Evangelism is for professionals? That’s the lie holding us back

By Charlie Marq, Op-ed contributor Wednesday, October 28, 2026

When Jesus looked upon the crowds, He did not see a lost cause. He saw a people in need. He saw a ready harvest. 

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” He told His disciples in Matthew 9. Then He told them to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers. 

Those words have followed me around the world. 

For 40 years, Forge has proclaimed the Gospel, calling people to an up-close life with Jesus and equipping them to advance God’s Kingdom every day, everywhere. By God’s grace, we have seen Jesus lifted up in over 100 nations. More than 330,000 Kingdom Laborers have been equipped to impact their everyday places. 

But what stays with me are the people. 

Again and again, I have watched ordinary Christians discover that the Great Commission belongs to them. They may never stand behind a pulpit or be invited onto a platform, but they know people a pastor or evangelist will never meet. When they understand that God has placed them there for a purpose, the Gospel moves through relationships in ways no ministry program can manufacture. No wonder Jesus used an everyday person, approachable word — laborers!  

Yet we often make evangelism more complicated than that. Sharing Jesus becomes the responsibility of the pastor, missionary or evangelist with the microphone and the spotlight. I am an evangelist myself, but sharing the Gospel was never meant to be confined to those of us with ministry titles. Exactly 500 years ago, William Tyndale translated the Bible from Greek into English so ordinary people could read and understand God’s word. He believed communicating it was not just the job of priests. I think the same applies to evangelism today. 

Sadly, an incredibly deceptive lie has permeated Christian culture — that Kingdom impact is better left to the professionals. Many Christians I have met all over the globe have been crippled by this lie. The truth of the matter is, if their neighbors are going to hear about Jesus, they cannot assume somebody else will eventually arrive and do it. When they come to understand the task lies with them, transformation quickly follows. 

Sometimes God gives you a glimpse of just how much can hang on one encounter with the Gospel. In Somalia in 2023, Mohammed heard about Jesus while he was being recruited into the Al-Shabaab Islamic terrorist group. He chose Jesus instead and later said that encounter saved him from becoming a suicide bomber. God had reached a man through everyday Kingdom Laborers at the very moment others were trying to turn him into a terrorist. 

We may not encounter circumstances quite as dramatic. But we carry the same Gospel, and we serve the same God. No life is beyond His reach. That is why evangelism and discipleship cannot be separated. If we proclaim the Gospel but fail to disciple people, we can end up celebrating decisions without making disciples. Yet if our discipleship never takes us outward to people who do not know Jesus, something is equally wrong. The Gospel is meant to multiply. 

The American Church needs to recover that expectation. The truth is that America is a mission field too. And it’s time for us to embrace everyday “laborership” as quickly as our brothers and sisters globally. 

We do not have to travel thousands of miles to find people who need Jesus. They live beside us and work with us. God has already placed His people throughout varying harvest fields, often in relationships that no pastor or evangelist could ever engage. The opportunity is in front of us. We simply have to start seeing the people around us as Jesus sees them. 

Christians can become so preoccupied with cultural decline that the people around us begin to look like evidence of everything that has gone wrong. 

Jesus saw people differently.  When He looked upon those who were harassed and helpless, He saw people who needed a shepherd, and He turned the attention of His disciples toward the harvest. 

What if we did the same? 

The person who does not know Christ is not a symbol of America’s cultural decline. That person is someone deeply loved by God who needs the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Christian that God intends to use to engage them may already be sitting at the next desk or living across the street. 

Forty years of ministry around the world have convinced us that God still loves to accomplish His purposes through ordinary people who make themselves available to Him. Most will never become famous. Their names may never be known outside their communities. 

That does not matter. The harvest is still plentiful, and the work of Jesus has not changed. And I truly believe that the laborers are increasing. I am optimistic because people are more spiritually hungry and open than ever before. The next generation of believers are longing for purpose. So, the real question is not whether there is hope for America’s future or whether Jesus’ heart-cry for more everyday Laborers still works, but rather, will we get in on what God is up to in this season of history or miss it altogether? 

The next move is yours. What will you do today?