“Saying ‘Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words’ is like saying ‘tell me your phone number, and if necessary, use digits’ “~ J.D. Greear
I got into a bit of a row on Facebook about this one on Sunday. St. Francis’ saying (“preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words), is quite popular today. Regardless of what St. Francis meant by it, many today use it to subtly drive a wedge between words and actions. An undercurrent of the quote is that words aren’t necessary to “preach” the gospel. Some pastors even use it to quietly discourage their congregation from sharing the gospel message with proclamation and discussion. This, however, is neither biblical nor practical.
Think about it: did Jesus, the apostles, John the Baptist, the Church Fathers, or any New Testament or early church player live by this mantra? One glance at the Bible and church history will tell you “no!” They all used both in tandem, and they used them often. What’s more, they took the initiative. They didn’t keep silent for months and years and wait for someone to say “hey, there’s something different about you.” They were up front and vocal about the saving message, in addition to doing good works.
Practically speaking, most folks, whether they go to church or not, aren’t going to “hear” the gospel just from your actions–if we define “action” as it is defined through the common modern-day interpretation of the St. Francis quote. If you just “live out the gospel with action” like that–say, you serve at a soup kitchen, do an AIDS walk, volunteer your time for troubled youth, etc–folks are more likely to think you are a Mormon than a Christian. Most Mormon folks I know are just that way–very nice, incredibly moral and loving, but not too keen on talking about Jesus/religion/spirituality with non-Mormons…they aren’t even that keen on talking about Joseph Smith (unless they are on their mission).
In short, “how will they *hear*, without someone *preaching* to them?” I know the word “preaching” is a 4 letter word today, but so what? Some might insist that you can preach or proclaim without words, but let’s get real. Don’t even try to water down the meaning of that term to make it sound like doing social good works *alone* (key word…I’m not bashing on good works) is preaching.
Others will misconstrue my point by responding, “if you don’t back up your words with actions, your words are meaningless.” This is true, but my point isn’t that actions aren’t necessary–they are. All those examples I gave above are excellent, God-honoring, and praiseworthy. My point is that words are equally as necessary. One ought not split the two, and that’s what many try to do with St. Francis’ words. Saying that words and actions are both important really shouldn’t be that controversial, but for some reason, it is so hard for many folks to simply admit.
