Throw Out the Cookie Cutter

Cookie cutters are great for one thing and one thing only ... cookies!  I still remember the first time I made a batch of cookies.  I was a kid and had to do a requirement for a church group I was a part of.  I chose to make peanut butter cookies for some reason, although they are one of my least favorite, so I'm not sure why?  My mom kinda left me to myself to get things done, but there was a small problem ... I was a kid.  Everything was going smoothly until I tasted the cookies ... they tasted terrible!  I called my parents in to taste them and they said there was definitely something wrong with the cookies.  We mulled through the list of ingredients, and realized I had made one small mistake ... a simple mistake anyone could have missed ... I replaced 1 teaspoon of baking soda with 1 cup of baking soda!  And I had been wondering why the ingredients would require me to use nearly the entire can!

Likewise, sometimes a small change from what God has called us to be can have disastrous results.  Have you ever told someone God has called you to be an evangelist, and they immediately compared you someone they know who goes by the term.  Perhaps this happens to you often, even regularly.  

There are fewer evangelists than pastors, and most churches only know one or a few evangelists because that is all they typically bring in within a pastoral term.  Maybe this is a partial explanation why evangelists feel forced into a "cookie cutter" description every so often.

Every evangelist really is different.  Sometimes people misunderstand us or our calling, but God has put a specific unique calling on every person which he hopes for us to fulfill within our lifetimes, and that includes evangelists.

Evangelists vary in calling, ministry style, philosophy, passion, how they carry out their calling, preaching style, etc.

Here are a few "cookie cutter" traits I have felt others have expected of me, but descriptions that are far from who I am uniquely in God's plan.

1. Evangelists aren't always salesman - many evangelists are master networkers by force of desperation.  I hardly know one evangelist friend who enjoys trying to connect with pastors to book services.  I love building friendships and one of my biggest regrets is having to ask friends for favors like having me in to speak.  We do it because it is our calling, our burden - an essential to preach and reach lost souls.  Many evangelists are outgoing, but God also calls shy people to be evangelists, and everyone in between.

2. Evangelists don't all exaggerate - hopefully fewer and fewer have this tendency.  Although exaggerating a story or illustration has traditionally been a way to get laughs, or puffing up numbers makes our ministry look shinier and more effective, these things are less and less characteristic of today's evangelists.  A great story is a great story without our help.  Reporting what God does is a solemn responsibility and hopefully we will humbly underestimate and watch how we phrase what God is doing and attempt in all things to be truthful to a fault. God will bless us for this. 

3. Evangelists don't all preach the same sermons - I enjoy preparing new messages for most services.  However, I highly respect evangelist friends who re-use messages as the Spirit of God leads them to.  It possibly takes just as much skills to re-preach a sermon with a fresh anointing as it does to write a whole new one.  And re-preaching sermons potentially gives more time for focused prayer and heart to heart time with God.  But not every evangelist does this.  In fact, there are all types in between.

I wonder what "cookie cutters" other evangelists are feeling they are put in today?

Throw out your cookie cutter, and be open to a new move of God through new vessels.