The last story is one of my favorites. It is found in Luke 2, and it is the story of the first evangelists found in the New Testament. The word evangelist has a bunch of meanings, but to me it is simply a person who passes on the Good News they received to another person.
“When the angels had left [the shepherds] and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’ They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the feeding trough. After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” [Luke 2:15-18 HCSB]
The Good News brought to those shepherds that night was “of great joy that will be for all the people: Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.” [2:10-11 HCSB]
The Shepherds left their sheep and hurried off to find Mary and Joseph and this marvelous baby who would be Savior. Then after seeing the Baby, they told everyone they could find about Him.
These Shepherds were uneducated, hard-working men. Yet, God chose them to be the first evangelists in the New Testament, telling everyone they could about the Savior who was born. (On a side note, God chose women to be the evangelists to spread the news about this same Savior who was resurrected after being crucified.)
We don’t need to be a Bible Scholar or have a profound education to be a good evangelist. We just have to have received the Good News and have the desire to share it with others.
