Mark Galli debunks a treasured evangelical urban legend:I've heard the quote once too often. It's time to set the record straight—about the quote, and about the gospel.Go read the whole thing.
Francis of Assisi is said to have said, "Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words."
This saying is carted out whenever someone wants to suggest that Christians talk about the gospel too much, and live the gospel too little. Fair enough—that can be a problem. Much of the rhetorical power of the quotation comes from the assumption that Francis not only said it but lived it.
The problem is that he did not say it. Nor did he live it. And those two contra-facts tell us something about the spirit of our age . . .
It is true that too many churchfolk are all talk, no action.
It is also true that the Bible never ceases to command us to speak boldly, to preach the gospel, by which it means with our mouths.
It's a two-fisted gospel, folks.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Preach the Gospel at All Times; It is Necessary to Use Words
Jared Wilson shares this link and comments wisely:
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3 comments:
Amen... Thanks for the post.
Ronnie JUST preached this last Sunday. You should check out the podcast. http://media.austinstone.org/
So good!
To my shame, I admit that I used to use this "quote" myself-- more in the spirit of reminding myself and other Christians to live obedient, holy lives, not to excuse myself and others from sharing the Gospel.
Either way though, the "quote" just really isn't that helpful. The Gospel cannot truly be *preached* without words.
One's actions can either commend the Gospel, or they can possibly make the Gospel seem more ridiculous to non-Christians than it already does. However, actions alone cannot "preach" the Gospel-- at least not in the Biblical meaning of the word.
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