Wait, what?
Literally, 10 days ago I wrote a post called "Why Your Pastor Shouldn't Evangelize" where I advocated church members step up and learn to evangelize in their spheres so that their pastor could spend more time on discipleship. In theory, it's how churches are supposed to spread. Pastors and elders preach the word and pray, and members of the church do ministry and spread the gospel in their areas of life.
But now I'm writing a super clickbaity title where I am going to argue for the complete opposite. But I think both should be true of your church.
When I wrote "Why Your Pastor Shouldn't Evangelize" I was writing from a staff perspective. From a church staff member, you should want your pastor to have really good time management. And in the case of reaching more people for Jesus, discipleship goes further faster than just straight-up evangelism. So they should spend most of their hours somewhere in the process of discipleship.
However, your pastor should evangelize at some point throughout the week. I still contend it shouldn't be their main focus, but before your staff had the title of "pastor" they had the title "Christian." Meaning, all the things that should be true of Christians, should be true of them. When Jesus issued the Great Commission in Matthew 28, it applied to your pastor.
They should be reaching people for the gospel in their spheres as well as training you to do it in yours. Unfortunately, it has become a habit for a lot of pastors to remove themselves from unchristian places. They want to hole themselves up in their office to study that new logos commentary or do group leader training or basically surround themselves with Christians 24/7. While those things are good and useful and, really, what they should be doing, they also can't neglect their own spiritual disciplines.
I came to the startling realization two years ago that almost everyone I talked to throughout the week was a Christian or seeking to become one. While that was filling for me and helpful for my church, it didn't grow me spiritually. It didn't ask me to be in the hard spot of showing someone my faith.
So I made a point to get my beard trimmed by non-christian people.
It isn't huge. I didn't go to the slums of my city and start preaching on a street corner. I didn't give up all I had to go to Africa. I just simply went out of my way to choose a barber that I knew had no Christians working for them. It gave me an hour once a month to talk about my faith with a captive and sometimes antagonistic audience.
I also started lifting weights with non-Christians during that time. A few fellas who curse like sailors but are surprisingly interested in what the Bible has to say about manhood. Again, it isn't 30 hours a week preaching the gospel to Sodom and Gomorrah. But it's enough to reshape my heart towards the lost and carry out my part of the Great Commission.
So yes, your pastor should evangelize. They should use their words and their actions to directly influence the spiritual lives of those who don't love Jesus. If they're not, well...maybe they're like a lot of us and just forgot that they were a Christian before they got paid to do it.