Preach the gospel always, when necessary use words.
This quote is generally attributed to St Francis of Assisi, although he almost certainly didn’t say it. It gets panned a lot, and St Francis himself was a prolific preacher, but maybe it’s worth a second look because of how it encourages us to see the gospel as something much bigger than a spoken message.
So what is the gospel, and how do we preach it?
The English word “gospel” comes from the Old English translation of the Greek word evangelion, meaning “good news”.
At its root, it goes something like this: People have done bad things and come under the power of sin and death. Jesus died to erase all that and rose from the dead to offer us eternal life and relationship with God if we are willing to accept it. There are a lot of different ways of understanding how that works, but that’s for another post.
Evangelicalism follows a theological tradition that emphasizes the gospel as a story of personal redemption and the Christian life as one of personal relationship with God. This is an important aspect of the gospel, but ultimately it’s incomplete on its own.
When Jesus wandered through first-century Palestine, he framed the good news like this: “The kingdom of God is at hand.” This kingdom is not a physical one with borders but rather a way of living with God and one another that transforms ourselves, our priorities, and our relationships with other people.
The kingdom of God flips the values of our world upside down, so much that the “first will be last and the last will be first” (Matthew 19:30, 20:16; Mark 10:31; Luke 13:30) and prostitutes and those who collaborated with the Roman occupation enter in before the religious elites (Matthew 21:31). To enter the kingdom of God requires one to become like a child and is exceedingly hard for the rich. Jesus said,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3-10)
and,
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. (Luke 6:20-26)
The kingdom of God is a place where you love your enemies, turn the other cheek, and pray for those who persecute you. And it has massive social implications.
In Matthew 22:39, Jesus says commands us to love one another just like we love ourselves and likens it to loving God Himself. Love here is more than a warm fuzzy feeling, it’s a prioritization of needs and wellbeing, sacrificially if necessary. So how do I express my self-love? When I’m hungry, I feed myself; when I’m thirsty, I drink clean water; I keep a roof over my head; I give myself an education and many other things; and when I’m sick I go to the doctor. If this is what I do for myself, this is what I should also seek for others who need it. The kingdom of God requires us to reorient our social, economic, and political, as well as spiritual priorities in ways that may be uncomfortable and challenge our existing ideologies.
Make no mistake, Jesus calls for personal salvation. In John 3:16, he famously said “For God so loved the world that he sent his Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Later he says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:8).
But accepting that and entering the kingdom of God demands a whole new way of living.
At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says to his disciples,
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.
“Go and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.” It is a charge for Christians to make disciples, not just converts, people who truly seek to Jesus fully.
The college ministry I attended for much of my undergrad years took the first part of that very seriously. In addition to evangelism, they focused on memorizing scripture and mentoring others to help them live a holy life and make more disciples in their image. They were and are wonderful people, but there was a lot they left out. On a spring break retreat breakout session, I asked about addressing poverty and social justice as Christians. The results were…underwhelming: “Um…try reading Amos.” Profoundly unsatisfied, I found plenty enough to put together a bible study on the subject that spanned both Old and New Testaments and required multiple sessions for a group to work through. Earlier, I had also started a small charity in college dedicated to dealing with global poverty, social justice, and HIV/AIDS. Trying to get people at that student ministry to care or even donate their pocket change was…difficult. A few people (including my amazing future wife) were interested and joined up, but the most I generally got was something along the lines of “Oh, it’s so great that you’re doing that” and that was it. Most people we more concerned with “sharing the gospel” and “making disciples”, as if these things could be separated. Exploring the social ramifications of Jesus’s teaching like Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7; Luke 6:17-49) or the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” didn’t really seem to be on their radar when it came making disciples and teaching them to follow what Jesus commanded.
Personal salvation is important, but a gospel that is not also social falls short of the gospel of Jesus Christ. (The reverse is also true.)
Preaching is the proclamation of the gospel, but it must be more than words (and those words must be about more than just how to be “saved”): it is showing God’s kingdom to the world by living it. It is showing the world transformed relationships, politics, economics, communities based on love for one another.
Feeding the hungry proclaims the gospel. Prison reform proclaims the gospel. Fighting racism proclaims the gospel. Standing with the poor and oppressed proclaims the gospel. Sacrificially giving your time, money, attention for the sake of others proclaims the gospel. These things proclaim the kingdom of God loud and clear, sometimes more so than the words we speak, as necessary as those are.
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