It's NOT A Matter of Words

I found the following quote in KF's blog: "St Francis of Assisi said 'Always preach the Gospel, and when necessary, use words.' "

Very interesting quote. It made me reflect on my own weakness of evangelism (i.e. preaching the Gospel). After reading Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life", I was introduced to the idea of taking periodic checkups of my spiritual health. Rick Warren tells us that in order to have good spiritual health, we must live a balanced life. When I first read this I thought to myself: "okay, that means that I should balance my church life, with my career life, and my social life..." Man, was I wrong!! A balanced life means that we should not neglect any of the 5 purposes of Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry and Evangelism. We are to make sure that all 5 areas are well represented in our lives.

For me, my biggest challenge is in the area of evangelism. I have a very difficult time opening up to people and just sharing my faith with them boldly and telling them about the Gospel. In most social circumstances, I tend to be the quiet one in the corner. It's not that I am unfriendly or aloof, it's just the way God wired me. However, God commands us to preach the Gospel. It's not an option. So, how does one who is inherently an introvert, open up and speak to others? Well, praying for help is a start. Pray that God will put us in situations that allow us to evangelize and then arm us with the Holy Spirit to do so. Also, pray for boldness and lack of fear.

However, after reading that quote, I am reminded that words alone are not enough. We are to show our selfless love to others first, just as Christ showed His love to us. Actions come first, words can come second.

During our church retreat, one of the topics that was discussed was proclamational preaching versus incarnational preaching. I guess proclamational preaching is preaching-- microwave style! Words are quickly spoken and the job is instaneously completed. Incarnational preaching takes more time and care, sort of like cooking a Mulligan stew. This type of preaching requires not only words, but lots of actions, patience, love, and care. Relatively speaking, proclamational preaching is easier than incarnational preaching. After all, as Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones once said: "talk is cheap". Action takes more effort and discipline.

So, after reading that quote from KF's blog, I am reminded that even though I may not be a very talkative person, I can still evangelize through action by showing others sefless love, care, and patience. I'm not saying that words are not important, because that's how we communicate, but actions are just as, if not more, important than words. By saying this, I'm not letting myself off the hook by hiding behind my "God wired me this way" excuse. We are still called to preach the Gospel boldly and frequently (through words AND action). We cannot ignore Christ's command.