When the Doors are Shut - Senior Evangelist, Roger Chilvers, examines what the early church can teach us about evangelistic opportunities.

In Summer’s Ignite, Roger Chilvers writes that almost every church and surely every evangelist knows that one of the more difficult discernments to be made is where to, and how to invest our effort, time, and resources in new evangelistic enterprises.

We certainly want to preach the gospel and, “go and make disciples of all nations,” (Matthew 28:19) but finding the wisdom about where and how, is without doubt, getting increasingly challenging.

A superficial, casual, and certainly inadequate reading of the early Church might wrongly suggest it was easy for the Apostles.  

“The disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:20).  

Of course, we know threats and persecutions arose but, “those who had been scattered, preached the word wherever they went’ (Acts 8:4), and in town after town churches were established. Even internal stresses that accompanied the early church, such as the Council at Jerusalem in Acts 15, seem to read like an adventure.

We could surely put up with painful opposition if only we were given the Apostles’ success, confidence, and joy.  But today? The network of restrictions, opposition, lack of success, and downright apathy, crush our enthusiasm so that decision-making about evangelism is sporadic and blurred at best.  So, how were the Apostles apparently led so clearly?