Where Does the Word Evangelism Come From?
The word ‘Evangelism’ Its origin is rooted in three Greek words:
- euangelion—“gospel”—to describe what is said (Mark 1:14–15)
- euangelistes—“evangelist”—to describe the person who is telling the gospel (Acts 21:8; Eph. 4:11)
- euangelizo— “to proclaim the gospel”—to describe the activity of telling the gospel (Rom. 10:15).
Evangelism therefore describes the act whereby an individual (Euanelistes) proclaims (Euangelizo) the good news of the gospel message (Euangelion).
Those who practice evangelism are indeed delivering a message: A message of extraordinarily good news; one that is life-giving and transformative, with eternal ramifications. So evangelism is to announce the euangelion, the good news.
The noun form appears more than 70 times in the New Testament, while the verb form, euangelizō, appears more than 30 times. We find both the noun and the verb forms in Romans 1:15,
“So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
And indeed, if you have good news, life-saving news, even eternal life-saving news, how can you not desire to share that message with others?
As discussed in the previous lesson, Euangelion (gospel) refers to the announcement of a Kingdom and its King (or Lord). To spread this announcement far and wide, kings and noblemen would send ‘heralds’. These were messengers, often with loud voices, tasked with delivering proclamations so that everyone would hear. These heralds would also be sent sent ahead of a king’s arrival to a city to announce his message and instruct the people to prepare for his coming. Paul described his work and mission to the Ephesian leaders as “heralding” the gospel.
This is the type of announcement Jesus likens our evangelism to. A herald of a royal announcement. The role of the church is to ‘herald’ the King, and His Kingdom. We take the message of The King, and we proclaim it boldly and clearly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwdpvsgJ8bE&ab_channel=TheVillageChurchResources