One of my heroes of the faith is the 18th century evangelist George Whitefield. God used him to help launch the Methodist revival in England, and Whitefield still found time to make seven trips to America and fuel the fires of the Great Awakening. Single-handedly he preached to and evangelized 80 percent of the American colonists, literally preaching himself to death at age 55.

He also committed himself never to travel with a person more than 15 minutes before he shared the gospel with him or her. He broke the ice with evangelism in the streets and later introduced John Wesley to this strategy. In fact, Wesley had just come along to a common area to hear Whitefield, when to his surprise his friend introduced him and said, "Now we will hear Mr. Wesley expound the gospel of Jesus Christ." Thus began Wesley's itinerant preaching career.

While a current icon for evangelicals, Whitefield was not appreciated by many of his contemporaries.

The formal and traditional church members of his day considered him a rabble-rousing eccentric. After all, he used humor, contemporary illustrations and dramatic vocabulary in his sermons--definite no-no's for his day--and he preached outside of consecrated church buildings, heaven forbid!

He was accused of being more showman than minister and of producing superficial, short-lived converts. In fact, one critic said his converts were "hireling hypocrites at two shillings and sixpence per week," and yet another commented, "He would be followed by crowds were he to wear a night-cap in the pulpit, or to preach from a tree."

Even many good Baptists thought he was "off the wall" because he believed people could be saved the first time they heard the gospel. He knew it could happen because that's what had happened in the lives of many of his listeners. And a number of them went on to become pastors and evangelists themselves.

Whitefield, however, didn't let criticism phase him. Instead he wrote, "Satan is angry. All hail such contempt." Whitefield knew that getting the Great Commission done was more important than gaining public or even church approval. While not changing the message that Jesus saves, he dared to challenge the method. He believed that if Christianity were to prosper, it must get outside the walls of the church.

As a result, revival and unprecedented evangelistic success came to the church. The 18th century, in fact, so revived the church that it gave birth to the greatest century of missionary advance in more than a millennium--the 1800s.

Much of the revival emphasis was then accredited to him. Joseph Ivimey, a Baptist historian of the 19th century, said of him--"It is probable … but for Whitefield … that infidelity would, in this country (England) have triumphed over Christianity."

What lesson do we learn from this great preacher of the good news? Simply this--be faithful to the biblical message, but be willing to innovate in taking it to the masses. That is a lesson to remember and use in our strategies for evangelism.

While some might think them today's goats, ultimately it makes for heroes--the courageous ones, who are willing to pay the price to go beyond the ordinary and attempt the extraordinary for God and the gospel.

Phil Roberts is a theologian and expert on spirituality in our culture.