The Apostle Paul gives us a powerful picture of the Church in 1 Corinthians 12. He compares the Body of Christ to the human body. A human body has many different parts, and every part has a unique purpose. In the same way, the Body of Christ has many members, many gifts, and many different ministries, but we are all part of one Body.
Paul writes:
“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ… For in fact the body is not one member but many” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 14 NKJV).
God never intended for every member of the Body of Christ to perform the same function. My heart is much better than my ears at pumping blood. My ears are much better than my heart at hearing. My eyes help me see. My hands help me work. My feet help me go somewhere.
Every part has a purpose.
In the same way, we need all the ministry gifts in the Body of Christ. The ministry of helps can function like the hands, serving and strengthening others. The pastor or apostle is like the head who provides leadership, care, protection, and direction for the local church. Teachers help believers understand the Word of God. Prophets speak what God places upon their hearts.
And the evangelist is the feet of the Body of Christ.
Beautiful Feet
Paul asks a powerful question in Romans 10:15:
“And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (NKJV).
This is an interesting verse because feet are usually not considered the most beautiful part of the human body.
When you kick off your shoes at the end of a long day, your wife probably does not look at your feet and say, “Wow! Those are the most beautiful feet I have ever seen!”
Feet get dirty. Feet get tired. Feet get calloused. Feet go through mud. Feet walk over rocks. Feet carry the weight of the entire body.
Yet God says the feet of those who preach the Gospel are beautiful.
Why? Because those feet are going somewhere.They are carrying good news.
They are walking into villages, cities, neighborhoods, schools, prisons, marketplaces, stadiums, churches, and nations where people need to hear about Jesus. The beauty is found in the mission.
The evangelist carries the Gospel beyond the walls of the church to people who desperately need Jesus.
The Church Needs the Evangelist
Paul says, “And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you’” (1 Corinthians 12:21 NKJV).
The head (the pastor) cannot say to the feet (the evangelist), “I have no need of you.”
The Church should not say to the evangelist, “We have no need of you.”
The Church needs evangelists.
The local church needs men and women who continually remind the Body of Christ that there is a lost and dying world outside the walls of the church.
The pastor needs the evangelist. The teacher needs the evangelist. The missionary needs the evangelist. The person with the gift of helps needs the evangelist.
And the evangelist needs all of them.
God never designed the evangelist to operate independently from the Body of Christ. Evangelists need pastors who disciple the people who respond to the Gospel. Evangelists need teachers who ground new believers in the Word of God. Evangelists need intercessors who pray. They need worshipers who create an atmosphere of faith. They need those with gifts of administration and helps who organize outreaches. They need believers who give generously so the Gospel can go forward.
We need one another. Every ministry gift has a place, and every ministry gift has a purpose. The evangelist helps the Church move.
A healthy body does not spend its entire life sitting in one place. Healthy feet walk. Healthy feet run. Healthy feet climb mountains. Healthy feet cross streets. Healthy feet carry the body into places it has never been before.
Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15 NKJV). Someone has to go. That is where the feet come in.
What Happens When the Feet Stop Moving?
Imagine a perfectly healthy body with feet that refuse to move.
The eyes work. The ears work. The heart pumps. The lungs breathe. The hands function. The mind knows exactly where it needs to go.
But the feet refuse to move.
The entire body remains stuck in one place.
Yet millions of people still wait to hear the Gospel.
Jesus said, “Go.” People need salvation. Eternity is real. But if the feet are not functioning, the Body stays where it is. God has called the feet to take their place.
The evangelist must go. Far too often, the feet of the Body of Christ are not working as they should.
The Church may have excellent teaching. We may have beautiful worship. We may have wonderful buildings. We may have strong pastoral care. We may have great programs for children and youth. We may have conferences, Bible studies, prayer meetings, and fellowship gatherings.
All of these things are valuable. But God also designed His Body to move.
Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15 NKJV). Going requires feet.
A body without healthy feet remains where it is. In the same way, a church without evangelism can become stationary. It may minister effectively to the people who are already inside, but struggle to reach the people who remain outside.
God has called the feet to take their place in the Body.
Every Church Needs Feet
Every local church needs people who function as feet.
Some are specifically called to the ministry of the evangelist. Paul says that Christ Himself “gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11 NKJV).
These evangelists carry a special calling to proclaim the Gospel and equip the saints for evangelism.
But every church also needs believers who have a passion for reaching the lost. Someone needs to be thinking about the people outside the church. Someone needs to be asking, “Who has never heard?” Someone needs to be looking beyond the walls of the sanctuary. Every church needs someone asking, “Who have we not reached yet?”
The feet take the Gospel into neighborhoods.
The feet walk into schools.
The feet enter prisons.
The feet go into hospitals.
The feet visit homes.
The feet cross borders.
The feet travel to unreached villages.
The feet go to the nations.
The feet carry the Gospel wherever people need Jesus.
Someone needs to find the person who has never clearly heard that Jesus saves.
The evangelist is the feet of the Body.
The evangelist helps get the Church moving toward the harvest.
Feet Were Designed to Move
Feet are designed for movement.
They walk.
They run.
They climb.
They cross difficult terrain.
They carry the rest of the body into places it could never reach without them.
The evangelist must do the same.
The evangelist cannot become satisfied simply talking about evangelism. Evangelists must evangelize.
We must go.
We must preach.
We must witness.
We must reach.
We must continually look toward the next person, the next neighborhood, the next city, and the next nation that needs to hear the Gospel.
Paul writes, “Run in such a way that you may obtain it” (1 Corinthians 9:24 NKJV).
The feet of the Body of Christ should be running toward the harvest.
God Gave Us Two Feet
There is another lesson we can learn from the human body. God gave us two feet.
Walking requires cooperation.
When one foot moves forward, the other foot supports the weight of the body. Then the other foot moves forward. One supports while the other advances. Through this continual cooperation, the entire body moves toward its destination.
Evangelists need to work together in the same way.
Sometimes I may be moving forward while you support me. At another time, you may be moving forward while I support you.
We pray for one another.
We encourage one another.
We celebrate one another’s victories.
We help one another.
We open doors for one another.
We share resources.
We stand together.
We refuse to compete over who has the biggest ministry, the largest crowd, or the greatest number of converts. The harvest is too big and eternity is too important for competition.
When one evangelist advances, the entire Body advances. Paul writes, “If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26 NKJV). Your victory is my victory because we belong to the same Body.
It Is Time for the Feet to Take Their Place
The Body of Christ needs healthy feet.
We need evangelists who are full of the Holy Spirit, grounded in the Word of God, connected to the local church, passionate about souls, and willing to go wherever God sends them.
We need evangelists who will equip believers to share their faith.
We need evangelists who will remind the Church that there are still billions of people who need to hear the good news.
We need evangelists who will walk into difficult places.
We need evangelists who will run toward the harvest.
The feet must take their rightful place in the Body of Christ.
And the rest of the Body must recognize the importance of the feet.
The head cannot say to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
Pastors, make room for the evangelist.
Churches, recognize the evangelists God has placed among you.
Believers, support those who are carrying the Gospel.
Evangelists, take your place.
Put on the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Start walking. Start running. Start going.
There are people waiting to hear the good news. There are villages waiting. There are cities waiting. There are nations waiting. There are souls waiting.
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15 NKJV).
Church, it is time to get on our feet. It is time to go.
