July 27, 2023
"Preach the Gospel; use words if necessary."
What it means
Okay, while this sounds like something that Jesus would have said in one of the Gospels, this is nowhere to be found in the scriptures. The quote is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), and says pretty simply that we are to live our lives in such a way that people would know that we are followers of Jesus Christ without us having to actually tell them verbally – it would be obvious through our actions. Does this mean that we don’t ever have to use our words in order to win anybody to Christ, or encourage them in any way? No, I don’t think so – the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” There are times that we need to let our actions speak volumes for us, but we are also expected at other times to be ready to use our words and tell our story.
What it means to me
I recently purchased a shirt that says “Being a pastor is easy – it’s like riding a bike. Only the bike is on fire. You’re on fire. Everybody is on fire.” It is obviously intended to be humorous, and a conversation starter of sorts. Sure enough, at breakfast on Monday morning during the trip with my parents, a lady approached me to read my shirt and laughed heartily. She went on to tell me that she was formerly a pastor and missionary, and in the course of our conversation, she shared that her husband had gotten involved in prostitution and drug use, which led to a divorce, and more recently, she has ended up with terminal cancer in her body. We continued to chat a little more and went our separate ways, and shortly afterwards, The Lord chastised me - “Why didn’t you offer to pray with her?” It hit me that I had the perfect opportunity to share my pastoral gifts with her in a real and profound way and I completely whiffed. The next day, sharing the same story to Jan, her first question was “Well, did you offer to pray for her?” Sigh…
If you ever have the chance to let your life and actions “preach the gospel”, then do so – hopefully you do a better job than I do of acting the same on Monday through Saturday as you do on Sunday morning. And, if you ever have a chance to pray for somebody, then be bold and do it. Don’t worry about coming up with the right words – The Lord will give you what you need to share and will bless your prayer.
Love you guys, see you Sunday!
In Christ,
Brian