Exactly what is Evangelism?
Are we expected to be evangelistic?
Are we commanded to be evangelistic?

How do we even define evangelism?
Here is what Merriam-Webster thinks:
1. : the winning or revival of personal commitments to Christ
2. : militant or crusading zeal

When I spent 30 plus years in the mainstream church, my idea of evangelism was to invite people to church.  If I was able to get someone in the building, it was up to the pastor to do the rest. I considered myself more of a recruiter than an evangelizer, I suppose…

My idea of evangelism has changed much in the last couple years. It is not our job to try and convince other people to be ‘believers’. Our job is to live according to the Word and be a light for others to see. Those who are seeking will see your light in the darkness and will ask questions, join in fellowship, etc.

We should find those who are seeking truth, but need our help.
Preaching the precious gospel to those who don’t care about it is casting pearls before swine, and we are told not to do it.

Matthew 7:6-7
⁶ “Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet, then turn and rip you to shreds.
⁷ “Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it shall be opened.

What good is it to tell someone about the gospel message if they hate it?  Do not cast it before them, as we are told in verse 6.
Verse 7 explains a bit more…
If someone is asking, THEN it shall be given.
If someone is seeking, THEN they shall find.
If someone is knocking, THEN it will be opened.
What if someone is NOT asking, seeking, or knocking?
Do not cast your pearls before them…  
They don’t want them, and we are told not to give them…

When asked why He teaches in parables, Yeshua replied with this in Matthew 13:11-17
He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Understanding is “given to you” but not given to others…
And we are not talking about random, generic understanding.
We are talking about “the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven”.
Why?
Seeker friendly churches say anyone can be saved.
Messiah says some are given understanding, and understanding is intentionally withheld from those with calloused hearts.

We see this concept in Matthew 15 with the Canaanite woman:
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
Messiah would not even acknowledge that this woman existed. When pressed, He said He came only for the house of Israel.
When she did not give up, He referred to her as a dog, and that dogs don’t get what rightfully belongs to the children of Israel.
She shows great faith, and He healed her daughter. It doesn’t say she was welcomed into the Kingdom, though.
That is one of the things I hope to find out one day, is whether or not she was accepted into the Kingdom because of her faith, or if He just granted her wish because of her faith.

I believe this all comes into play because of Genesis 3:15 and Genesis 6.  There are “his seed” and “her Seed” in this world.
As people, we probably cannot tell who are her seed, and who are his seed. But Yeshua Messiah had no problems at all discerning this…
Churches teach us that every single person can ‘accept’ Jesus or pray Him into their hearts, but as unpopular as it might sound, scripture seems to paint a different picture, if we read ALL of it.

2Corinthians Chapter 3 talks about people being veiled, and therefore, are unable to understand.  This bit of scripture tells us how to become unveiled, so that we will understand:
¹⁴ But their minds were hardened. For up to this very day the same veil remains unlifted at the reading of the Old Testament, since in Messiah it is passing away. ¹⁵ But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. ¹⁶ But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Did you catch that at the end?
The veil is taken away when someone turns to Yeshua Messiah.
And what is revealed to them when the veil is lifted?
[VERSE 15] The reading of Moses.  The Torah. The Law.

After spending thirty plus years of inviting people to church, this is my new take on evangelism:
If someone is looking for truth, bend over backwards to help them find it.
If someone is asking, do your best to answer.
If someone is seeking, point them in the right direction.
If someone is knocking, help them to knock on the right door (for it is not us who is to answer).

However if someone shows no interest in the gospel or worse, if they hate and reject Messiah, then shake the dust off and move on (more advice for Messiah).

Matthew 10:11-15
¹¹ “Whatever town or village you shall enter, find out who in it is worthy and stay there until you leave. ¹² As you come into the house, greet it. ¹³ If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it’s not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And whoever will not receive you or listen to your words, as you leave that house or that town, shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Amen, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah^[d] on the Day of Judgment than for that town.

This advice from Messiah does not say to seek out everyone in the town.  He says to find out who is worthy.
Whoever will not listen, shake the dust off and move on.
While these ideas do not match what is taught in our churches, it is the truth, straight out of the mouth of our Savior.

Let’s wrap this up by taking a look at the Great Commission:
Matthew 28:18-20
And Yeshua came up to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And remember! I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

What can we learn from this?
First of all, Messiah has ALL AUTHORITY in heaven and on earth.
How much does that leave for our pastors?
Exactly ZERO.
Our pastors and priests and ministers and bishops [and whatever other titles we want to give ourselves] have no authority.

Secondly, we are to make disciples of all nations.
Why is that?
Because of what happened to the ten northern tribes of the house of Israel.
They were divorced from the covenant (Jeremiah 3:8) and were scattered among all the nations.
Why am I tying the great commission to the ten tribes being scattered?
Because of this, the words of Messiah:
Matthew 15:14
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
Because that is who He came for…
He came to restore the lost ten tribes of Israel.
We are to make disciples of all nations, because they were scattered among all the nations.
And we are to teach them all that He commanded.
Yeshua Messiah taught Torah instructions.
Is there any prophecy stating that Torah will be taught in end times?

Isaiah 2:2-3
It will come to pass in the last days
that the mountain of Elohim’s House
will stand firm as head of the mountains
and will be exalted above the hills.
So all nations will flow to it.
³ Then many peoples will go and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of Elohim,
    to the House of the God of Jacob!
Then He will teach us His ways,
    and we will walk in His paths.”
For Torah will go forth from Zion
    and the word of Elohim from Jerusalem.

This is repeated again in Micah Chapter 4.
The New Testament writings do not bring us new concepts or new doctrine.  The New Testament writings reflect what has already been taught previously.  It is not possible to understand the New Testament without first understanding the Torah and the Prophets.