Preach the Gospel…with WORDS!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, a little history first. A long time ago, in a place far far away, lived a man named Francis of Assisi (1182-1286). He became the founder of the Franciscan Monks – but I think he got special consideration because his name was Francis and the monks were Franciscan monks (politics!)

Seriously though, most people know very little about this man… but most of today’s professing Christians know one thing about him. They know he said “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” Now, they may not know Francis of Assisi said it, but they know someone said it. It becomes their shield of sorts. This quote probably created “Lifestyle Evangelism.” This quote gives them license, so they feel, to not actually SPEAK about Jesus – they just just smile and say “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!” They say that they are going to “live out” the gospel in front of people. All this is defended with “Francis of Assisi said ‘Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words!” But there’s a couple things you should know…

The first thing is: HE NEVER SAID IT!!!!!!!!!!! Ever. Nope, he didn’t. It’s a Christian version of an “Urban Legend.” This quote is not found in ANY of Francis’ writings – I can’t find anyone even attributing it to him until the last 50-60 years (maybe someone attributed it to him earlier, but I can’t find it – and I did look). This fact is becoming more and more known these days – so much so that now people are starting to attribute this quote to other people! Ya see, this quote has become a precious little hiding place for people who don’t WANT to preach the gospel.

The next thing is: THE QUOTE DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!! It’s actually kind of silly. The thinking goes like this, Christians think if they will just be nice and live good lives, then people will… well, Christians can never seem to articulate the next step very well. I suppose some think that if they are nice, other people will just “become” Christians – others may think that if they are nice, people will ask about Christianity, other think that if they are nice, people will want to become Christians, other may think… well who knows what they think. First, I have met many nice Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, Hindu’s and I have even met nice atheists! They live nice, kind, quiet and (from a human standpoint) moral lives. So now what do we do? Next, answer me this: How many times has someone, unprompted, asked you about “why you are so nice?” I would guess it’s NEVER happened to you, but on the off chance it has, compare the number of times it happened verses the amount of people you have met in your life… Chances are, most people just think you are a nice person, which is good… but it aint the gospel! What IS the gospel?

“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” (1Co 15:1-4)

So that’s the gospel. Anyone want to try to explain how being nice and kind will somehow tell someone that Jesus died for their sins and rose from the dead? Remember, the quote in question implies that you can get this message across WITHOUT words. Now, if you want to say that the gospel is about feeding the poor – then, yeah, words quickly become unneeded. But remember, Jesus actually only did this a few times – and even when He did, it was ACCOMPANIED WITH PREACHING – WORDS! The apostles in the book of Acts fed the poor that were IN THE CHURCH, that is professing Christians… and if you read the Epistles, those that were in the Church also had the gospel preached to them. Feeding the poor is NOT preaching the gospel.  If you want to say that the gospel is about taking care of the sick, I would point out: “And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.” (Luk 9:6) Notice there are TWO SEPARATE ACTIONS – and healing is listed as a separate action! Taking care of the sick is NOT preaching the gospel. I maintain that preaching the gospel is IMPOSSIBLE without words! Your lifestyle IS important, but its more along the lines of supporting your message and giving you the CHANCE to preach the gospel – WITH WORDS!!

Finally, THE QUOTE IS UNBIBLICAL. We have seen that the gospel is NOT feeding the poor, it’s NOT taking care of the sick. It’s preaching:

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2Ti 4:2)

I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD. (Psa 40:9)

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Mat 4:17)

but the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (1Pe 1:25)

but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, (1Co 1:23)

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. (2Co 4:5)

--I gotta thank Mark Cahill for the legwork on those verses… speaking of Mark Cahill, he says (and he ACTUALLY said it!) “Funny thing is, that in the Bible, preaching actually means talking with someone. It means parting our lips, opening up our mouths, and speaking forth truth.” (Mark Cahill did a GREAT job of dealing with this very topic here: http://missionaryroad.wordpress.com/2006/01/22/should-we-preach/)

So enough with the Francis of Assisi quote, enough with the “lifestyle evangelism” – get up, get out and share your faith… and in the words of Mark Cahill - “Where are YOU preaching today?”

Thanks for readin!

Rob

A bowl of soup and some new shoes?

Through some bizarre link following the other day, I ended up on Amazon.com reading reviews of Rob Bell’s “Jesus Wants To Save Christians.” Now, unless you are either unsaved, or saved but want to raise your blood pressure, I would strongly suggest you just stay away from Rob Bell stuff – unless you are a Pastor and want to be able to warn your flock. Rob Bell is a heretic – lets just get that out of the way.

Anyway, while I was there, I stumbled on this quote: “Social justice IS the message of salvation.” Now, on the surface, this sounds nice. Most people care about the poor, sick and needy – Christians HAVE to care (the Holy Spirit ensures that Christians WILL care – it is not up to the Christian). But is this the gospel? Did Jesus come down from Heaven, take on human form, live a perfect sinless life, allow Himself to be brutally beaten and suffer a horrible and excruciating death, raise Himself from the dead three days later and then ascend to Heaven so that we could have a full tummy? Did the God of Heaven become a man and submit Himself to unimaginable pain and suffering so we could have nice clothes? Did Almighty God, maker of Heaven and Earth, sustainer of all things – allow Himself to be murdered so to save us from hunger and nakedness?

Did Jesus die to make sure we all had a bowl of soup and some new shoes?

If you think He did, then you might want to re-read the New Testament (even better, the entire Bible). The Bible speaks of Jesus as the one “who delivers us from the wrath to come”  (1Th 1:10). Jesus said “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost"  (Luk 19:10) & “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many"  (Mat 20:28).

I’ve mentioned it before – caring for the poor and sick IS important… but it can NOT be a Christians primary concern! Jesus did not tell us to go into all the world and pass out sandwiches and blankets – but to go and make disciples. I keep pointing this out: How often do we have Jesus taking care of the poor in the Gospels? Only a few times – it was important, but it was NOT Jesus’ primary focus. Think about the fact that the rest of the New Testament does not emphasize Jesus life, but rather His person and His work on the cross  and His resurrection. Not His teaching, not His miracles and not His treatment of the poor and sick.

The fact is, Donald Trump is NOT poor. As far as I know, he is healthy… and as far as I know, he is not saved. Unless he repents and trusts Jesus, he will go to hell when he dies. If he suddenly got advanced cancer and lost all his money – his eternal destiny would remain UNCHANGED! A homeless man who is dying of pneumonia who is also unsaved has the same eternal destiny as the Sultan of Brunei – and your treatment of either man will not change YOUR eternal destiny. It’s about their sin, its about YOUR sin. God is not going to check financial statements or records of charitable contributions. My pastor said “Quality of quantity of service does not earn Gods favor.” Feeding the poor may make you feel better (and it IS an important thing to do!), but it wont get you to heaven!

Your treatment of the less fortunate is not your problem – your problem is that you have broken Gods laws. Repeatedly. You have lied, you have stolen, you have been ungrateful, you have hated people – go through the 10 Commandments and be honest with yourself. Pay special attention to the first 4 Commandments – those will show you how you have treated God Himself! You have broken Gods laws countless times – you are guilty before God. You are a sinner. Not in some abstract sense – in a very REAL sense, you are a criminal in Gods sight, and God would be just in sentencing you to hell for your crimes. But God is “ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Neh 9:17).”

If you just humble yourself and agree with God that you are NOT good, that you deserve His judgment and condemnation and ask Him for his mercy – He WILL forgive you. You need to trust that you CAN’T earn Gods favor, and trust that Jesus earned it FOR YOU – and then you go and take care of the poor and sick, and here’s the key, in order to get a chance to TELL THEM about Jesus – about who He is and what He did, and about their problem… their REAL problem. Because when they die, whether they were in Armani or rags, whether they were hungry or full, whether they were a body builder or died of aids – none of that will matter.

Thanks for readin!

-Rob