Evangelism is crucial, and Jesus has always had a heart for the lost. As we engage people through evangelism, Jesus says the work should not end there but should continue on in the context of a relationship by discipling people to follow Jesus. It's interesting to note that before Jesus ascended into heaven, He commanded the believers to go and make disciples of people..
In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commands us, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
I once ran across an article that begged to ask the question: "Which is more important? Discipleship or evangelism?" And while we want to jump into an actual answer and say, "Well, it's discipleship" or "Clearly, it's evangelism," we just can't because that would be an oversimplification.
The problem actually starts because church culture wants us to believe today that the two are two separate things. However, the truth be told, we cannot have one without the other. The word evangelism comes from the Greek word "evangelion" which means good news.
To evangelise is to teach people the good news of Jesus Christ and His finished work and then to lead them to publicly profess their faith. I don't know about you, but that sounds very much like how Jesus defined discipleship as well in Matthew 28:19: "... baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."
Is discipleship more important than evangelism? In my opinion, it's not. So is evangelism more important than discipleship? In my opinion, the answer is also "no."
The problem lies in thinking that discipleship and evangelism are two different things. Actually, they are not.
So many of us think that evangelism ends when we lead someone into the sinner's prayer, and by function, that's what many evangelists do. But teaching the good news cannot be done overnight and most definitely cannot happen in 10 to 15 minutes of prayer. It takes a continuous walk with people to continue to teach them the power and message of the cross.
On the other hand, so many people think discipleship is about telling people how we pray, how we raise our children, how we give and, as an offshoot, tell people to do the same. But note that Jesus told us to teach people what He has commanded us, not what we command them. Jesus calls us to disciple people who will follow His example over following yours. That takes a deeper understanding of the cross and the good news.
Evangelism and discipleship, at their core, are one and the same. They involve teaching Jesus' ways and work, and leading people into a life that publicly confesses that Jesus is Lord. They're both equally important because they both result in the same thing – disciples who follow Jesus.
