WHY WE MUST PREACH CHRIST WITH NOT JUST DEEDS BUT WORDS

I love good quotes! am always reading quotes, hearing quotes, and using quotes myself. I regularly post some pithy quote on my Facebook page. I use them in my teachings regularly. But sometimes what we quote has no basis in fact and in fact can do a grave disservice to the gospel.

How often do we hear these days, with enthusiasm, passion and approval this quote that is regularly bantered in church circles. I will see this posted occasionally on Facebook with many comments and "likes".

Preach Christ at all times. If necessary, use words.

I must confess that this quote has often irritated me because I believe it creates a useless dichotomy between speech and action. It is always attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order, and is intended to say that proclaiming the Gospel by example is much more virtuous than actually proclaiming with our voice. It stresses how important it is for Christians to "preach the gospel" with their actions. Let the gospel be seen rather than spoken, it's implied. Words may occasionally serve a useful backup role, but our actions must take center stage if we are to make a difference in the world.

At first thought, this sounds right. Except that it isn't. Not to mention in my opinion, the attitude behind it can be more than a little arrogant, intimating that those who "practice the Gospel" are much more faithful, spiritual, and effective to the faith than those who preach it. Also, Church history testifies that in fact, Francis never said such a thing. But more important, this statement represents a significant error. It's simply impossible to preach the gospel without words. The gospel is inherently verbal, and preaching the gospel is inherently verbal behavior.

Now that does not negate the importance of God honoring God magnifying, gospel living lives (Matthew 5:14-16; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Philippians 1:21; James 2:14-26). We know that there is a significant non-verbal aspect to our being "witnesses" and incarnating Jesus in the world. Jesus says that the world will know that we are His disciples if we "love one another" (John 13:34). Francis Schaeffer calls it the mark of the Christian before the watching world. However important our actions may be (and they are very important indeed), and whatever else they may be doing (they serve a range of crucial functions), they are not "preaching the gospel." The gospel is inherently verbal, and preaching it is inherently verbal behavior. If the gospel is to be communicated at all, it must be put into words.

In 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, the apostle Paul offers a brief summary of the gospel he had announced to his readers. He had communicated to them "as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."

This summary of the gospel is impossible to communicate nonverbally. The biblical gospel is inherently verbal, and by definition, communicating it requires putting it into words. I am saying this strongly, not because I do not wish to diminish the importance of the nonverbal dimensions of our calling (deeds/works/glorying Jesus), but because it is all-important that we keep the respective roles of our verbal and nonverbal witness clear.

How you talk about evangelism in terms verbal word witness verses non verbal deed witness reflects how you think about them, and how you think about them in turn shapes how you live. Obscuring or mistaking the respective roles of word and deed can have serious consequences.

First, it can make disappear of our verbal witness. People from all religions as well as many non Christians do nice, virtuous, kind, generous, and loving deeds. Christians do not have the market on these things. What disapproval do we find in our world for feeding the poor, loving our enemies, helping the homeless, clothing the orphans, healing the sick, being generous, and doing deeds of kindness? Honestly, are many non christians offended by this? We are vulnerable to gravitate towards these aspects of behavior in the world while shying away from the parts of evangelism that are controversial, offensive, and cause us great difficulty from the world. For example, the proclamation of sin, judgment, wrath, hell, the cross, repentance, belief, Jesus the only way, etc.

The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,3 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."

Notice that Paul empathises verbal proclamation (the word of the cross...what we preach...we preach Christ crucified) and the response to verbal proclamation(folly to those perishing...the power of God to those who are being saved...a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God)

Paul asks the Church at Rome in Romans 10:14,"How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" Again, he emphasizes the absolute necessity of verbal proclamation.

Second, it can deceive us into thinking the power of the gospel lies within us. It is the idea that gospel effectiveness rests in the lives and witness of the messengers and not the message. But Paul said. "The verbal gospel, the "word of the Cross," the Good News of Jesus Christ proclaimed—is "the power of God for salvation" to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). So strong was Paul's confidence in the gospel's inherent Spirit-infused power that he could rejoice even when it was being preached, not merely in the absence of "embodied action," but out of overtly sinful motives (Philippians 1:12-18).

Who would deny the exceeding importance of incarnating the life and love and spirit of Jesus in order to have the best platform for our verbal witness. I also believe that people will be much more inclined to give us a hearing if we are living it out. I can testify this from my own experience. Deeds are crucial to be sure! But this does not permit us to hold the gospel hostage to our shortcomings. When has the church ever been all it should be? When, short of glory, will the church ever be all that God wills for it? The church has always fallen far short of living out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Yet despite our failures, the gospel itself remains marvelously potent, the very "power of God unto salvation" to those who believe" (Romans 1:16)

The power of the gospel does not rise and fall on the basis of the strengths or weaknesses of its messengers. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:7, " But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."".

I find this truth immensely liberating. In the end, even my failures in my own faithfulness in living it out do not nullify the gospel's power. As John piper says, "the faithfulness of God (and I might add the power of His word) triumphs over the flaws of men. " The potency of the word potency is due to the working of God's Spirit. Even when we are at our best, the gospel is powerful in spite of us, not because of us. Isn't that awesome?

Third, it can put us out of step with God's way of doing things in the world.

In 1 Corinthians 1:21, Paul says, "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe." Paul is referring here to what we have been calling the verbal witness of the gospel. This is God's chosen modus operandi, Paul says, "so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (verse 29).

Jesus said that "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). Later, he claimed that when he was "lifted up from the earth" he would "draw all people to [himself]" (John 12:32). As John explained, "He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die" (12:33), lifted up as a public spectacle on the cross, drawing to himself all who were willing to look upon him in faith for healing. Our verbal witness to Jesus continues that process of lifting Jesus up. "It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified," Paul says of his preaching to the Galatians (3:1). Similarly, by our verbal witness we lift up the crucified, risen Christ, displaying him for all to see, so that he, by his Spirit, might continue to draw men and women to himself. Failing to appreciate this unique role of the verbal gospel places us out of step with God's chosen way of operating in the world.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a verbal thing, and communicating it requires putting it into words. This verbal witness is hardly the whole of our calling, but neither is it dispensable. Nothing can replace it. Without it people simply will not get saved!

Let us celebrate the reality that the power of the gospel resides not in us but in the Spirit's application of the message we proclaim, the message that declares a crucified Lord and Savior. Let us rejoice in the truth that in Christ "God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them" (2 Corinthian 5:19). This is relevant to the deepest and most profound need of every human heart. May we never lose heart in giving word to it.

My conclusion:

PREACH CHRIST AT ALL TIMES BECAUSE IT IS NECESSARY TO USE WORDS!

Pastor Bill