Preaching the Gospel in Word and Deed

There's a great article from Christianity Today which brings some balance to the oft-misused contention that the Gospel resonates sufficiently from our actions, and thus words become peripheral if not optional. In reality, the article is more of a closer look at the true intentions and a quick ministry study of Saint Francis of Assisi, but I'm going to focus on one aspect.

The article mentions specifically the quote attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi - "Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words." The author points out not only is there a great deal of doubt from historians that these words ever came from Francis, but an objective look at his ministry reflects values contrary to that creed. Apparently, Francis was not shy is speaking truth in love and pronouncing truth.

What that quote and underlying sentiment has unfortunately become is a cop-out for many, including myself, to be timid (as opposed to bold) when it comes to the Gospel and the Gospel's impact upon my life. This came to mind recently when I was at a Session meeting discussing an upcoming church discussion about how faith should inform everything else in our lives, specifically vocation.

What I've noticed is that the pendulum has swung perhaps a little too much in the "faith and work is not just about how I find opportunities to witness to my coworkers" area, which too often means that you never witness to your coworkers. In the past ten years, there's been this momentum within the faith in the workplace movement which is all about find out how your vocation is a part of the greater redemptive work in the Kingdom of God - which generally means that you do your work with integrity and honesty and you do your work with a deliberate understanding and aspiration that it fits into the greater part of God's plan. 

What often gets lost in that lofty rhetoric is the details of what that actually means in the personal level. To say that "working with integrity with God as your boss" is what it means to be a workplace Christian can dangerously become "being a Christian is about being an honest and sincere person" - and you'll largely conform. And of course it's important to work with integrity, but to be intentional about workplace tools around communal workplace prayer, Bible study and even relational evangelism is something that should be encouraged, as well.

So as the article says, it's true that words without deeds are empty. What I also think is true is that sometimes the "quiet faith" is highly overrated. As a friend at church recently shared, if you're surrounded by non-Christians friends and they complain about people who boldly evangelize, wondering "why they can't be quiet Christians just like you", that is not a reason to be encouraged. Or put another way, our quest to not be known as Christians for the wrong reasons doesn't mean our Christian faith should not be known at all.