In the purest sense, you don’t need to do anything to become an evangelist other than walk out your door and began preaching the word of God to those you meet.
But a calling so powerful and so important demands more. The Lord needs servants who can do more than just testify to their own experience and belief; you must also be able to connect with and convince others.
To become a succesful evangelist means mastering both theological and secular skills. In the area of religion, you should learn things like:
Scripture – If you are going to deliver God’s message to people, you had better understand it forward and backwards. Degrees for evangelists focus heavily on Gospel and Scriptural studies. At more advanced levels, you’ll learn to read and interpret these in the original Greek or Hebrew. In all cases, you’ll be expected to analyze and demonstrate strong comprehension of meaning in context.
Christian apologetics – Evangelists are some of the biggest users of Christian apologetics, or the art of making logical arguments in support of Christianity. The goal of winning converts ends with belief—it doesn’t start with it. You have to be able to make effective, winning arguments with factual and logical support. As an evangelist, you’ll also find yourself regularly challenged with arguments from non-believers. There are convincing and effective ways to defeat those arguments that you will learn in these courses.
Discipleship – Evangelists must also be models of what is good and right in Christianity. Coursework in discipleship helps you examine and perfect your own beliefs and behavior in line with the Lord’s teachings. Your very life and livelihood will become a powerful argument in His service.
Eschatology – While you are bringing people the good news of His word, it’s also important not to shrink from the result of choosing the alternative. Eschatology is the science of the end times, the consequence of turning your back on His offer of salvation. To preach transformation and redemption, you’ll need to study what we are being redeemed from and how transformation saves us all as judgement comes.
And in terms of more general skills, evangelists need to develop expertise in:
Communications – Connecting with people is the root of the evangelical path. You need to be able to communicate on their terms, in language they understand. So college coursework in English, writing, and rhetoric all build valuable skills for you as a future evangelical pastor.
Organization – Outreach is an active enterprise that involves many people and many organizations. Throwing a big-tent revival requires coordinating hundreds or thousand; putting on a television program takes split-second timing and command of technical details. College coursework in leadership, management, and general problem-solving can be key for evangelists with a big mission in mind.
Social and cultural studies – Knowing your audience is a big part of being a successful evangelist. The saying “preaching to the choir” describes a real danger for evangelicals. If your message only resonates with people like you, you’ve already failed. So the general historical, social, and cultural coursework you get in college ministry programs are a big deal to hone your message.
A Degree in Christian Ministry Offers the Skills You Need to Evangelize Successfully
You won’t be surprised to learn that a college degree puts all of these skills together and teaches them to you in one bundle.
You won’t find very many degrees, at any level, that are labeled as degrees in evangelical ministry. But you will find a lot of overlap between evangelism and degrees in:
- Christian leadership
- Pastoral ministry
- Christian missions
And you will also find that some degrees are offered with concentrations in outreach or evangelism. That allows you to specialize your studies in the area.
