“Preach the gospel. Use words if necessary.”
Ed Stetzer recently wrote a blog post about this apparently fabricated quote, in which he said this;
“……verbal communication of the gospel is the only means by which people are brought into a right relationship with God. The Apostle Paul made this point to the church in Rome when he said;
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? (Rom. 10:13-14, HCSB)
If we are to make disciples of all nations, we must use words. Preaching necessitates the use of language. So, let me encourage us to preach the gospel, and use words, since it’s necessary.”
What a challenge eh?
As summer ends and scores of people in our Churches reflect on summer mission trips, camps and holiday Bible clubs………will we be able to look back and say that the Gospel was preached………using words………as is necessary?
“A godly life should serve as a witness for the message we proclaim. But without words, what can our actions point to but ourselves?”
Like I said, what a challenge…….
I wonder how many of us Christians can actually proclaim the gospel to an unbeliever correctly, in honesty and probably most importantly, in love; instead of just “you need to be saved friend” and thats it, conversation over! One of the benefits of preaching the gospel to ourselves daily, but do we even do that??
good questions Mark – big challenges!
As someone who has misquoted this in the past to many peers and young people – I was definitely challenged when I first read Mark Galli’s article on it. It’s amazing how over the years we have “watered down” our approach to evangelism to an “actions first, word’s later” stand point. Obviously actions are necessary, but words are important, the gospel needs communicated clearly and in an understandable fashion. I think we use this misquote as a way of getting out of having to actually communicate our faith with our friends. “Oh they’ll see I’m different”, when really are we setting that good an example?
A better quote could be, “Preach the gospel. Use words, they’re necessary.”
It is worth perhaps throwing a flag down in the name of context, however. Yes, there should come a point in evangelism, whether en masse or one-to-one, where the gospel needs to be shared verbally, clearly and honestly.
However, in contexts where there can be strong opposition or misinterpretation of a verbal approach, and/or where friendship evangelism or development work has proven successful, demonstration and actions can convey and create an opening where words could either fall down or even erect walls. In Niger, where we’re living and working currently, it is a decidedly secular state but with a strong Islamic ethos and emphasis on social relationships. It would be incredibly offensive to most people in this culture, whether from a Muslim or other background, to begin preaching and teaching without having built any kind of relationship or action of trust first. However, reverse this order and relationships quickly lead to a place of respect and surprising openness.
I wonder how similar this could be to the reality in Norn Iron?
So I’d probably lean more towards, “Preach the gospel. Use words when necessary.” The opportunity should present itself sooner or later, but meanwhile build bridges and ‘prepare the way for the Lord.’
We’re not recruiting for Team Christian. We’re maybe not even trying to rubberstamp someone’s ticket to heaven. We’re introducing people to Jesus, and perhaps then we might have to swallow our pride, step back and simply play host as our guests get to know each other. But maybe if we stay long enough, we’ll even get to see the fireworks.
I hear what you are saying Peter and I agree that relationship is vitally important…….ie: I am not a fan of street preachers at ALL!! Even with my distaste for that I cannot see any way that the Gospel – the actual Gospel of Jesus – can be articulated without words…….. not knocking the effects of relationship/actions/love shown in practical ways……but they aren’t the Gospel…..
That said, your context? I know nothing of those struggles…..other than what we hear…..so I don’t want my post/comment to come across wrong
Fear not, I reckon we’re more or less on the same page – I should clarify my “when” as – “Preach the gospel always. Use words when the moment comes.” In the knowledge that it will, as God leads.