Insights on Evangelism and Disciple Building from Rev. Chris Byrd on the ‘Great Commission Today’ Podcast
This article synthesizes key insights on Christian evangelism and obedience to the Great Commission at the Boardwalk Chapel in Wildwood, New Jersey. The material is gleaned from an in-depth interview with Rev. Chris Byrd, a Regional Evangelist for the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) – on the Great Commission Today podcast.
The Great Commission is a holistic mandate for the entire church, not merely for individuals or ordained officers. This mission is rooted in the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, where praying for God’s “kingdom to come” is a prayer for regeneration and “will be done” is a prayer for sanctification.
Making disciples, therefore, integrates the initial act of evangelism (gathering in) with the ongoing process of sanctification (building up). Byrd identifies two primary obstacles to modern witness: a lack of competence, which can be remedied through practical, field-based training, and a functional unbelief in the gospel’s power, coupled with the misperception that non-Christians are uninterested in spiritual matters.
Personal experience and anecdotes, such as the transformative encounter with a couple named Bonnie and Bill, demonstrate a present and increasing spiritual openness in American culture. Effective ministry requires a strategic combination of outreach (demonstrating the church’s work to the community) and evangelism (proclaiming the gospel message), with a particular emphasis on equipping believers for personal gospel conversations and leveraging digital platforms to publish sermons and teachings.
Rev. Chris Byrd: Profile and Ministry Context
Rev. Chris Byrd serves as the Regional Home Evangelist for the Presbytery of New Jersey (OPC) and is the co-director of the Boardwalk Chapel in Wildwood, New Jersey. His background includes teaching at a classical Christian school before attending Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia and being ordained in 2020. His ministry focuses on facilitating outward growth in churches and promoting a culture of prayer and witness.
- Conversion Experience: Byrd grew up in a Christian home but experienced a personal conversion in middle school. After a period of becoming aware of God’s personal nature and his own sin, he attended a Billy Graham crusade where the gospel message became personally transformative, giving him peace with God.
- Key Influences: Beyond his parents, Byrd identifies Dr. Henry Krabendam, an OPC minister and former professor at Covenant College, as a significant mentor who deepened his understanding of scripture and the gospel.
- Ministry Roles:
- Evangelist in Westfield Church: Previously served for 4.5 years in a model with two ministers—a pastor for inward building up and an evangelist for outward gathering.
- Regional Home Evangelist: Assists churches throughout the presbytery in developing outreach and evangelism.
- Co-Director at Boardwalk Chapel: Leads a summer ministry focused on both public evangelism and training.
The Boardwalk Chapel: A Hub for Evangelism and Training
The Boardwalk Chapel is a foundational ministry in Byrd’s work, functioning as both a preaching station and a training center.
- History and Location: Established in 1945 by the Presbytery of New Jersey, the chapel is located directly on the boardwalk in Wildwood, a Jersey Shore vacation town that attracts 7 million visitors annually.
- Ministry Model:
- Summer Programs: Operates nightly with gospel-themed music, evangelistic drama, and preaching.
- Direct Evangelism: Staff and volunteers engage in evangelism for several hours each evening.
- Staffing: Primarily staffed by college-age students, supplemented by weekly church groups that come for training and participation.
- Impact and DNA: The chapel’s emphasis has shifted over the last decade to become more of a training center. A key indicator of its lasting impact is a WhatsApp prayer chat group, started for nightly evangelism coordination, which has remained active year-round. Participants from across the country continue to use it to share prayer requests for evangelistic encounters in their home churches, demonstrating that the “DNA of prayer and witness” continues beyond the “mountaintop experience” of the summer.
Theological Framework for the Great Commission
Rev. Byrd presents a robust theological understanding of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) that reframes common interpretations and connects it deeply to other areas of Christian life and doctrine.
A. Defining Terms: “Making Disciples”
The core command, “make disciples of all nations,” is often bifurcated into “evangelism and discipleship.” Byrd argues this is a false dichotomy.
- Disciple as Learner: A “disciple” is literally a learner who follows a teacher with the goal of becoming like them.
- Integrated Process: Making disciples is a comprehensive process that encompasses two key aspects identified in the text:
- Baptizing: Signifies the entrance into Christ’s kingdom – the work of evangelism that brings people from non-disciples to disciples.
- Teaching to Observe: Encompasses the ongoing growth in Christ-like maturity – the work of sanctification.
- Conclusion: Evangelism is the essential starting point and an inseparable component of making disciples.
B. The Lord’s Prayer as the Heartbeat of the Mission
Byrd posits that the Lord’s Prayer provides the “heartbeat” for the Christian life and the foundational desires that the Great Commission fulfills.
- Great Aim: “Hallowed be your name” is the ultimate goal of all Christian prayer and life.
- Kingdom and Will: The next two petitions directly correspond to the two parts of making disciples:
- “Let your kingdom come”: Jesus stated one cannot enter the kingdom unless born again. Therefore, this is fundamentally a prayer for the regeneration of people.
- “Let your will be done”: This refers to God’s revealed will (scripture). This is a prayer for the sanctification of believers, that they would live in obedience to all Christ has commanded.
- Connection to the Commission: The Great Commission is the instrumental means by which the church brings about what the Lord’s Prayer asks for. After modeling this mission and securing the power for it through his death and resurrection, Jesus commands his disciples: “Go make disciples” by baptizing (kingdom come) and teaching them to observe (will be done).
C. The Commission’s Recipient: A “Third Way”
A central question is who the Great Commission was given to. Byrd outlines three common views and advocates for a third, more biblical approach.
| View | Description | Potential Pitfall |
| 1. Individualistic View | Commonly found in Baptist/evangelical circles, it holds that the commission is given to every individual Christian. | Can create an “undue burden” and “evangelist-guilt” for those not gifted in certain ways. |
| 2. Officer-Centric View | Argues the commission was given to the apostles and, by extension, only to ordained officers. | Can lead to passivity among the laity, who may see ministry as something they “pay pastors to do.” |
| 3. The “Third Way” | The commission was given to the whole church as a corporate body. | This view avoids the pitfalls of the others. It affirms that every member is called into the mission but has different roles and gifts (Ephesians 4) to contribute to the whole. The officer’s role is specifically to “equip the saints for the work of ministry.” |
D. Evangelism in the Armor of God
Byrd highlights that evangelism is not just a command but also a piece of the spiritual armor described in Ephesians 6:15.
- The Text: “having your feet shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace.”
- Interpretation: While often interpreted as the readiness given by the gospel, Byrd suggests it is the readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace.
- Old Testament Imagery: This interpretation connects to Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who publish peace.”
- Experiential Reality: Proclaiming the gospel to others has a spiritually strengthening effect, as the Holy Spirit preaches back to the speaker through their own mouth.
Evangelism in Practice: Observations and Testimonies
Byrd reports a tangible increase in spiritual interest and provides compelling anecdotes of God’s work.
- Increasing Burden for the Lost: Over the last 5-10 years, Byrd has observed a noticeable increase in New Jersey churches of congregational interest in evangelism, with more prayer and conversation about unsaved relatives and coworkers.
- Case Study: A Gospel Conversation with “Bonnie and Bill”:
- Initial Contact: During an Irish festival, a church group was on the Wildwood boardwalk distributing tracts. The seven-year-old son of a church member handed a tract to an older woman, Bonnie.
- Conviction: The tract contained a verse about liars not inheriting the kingdom of God, which convicted her.
- Seeking Help: Bonnie and her husband, Bill (an agnostic), approached the Boardwalk Chapel looking for “mass.” They encountered Rev. Byrd and spoke for 30 minutes. Bonnie confessed, “I know I’m not right with God… I can’t stop and I don’t know what to do about it.”
- Invitation and Response: Byrd shared the gospel, gave them a Bible, and invited them to church. They attended the next day, and Bonnie felt Jesus was speaking directly to her through the sermon.
- Ongoing Discipleship: The couple has been attending church consistently since that encounter, developing relationships with other Christians and expressing amazement at their new spiritual journey. Bonnie remarked, “Bill, could you have ever imagined that we would be here today in the house… with a bunch of Christians.”
Overcoming Obstacles to Witness
Two major barriers prevent Christians from engaging in evangelism.
- The Competence Gap (Fear): Many believers feel they “don’t know what to say” or are afraid of being unable to answer questions. The solution is comprehensive training that includes two critical aspects:
- Classroom/Pulpit: Equipping believers with the truths of the gospel.
- Field Experience: Providing opportunities to observe and participate in evangelism alongside more seasoned individuals, thereby developing “gospel fluency.” Ministries like the Boardwalk Chapel are designed to provide this experience.
- The Unbelief Gap (Misperception): This is a deeper obstacle rooted in false assumptions and a lack of faith.
- Misperception: The widespread belief among Christians that most non-Christians “have no interest in Jesus” and have already rejected the gospel. Byrd’s experience over the last decade proves “that is just not the case.” He sees an increasing spiritual openness, even among youth.
- Functional Unbelief: A theological belief in the gospel’s power that does not translate into a practical expectation that people will actually change. Byrd confesses his own past struggle with this, realizing he was “ashamed of the gospel because I actually don’t believe it’s the power of God unto salvation.” Overcoming this requires God to expose the unbelief and build faith through ministry experience.
Strategic Application: Outreach and Evangelism
Byrd affirms the OPC church planting manual’s distinction between outreach and evangelism as a helpful framework for local churches.
| Category | Definition (OPC Manual) | Rev. Byrd’s Commentary |
| Evangelism | Any gospel activity which brings the righteous requirements of God and his plan for salvation before the people. | The direct proclamation of the gospel message with content. This is essential for conversion. |
| Outreach | Any gospel activity which brings the work of the church before the people of the community. | Activities that make contact and demonstrate the transformed life of the church community. It “puts flesh and blood on these truths” proclaimed in evangelism, making the message more comprehensible. |
Effective Contemporary Methods
- Recommended Outreach: Of the methods listed (advertising, newsletters, public meetings, publishing sermons), Byrd has found publishing sermons and teachings online to be the most effective. People search Bing and Google for churches and watch sermons before ever attending.
- Recommended Evangelism: While all three methods (gospel dialogue, literature distribution, street preaching) have their place, Byrd focuses his training on personal gospel conversations. This is where he believes the most fruit is seen in local congregations, as faith often comes through a longer process of conversation and relationship.
- Adapting “House-to-House” Ministry: While apostolic, this method faces modern cultural barriers like individualism and suspicion. Byrd suggests adapting the approach to be service-oriented to break down barriers, such as:
- New Neighbors Outreach: Welcoming new residents with homemade cookies.
- Christmas Caroling: Going door-to-door singing Christmas carols, creating a natural point of contact.
Concluding Exhortation and Encouragement
- Exhortation: Believers are urged to examine the content of their prayers and align their hearts with God’s by meditating on the Lord’s Prayer. They should also actively go to their pastors and ask, “I want to be equipped in sharing my faith.”
- Encouragement: The Lord is clearly at work in the current culture. There are people burdened by sin and asking how to be made right with God. Believers should pray for opportunities and be bold in speaking about Jesus and inviting people to church, trusting that God will use them as instruments to grow his kingdom.
Related Links and Resources
- He Thought No One Was Interested in Jesus – Until This Happened
- The Great Commission Today Podcast
- The Boardwalk Chapel
Published on 14-Jan-2025. Several AI tools were used to edit and improve content for this article.