Should we preach the gospel and if necessary use words?
January 22, 2006 by Ken
This newsletter by Mark really encouraged me, because I have run into christians all the time who misuse this quote by Francis of Assissi. Do you know that St Francis was an open air preacher? How could this statement possibly fall in line with how he lived? Not to mention, I encourage you to read Romans 10 and then tell me if we should even obey this quote over what Scripture says, “How will they hear unless someone speaks to them?”
January 2006 Newsletter
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
2 Timothy 4:2
PREACH
St. Francis of Assisi was reported to have said, Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words. That is a very interesting statement that I have heard many times. There is one Christian music artist that has been saying it from the stage during her concerts. Actually some people quote it almost as if it is a verse from the Bible. I wondered what the Bible said:
Psalm 40:9 says,
“I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.”
Matthew 4:17 says,
“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
1 Peter 1:25 says,
“But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
1 Corinthians 1:23 says,
“But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;”
2 Corinthians 4:5 says,
“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus sake.”
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. Is it possible that during the end days one more trick of Lucifers will be that we will just be nice to people and not speak truth to them as they are heading towards hell? Please dont misunderstand. I am not advocating being rude to people, but just being nice to people is not sharing the gospel. I know atheists that are super nice people. Christians should be the most giving, nicest, kindest, friendliest, loving, caring, helping people that there are on planet earth. But that is not a substitute for telling someone the truth. One pastor calls all of the good works that we do for the lost, pre-evangelism. But it is not evangelism. The Bible tells us to do good works so people will glorify our Father in heaven, but they must know we are born again in order to glorify the right God.
When in Atlanta, I will give people free tokens to ride the train system, but I tell them as a Christian I love to bless people. That can really spark a conversation. One lady said, I sure wish there were more Christians like you around. If I would have just handed her the token, I would have never heard that statement from her. I will buy peoples groceries at the grocery store. Now I do try to avoid the family of eight though! I will say something like Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than receive, and I want to live that way too. In NY recently, I bought lunch for this lady behind me in line at the deli. She absolutely could not believe I would do that. We began to talk, and I gave her my new book, One Heartbeat Away. She said she loves to read and wants to be a writer. I have already received two emails from her as she is wrestling with the truths of God.
I bought a guy named Dani a vanilla latte at a juice shop the other day and told him why. It struck up the most interesting conversation. He was a Jewish man who owns a few businesses and has had a lot of things happen to him in this lifetime. By the end of the conversation he had my new book and gave me a hug before he left.
In the Rochester airport recently, I walked up to a guy with a yarmulke on and asked him if he was Jewish. He said, Yes, I am and I dont want a religious conversation. Wow, what a response. Should I have bought him a soda and left it on his table? Should I have carried his bag to his gate? No, I wanted to talk with him. So, I told him that I had a question about the Day of Atonement. Well, there we went on this fascinating twenty minute conversation. We laughed a couple of times, he had some questions for me, and truth was spoken. He loves to read and has my new book. I got the chance to shake Asas hand before I left and it was a chance to plant a great seed in his life to think about the possibility of Yeshua, Jesus, actually being the Messiah of the Jews. Please pray for Asa.
Acts 13:5 says,
“And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.”
Mark 16:15 says,
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Jesus talked with the woman at the well. He talked with the rich young ruler. Paul preached to King Agrippa and Felix. There were no excuses on their part. The people needed to hear the truth, and as all followers of God, they and we are supposed to tell them. No excuses.
Make sure in 2006 that you preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use actions.
Until the nets are full,
Mark Cahill
Hi, My name is Ken! Thanks for visiting. I hope this site encourages you as a follower of Jesus. You can find more posts on my main site located here: 
It is great to come across so many missionarys over the internet. Due to certain cercumstances I never get out of the house, except with my mother. Its a very long and depressing story. But before the problems started when I did get out of the house and met people, I very, very rarely met Christians. I here of missionarys going out to Africa and other third world countrys and most Africans I’ve met are very strong belevers in Christ. But Dubliners, Irish people as a whole for that matter, and espechally people from Europe, are mostly secular. I’ve heard that America is becoming more and more Christian and I think it would be a wonderful idea if Missionarys from America would come to Ireland to spread the Kingdom.
My e-mail address is
janemullhullard@yahoo.com
Maybe I’m a little late with this as it’s already aug of 07, but here’s my take.
First off, very well written article. I don’t even know if this is a rebuttal in so far as I’m not trying to take anything away from it. From what I read there is no doubt that words have to be said, but in much of that preaching a call actions were included. My problem with christianity isn’t the Bible or Christ, but christians. I think the reason that quote gets so much empahsis is that so many Christians are precieved as being long on the tooth and short on deeds, or even worse just christains because they are interested in their own salvation.
I know of several people at my place of work who are “christians” and they don’t even do so much as say two words to people who don’t “share their faith”. Of course they will wear it on their sleeves so to speak. But I don’t think that experience sums up my point as much as this next one does. What I witnessed epitmoizes Christians in America today.
You see, I used to live in the inner city and not because I wanted to. One day as I was driving to work, I noticed a group of people walking along who clearly did not fit in there. It was easy to see from their bibles and t shirts that they were there to “evangelize” the inner city and unknowingly dragging the name of Jesus through the mud. I wanted to stop my car, get out and scream at them. I noticed by the looks on their faces they were so happy with themselves and for no good reason. It is so easy, to get up out of your comfortable suburban life, go down the the inner city for a few hours and then return. I wanted to tell all those peopl exactly what Jesus told the rich young ruler. If they want these people to see Jesus, then sell all your possesions and come down here live with them, be a part of their lives. I think their reaction would have been the same as in the bible. And I think that is the point of that quote. It’s easy to preach the gosphel, but try actaully living it first.
Amen, amen and amen. That is so true. There is no substitute to “preaching” the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
~Sidharth
TWJ Ministries
I didn’t know it was you Mark, until i got to the end, but I recognized your style. Heard you at Summit in Dayton, TN ‘01,’02.
I still hear people using this phrase, NT Wright for example, and commending it to others! It is highly debated if St Francis actually even said this, but the ideal still stands regardless.
I think what you are offering is balance. Yes we need to use actions, and yes we need to use words. Neither is good without the other, sounds familiar like I read that in the Bible some where?
James 2
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
Thanks for the reminder!