Christians with the gift of evangelism often stand out among their peers because sharing the gospel on a regular basis is sadly not always the norm for many believers. Because of this, anyone who regularly witnesses to their friends and neighbors can mistakenly be seen as a “special” kind of Christian. It’s easy, then, for gifted evangelists to start believing that they are indeed special because of how often they share the gospel. After all, “other people aren’t as bold and passionate as I am,”—or when applied to missionaries— “not everyone is willing to move overseas like me.” But this kind of thinking results in pride. Several Scriptures from the Pauline epistles counter this entire notion. Here are three things that we can emulate from Paul to foster humility and joy in evangelism.
Paul Viewed Himself Rightly — Simply a “Servant Through Whom You Believed”
By the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, God had used him significantly to build His kingdom. He traveled around sharing the gospel (Acts 13–21). He strengthened churches (Acts 14:21–22, Acts 15:36, 41). He watched many repent and believe in the gospel (Acts 14:1, 17:34). God blessed Paul’s ministry with abundant fruit. And yet, he didn’t see himself in light of all his ministry “accomplishments.” Why? Because he didn’t take credit for them. They weren’t his accomplishments, and it doesn’t seem that he would want those things listed under his name. He gives credit to God alone. We see this vividly when God used Paul to heal a crippled man and the people began to worship he and Barnabas for it. Their response was to tear their garments and give all credit to God (Acts 14:8–18)! It was a grief for Paul to receive praise that did not belong to him.
We see Paul’s humility demonstrated throughout his entire letter to the Corinthians, which very much counteracted the arrogance that the Corinthian church was known for. Within the church, there were many divisions — one of them being which leader everyone followed. Paul responds to this issue by reminding the Corinthians that the leaders that they’re following are “servants through whom you believed.”
1 Corinthians 3:5–9 says, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed. As the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”
This passage reminds us that we don’t get any credit for fruitful evangelism because God causes the growth. We are nothing. I especially love the wording at the beginning—”servants through whom you believed.” We are servants; and we’re simply the means by which someone believes in the gospel. Paul reiterates this idea of how they should humbly view the leaders, including himself, in 1 Corinthians 4:1, which says, “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” So not only are we servants, but we are stewards of the glorious treasure of the mystery of the gospel! This is good news—but also truth that keeps us humble.
Toward the end of his letter, Paul calls himself the “least of the apostles,” and he owes it all to God’s grace that he is who he is. Paul even claims to have worked harder than anyone else, yet ultimately says it was the grace of God that was with him (1 Cor. 15:8–11).
How do you view yourself? Are you content with being a steward of the gospel and a servant through whom people believe? When you labor diligently for the gospel, do you give all the credit to the grace of God that is in you? Do you remember that though some plant and some water, it is God who gives the growth? Does all of this bring you great joy? Let us follow the wonderful example of Paul and the truth of Scripture when we define ourselves. May we always place our identity in Christ alone so that He alone receives the glory for all our gospel work.
Paul Looked to God Alone for His Ultimate Commendation
Paul indeed saw himself as a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God. But what did that entail? First Corinthians 3:2 tells us, “Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”
God’s grace doesn’t give us an excuse to work haphazardly. Paul believed that his work would be judged in the end, so he took it seriously (1 Cor. 3:12–15). He strived to finish his race well and be found faithful (Acts 20:24, 1 Cor. 4:2). In addition, attributing our work to the grace of God doesn’t mean our work doesn’t matter. By revisiting our above passage, 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, we’re reminded that “each will receive his wages according to his labor.” Paul believed both his actual work and the way he did his work mattered, because it would be judged and rewarded accordingly by God (1 Cor. 3:8, 12–15, 2 Tim. 4:7–8). First Corinthians 3:10 says, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.”
It matters how we build. In fact, Paul was grounded and unconcerned with the opinions of others precisely because he looked forward to God’s evaluation of his work.
First Corinthians 4:3–5 says, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
How does this help prideful evangelists? Pride often comes when we’re looking at other people for approval. We become prideful when fellow believers look up to us and praise us. We become prideful when we’re more gifted than the person next to us. We become prideful when people think highly of us. Ultimately, we fall into the trap of using ministry as a means to our own identity, security, and worth.
But Paul kept himself from doing that. He waited and looked to God alone for his ultimate commendation. And through doing so, he was neither prideful nor insecure. His identity was rooted in who he was in Christ. He was defined by gospel humility—which meant that his value didn’t go up or down based on his performance.
Paul Depended on Christ, His Word, and the Gospel
What makes a gifted evangelist? Is it their persuasiveness? Are they good with people? Are they more social? We don’t really know for sure whether Paul was gifted in these areas. But we do know that ultimately his fruitfulness had nothing to do with himself. Paul was effective, because He depended on Christ to be effective in and through him.
First Corinthians 2:1–5 says, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
Paul depended on the power of God — not on his own wisdom or persuasiveness. Paul clearly believed that the message of the gospel was a powerful one (Rom. 1:16). He relied on faith to come to his hearers through the proclamation of God’s Word (Rom. 10:17).
Was it still important for someone to preach the good news? Yes, he says so in Romans 10:14–15. But ultimately it was the Holy Spirit working through the message of the gospel that led to people’s conversion. Ultimately, it was God’s calling, election, and choosing of the lost that granted them repentance and faith (Acts 11:18, 13:48–49, Rom. 8:29–30). Paul was just the means, the instrument, the mouthpiece that God graciously used.
What do you depend on in your attempts at evangelism? Is it your cleverness? Your expertise? Your experience? Your humor or relatability with people? Or is it God, the one who came to seek and to save the lost through Jesus— the only Savior of sinners (Lk. 19:10, Acts 4:11-13)?
The Example of Christ
Indeed, we should follow Paul’s example as a humble evangelist. But Paul was humble because he became like Christ. Ultimately, we look to Christ to become humble—the One who had every reason to be proud and yet humbled himself to the point of death on a cross (Phil. 2:1–10). Praise God that He is now gloriously exalted forever and ever! May we join in praise of Him and not ourselves and may that joy overflow into gospel proclamation to the lost.
