@J.D. Greear: Saying “Preach the gospel; if necessary use words” is like saying “Tell me your phone number; if necessary use digits.”
Justin Taylor, PhD
Justin Taylor is executive vice president of book publishing and book publisher for Crossway and blogs at Between Two Worlds. You can follow him on Twitter.
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Excellent!
I believe I heard Matt Chandler speak on this same issue once. It’s a nice thought to live out the gospel with our actions. However, words are essential in communicating it clearly.
Thanks for posting this!
just to balance it a wee bit:
‘…they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.’ 1Pet3:1-2
I think it’s pretty obvious in that passage, though, that the husband is already aware (to some extent) of what his wife believes, though.
It’s not that she starts acting differently one day, and he gradually comes to realize, “Hmm, my wife is awful nice lately, and I’ve been such a chump. I bet that separates me from God. If only there was some sort of salvation and reconciliation that only God in His grace can provide.”
The text does not say that she had laid out the gospel to him previously. Obviously he probably would have known she had become a Christian, just like people mainly already know we are Christians. My point is that often there is a pressure that we have to be speaking the gospel verbally wherever we go, in all situations. Apart from making life impossibly difficult and fearful for us, what about verses like these:
‘They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth….Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.’ Amos 5:10,13
‘Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.’ Prov 23:9
‘Leave the presence of a fool’ Prov 14:7
There is ‘a time to keep silence, and a time to speak’ (Eccl 3:7).
‘…the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. For there is a time and a way for everything…’ (Eccl 8:5-6)
‘The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable…’ Prov10:32
Even Peter seemed to indicate to wait until asked – we are to be ‘prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you’ 1Pet3:15. That is the language of waiting expectantly for God to give an opportunity.
And Paul said similar when he said we should ‘walk in wisdom toward outsiders’ (Col 4:5) and the focus was on knowing ‘how you ought to answer each person’ rather than how to ‘ask’ each person if they know the 4 spiritual laws. (Not that that isn’t appropriate on some occasions.)
Even Paul himself was seeking an open door before he declared the Word: ‘…pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ…’ (Col 4:3).
And Jesus, to a guy delivered from demon-possesion, did not tell him to go tell everyone in sight but only to ‘Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you’ (Mk 5:19).
Maybe I am wrong but I just think we should not put burdens upon ourselves that God has not put upon us. I take the attitude of being ready to speak when God brings me an opportunity where it seems appropriate to say something suitable. And that does not happen all the time. But it does happen.
What do you make of those scriptures?
I don’t think anyone here would deny the truth in those scriptures. Certainly, our actions are of supreme importance in showing God’s grace in our lives.
However, there’s a distinction between saying “our actions speak loudly” and “we don’t need words at all”. The saying that’s referred to — “if necessary, use words” — seems to suggest that the ideal way of spreading the gospel would be to spend your entire life without speaking a single word, if your actions were able to speak loudly enough.
It’s probably not the intention of the statement; the goal is probably to point out how loudly our actions can speak, and how much more powerful words can be if they are reserved. But I’ve definitely heard the passage quoted to justify timidity in speaking out about Jesus in order to simply love people in action, and that’s not a Biblical or an effective way to spread the gospel. If you can’t express your motivation for love in words, that love will simply confuse people rather than changing their lives.
I agree… but I still like Rich Mullins’ music.
Perhaps it’s time we tweak that old quote and say, “Preach the gospel; if necessary, use Word Press.”
Even now, that’s being tweeted. Classic.
Wholeheartedly agree that words are essential, but the void (unfortunately) seems to be living out the words we proclaim.
Fantastic. I’ve heard that, forgive me, addle-brained expression for years. What a wonderful pithy way to reject it!
I have to agree with Bryan. The statement needs to have a context. The vacuum on the conservative side of Evangelicalism is in actions that refelct grace, mercy, compassion, etc… all elements of the gospel that can be reflected in actions without words. The absence of these reflections make the words ring hollow – they are no less true, but appear empty.
Although to a point I agree, I think Greear is being simplistic. The gospel isn’t (simply and purely) mental ascent, like knowing the right words (or numbers).
Adam, he’s making a negative comparison, not a positive correlation. In other words, the analogy is only intended to refute, not to build an alternative in its place.
I agree with this and previous posts on the quote. . . .but I just think that the original intent of the quote was never to say “don’t use words” but simply to live out the gospel and perhaps to consider how you’re living it out first in private since you don’t get to talk at that level with everyone you run into.
“Always use words” is just as idealistic because you don’t get to deep levels of conversation with everyone in your sphere.
I’m not sure I met many folks who were applying it as, “don’t use words”.
if you missed it above, what about:
‘…they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.’ 1Pet3:1-2
Not to mention that this quote is falsly attributed to St. Francis all the time. Not only did he not say it, he never would have. The guy was preaching all the time. That is, he was using words all the time. It was always and still is always necessary.
Pure. Gold. Sir.
Brilliant and concise response to that absurdity.
I agree with the point J.D. Grear is making, which I take to mean that the Gospel (or at least the sharing of the Gospel) is necessarily propositional, and requires words.
And I get the point of his analogy – that a digitless phone number would not actually exist because a phone number, by definition, requires digits (and we will assume here that abstract objects do actually exist); just as the Gospel also requires words.
However, his analogy ignores the obvious force of the wordless Gospel: that one can perform acts of kindness and charity that whet the spiritual appetite of unbelievers. “If necessary, use words” seems to me a clear case of hyperbole. Again, the wordless Gospel really is a misnomer, but evangelicals often pretend they don’t get it just because of the dangers it presents.
Can’t we have both?
Insightful! Too often, people are swayed by short statments that sound nice because of some rhetorical device, without taking to heart the full meaning of what’s being said.
Of course, the Gospel must be lived out as well as preached. But, salvation does come through hearing the Gospel, not just seeing it lived out. Living out the Gospel is our duty and helps our witness, certainly, but let us not neglect the spreading of the Word.
Sometimes silent witness is better than a spoken witness. The dictum “Actions speak louder than words.” comes to mind. At times, Evangelicals spend way too much time talking and not enough time doing.
Without actions there is no witness.
I’m not so sure. That’s like saying maybe it would have been better if Jesus just fed the five thousand and sent them home and saved the preaching for another day.
Actions bolster the words, and if we embrace the words, it should consummate itself in action. But by themselves, our actions have little convicting or redeeming power on others.
There are times when actions lead to questions that lead to witness. The point behind this quote is NOT that we shouldn’t use words, but that actions and words create a much more powerful witness than words alone. Frankly, I find J.D. Grear’s tweet lacking in understanding of how powerful (and important) that actions are in the process of communication. Is this what passes for serious thought?
But without words there is no faith, as it comes by hearing. Romans 10:14-17.
I would rather that some people did less talking, actually. Not many people have the gift of communicating the Word. Besides, big talk is different than actually preaching the Gospel. Head count: how many converts have you seen under your preaching?
Also, keep in mind that much of the reactions here are probably rooted in the idea that the highest thing a Christian can do is be an evangelist or pastor. It’s like the tendency to put a Scripture verse under everything, or on everything. You know, Testamints or Holy Chocolates, or whatever.
Cultivating qualities that reflect God’s glory are just as important as teaching and preaching. Like Paul said “You ARE my epistles”. God is glorified in the lives we lead as much as in the preaching of the Word.
The conversation gets muddied when we get too lopsided, too focused on one aspect over another — the linguistic over the ethical or the symbolic over and against the social. Every aspect of our lives are important under the Sovereign God.
The Word is preeminent, but not our preaching of it. We should be careful not to confuse the two.
Reference:
2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
2 Corinthians 3:2-3
if we are to show the gospel instaed of tell people of a crucifird savior, they are all lost. we are not the gospel, we are sinner saved by Grace through the gospel.
then of course we are zealous for the good works that bring glory to God.
Maybe it’s just me, but it appears many people are missing the point that the original quote (whether from Assisi or not) affirms that words have importance. On the other hand, those who seem to fear the intrusion of liberalism are often willing to protect the words by the exclusion of the actions.
Word & Deed.
In his book, Ministries of Mercy, Tim Keller wrote: “The proper model is not (1) to see mercy as a means to evangelism, or (2) to see mercy and evangelism as independent ends, but (3) to see BOTH Word & Deed, evangelism & mercy, as means to the single end of the spread of the Kingdom of God…”
I think Keller was onto something (as usual).
The “many” includes the guy who wrote the Tweet and pastors a 4,000 member church.
I think actions need to accompany words but there needs to be words too. To question the validity of words by using words is logically inconsistant. But, I agree, I think some hyperbole was in use. Perhaps a good quote in way of summation would be (and I’m quoting from memory so this probably isn’t word perfect), “It’s no good walking somewhere in order to preach if the preaching isn’t in your walking.” A quote that ironically enough was attributed to St Francis when I heard it.
Reverend Phillip Jensen, writing on Christian freedom in the current issue of The Briefing, makes a good point on how our actions and the spread of the gospel are linked.
“Our message to the world is repentance, not acceptance. Our aim in church is holiness, not conformity. It is the holiness of God’s people that commends the gospel. If we are no different to the world around us, we have nothing to say to the world.”
This tweet ironically illustrates the weakness of twitter. You just need more words to explain carefully what you mean. For me the quote is clever rather than helpful.
A phone number without digits is completely meaningless-are wordless actions in ths same category? No, the analogy is not helpful.
Not coming soon to a bumper sticker near you:
“Preach the gospel; if necessary use actions.”
J. D. Grear- the epitome of American Evangelicalism, the problem with American Evangelicalism.
Not a helpful response. If your goal is to bash a brother, please cease and desist. If your goal is to address some facet about evangelicalism manifested in Greear, please proceed but be clear in your explanation and support your position.
Please tell that to Mr Grear
I thought we were talking about the Wordless Book gospel presentation tool.
http://cefpress.com/product.php?productid=448
Is the analogy of Gospel-to-phone-number solid?
A phone number is a factoid, the Gospel is a relatively simple message on its face but it involves life change and touches every relationship with God and others. A phone number can be employed by anyone with a phone, the Gospel can be repeated and comprehended by many who will never benefit from it because they refuse to accept it.
I take the point that words ARE necessary, but sometimes few words backed by many actions is the best witness.
I love that quote and use it often to my friends in college but always in the context of having evangelized just then. I remember reading Don Whitney’s Spiritual Discipline for the sake of Godliness book. It was speaking of someone who had just become Christian and his boss had found out. His boss, having lived the good Christian life and having never shared the gospel came up to him and congratulated him saying something along the lines of, “I’m so happy for you, I’ve been praying for you for a long time to know Christ!” The new Christian replied in shock saying, “Funny, you were the reason i wasn’t Christian for so long. I thought that if you could live such a fulfilling life without a God, than I could do.”
Preach the gospel always, and if necessary use words – live it and speak it – its necessary they know why we live the way we do. A life that demands an explanation and we must give it
Very bad simile. A phone number is defined wholly and completely by a set of numbers, with no other means of communicating its existence. It’s an absolute wuss of a God who has to rely on words to get His message across.
speak the truth in love! How are they to hear unless the word is preached! When the enemy shall come in like a Flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. – Isaiah 59:19
Against some advice given here, pray for me and my son as we join many believers in Nawlins’ during Mardi Gras to pray and preach for and to the lost!
“Never ask a barber if you need a haircut”.
I am wondering is most of the people who insist that you have to preach the gospel with words are preachers themself.
That’s how all Christians should think, because the Gospel is never communicated apart from the Word being proclaimed.
Still, I would defend the Pseudo-Franscian statement on the grounds that its original meaning never intended to communicate a “wordless gospel”, as if actions along could–in and of themselves–allow someone to fully grasp the saving news of Jesus Christ.
The problem isn’t really so much the statements historical intent, but rather its modern application.
It seems that those who most admire this quote seem to hear “words are wasted” in the call to faithfully put flesh on our beliefs. However, even The Word became flesh so that we could see His glory…, full of grace and truth. So, who still wants to defend “just words” and to continue to criticize calls for its faithful incarnation?
who still wants to defend “just words” and to continue to criticize calls for its faithful incarnation?
No one is anything remotely like either of those restatements.