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Portland, Ore.
A “mean” evangelist


Luis Palau describes himself as a “mean” evangelist. He says he has to be a “little mean” because he reminds people that they are sinners in need of God’s grace.

During more than 30 years of mass evangelism, the Argentine-born Palau has spoken to hundreds of millions of people in 103 nations through radio and TV broadcasts and has spoken live to nearly 13 million people in 67 nations.

Although he believes in the big stadium events, he no longer calls them “crusades” because of the negative connotation that the word has for Muslims. Palau says that he prefers speaking at luncheons and on the radio. Still the stadium rallies have their place.

“The stadium gets the attention, and it always brings people to Christ,” he says. “I think in stadiums you get more stray sheep coming back than pure pagans being converted.”

Palau recently completed an evangelistic campaign in Maine, with the help of partner evangelists. His next project is the Next Generation Alliance designed to equip young or lesser-known evangelists for the ministry. The local church might not even know these younger evangelists exist. He notes that, apart from Billy Graham, only a handful of evangelists have received much recognition.

“My job is to speak to the church about evangelists because I think the church is often making a big mistake, with pastors trying to act like evangelists when they are not. So many times I’ll hear a pastor give the gospel beautifully, and he comes to the invitation and he botches it up. I feel like jumping up and saying ‘Give me three minutes!’ They don’t know how to nail people. That’s what the evangelist does. It’s a gift from God.”

Palau says that the gift of evangelism doesn’t come to everyone. Evangelists have an inner compulsion that drives them to near depression if they can’t preach the gospel. He even admits that he is a boring preacher, but his inner compulsion drives him to preach.

However, evangelists are prone to temptations. “You begin to think of yourself as some great personality, which destroys many evangelists – the idea that you’re some movie star or something. Or you begin to think that you can ignore individuals because you’re so important. That’s a major flaw.”

He says that evangelists are prone to be lazy, born with an inclination to the good life. “Evangelists are always dreaming that some rich uncle will come along and pay for all their expenses, no questions asked. Those are the things we deal with. But it’s a great calling, and if they show respect for a local church, I think the local church will show respect for them.”

Still, he says he has some reservations about preaching in the US. “My greatest problem is that I have such a high respect for Americans that I find it hard to call them sinners. Isn’t that funny? I’m married to an American. But I still find it hard to point the finger and say, ‘You’re a sinner’.”

Noting Acts 1:8, Palau says not everyone is called to be an evangelist, but everyone has a responsibility to be a witness for Christ. “I think we all must give the good news, first backing it up with a good life that honours Christ. But until we verbalize the gospel, we haven’t evangelized. Unless we talk, we’re not evangelizing. The idea that life alone is sufficient is a fallacy.”

He encourages all Christians to share their faith, citing Philemon 6. “If we don’t share the good news, even stumbling and sweating with wet palms, we miss out on God’s deepest things. We’re all supposed to witness, but not feel guilty that we’re not drawing thousands like evangelists.”

 – Evangelical Press News Service

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Last modified May 4, 2000.

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