mind. The Spanish Flu killed 50 million world-wide and 675,000 in the United States. However, just this morning coming into the office, officials from the CDC are warning about the combination of Covid-19 and the Flu season. No one truly knows, including the experts, what the next few months or years will hold. But I know this, if the pain and suffering intensify, the opportunities for you and me to share the gospel of Christ will increase and the receptiveness of those hearing will be greater. Let’s take these days of opportunity and reach the lost.