On August 31, the Billy Kim Hall at the Billy Graham Library will be filled with pastors and people who are passionate about gaining tools to be equipped to proclaim the Gospel. This event is inspired by the one mission that Billy Graham had –to make God known to all nations. The Billy Graham Library has continued the legacy of Rev. Graham in the mission of spreading the Gospel.

Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will serve as one of the speakers for the training. Leading up to the event, Dr. Mohler kindly shared with us the importance of evangelism in this Q&A.

What is the importance of evangelism today?

Evangelism is as important today as it has ever been in the Christian Church, which is to say it’s at the very front line of the very existence of the Church. The Church’s message is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church is the body of the redeemed, and the redeemed are those who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel, the taking of the gospel, the sharing of the gospel. So it’s just so essential to understand that we really can’t talk about the Church apart from evangelism. We can’t talk about Christianity apart from evangelism.

And I think, if anything, we just need to understand that to ask the question about the centrality of evangelism is to risk implying we don’t have a clue what Christianity is. We don’t know what the Church is. I mean, thankfully, among evangelicals at least we hope to find that understanding of the centrality of the gospel and of evangelism, and it should make us very happy to be with people who understand and exalt in that centrality.

Dr. Albert Mohler

What led you to the topic of “Proclaiming Unchanging Truth in a Changing World”?

Well, I think the first symptom of the modern age is the reality and constant sense of living in changing times. I think if there’s one thing that sets the modern age off from previous times, it is that transformative, fundamental change is now at the very center of our expectation of what it means to be alive. And one of the assumptions of an incredibly and increasingly confused culture is that if change is the order of the day, then truth has to change. If there is a gospel, the gospel has to change. If there is truth, it’s inevitably going to change. And yet this is something that is faced not just in the modern age, it’s faced squarely in the scriptures.

One of the things that grounds me is understanding what in the New Testament we see as “the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” As Martin Lloyd-Jones said, “Truth unchanged and unchanging.” The times change. Truth doesn’t change. The times change. The gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t change. And it is just good for Christians to be reminded of that. And so, I’m going to talk about both paths of that equation, about the reality of the change and what that means and what it presents to Christians as a challenge, and then the reality of what can’t change and won’t change that is at the center of the Church’s faith and message.

Dr. Albert Mohler

How do Churches and Christian Organizations Train and Equip Individuals for Evangelism?

All my life, I think I’ve been surrounded by Christians who have been asking this question and thankfully, I’ve been around Christians who have been answering it. And so I think a couple of things that come to mind are this: Evangelism, like so many other aspects of applied Christianity, is both taught and caught. And so we need explicit teaching in evangelism. We need structure. I was trained in Evangelism Explosion with Jim Kennedy. For that, I’m thankful. I’ve had my thoughts about evangelism and how to share the faith educated in such a way that I’m very thankful for those who taught me. But at the same time, I don’t think that would be complete in any sense if they didn’t show me.

And so I was involved in early witnessing training in which we were told what the gospel is, how to share the gospel, what’s the essential content of the gospel, and how you tell people about Jesus. But we didn’t go home until we’d actually done it and seen someone who knew how to share the gospel. And then we’d had it thrown to us, and we shared the gospel. And I think that’s one of the most important issues, is that we do need training and education in evangelism. But it needs not only to be taught but shown. And I think that’s what the Church has to learn in every generation.

Dr. Albert Mohler

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the foot of those who preach the good news!’” – Romans 10:14-15 ESV

We ask that you would be in prayer for our speakers and guests on August 31 and pray that the Lord would use this event to equip and inspire those to make the Gospel known to all nations. Visit our website to stay up to date on all future Evangelism Intensives and events.