Posted by: Nick Norelli | December 29, 2007

Priceless/Worthless Quote #6

Priceless Quote #6

“That the light shineth in darkness is not open to question. There is, however, grave doubt as to whether it has been seen even by the Church, even by the children of Abraham.”

~ Karl Barth

The Epistle to the Romans, (OUP, 1968), 385.

Worthless Quote #6

“Preach the Gospel at all times — if necessary, use words.”

~ St. Francis of Assisi

*St. Francis’ quote is worthless because it is stupid.  Let’s substitute the terms and see how it works:

  • Feed the hungry at all times — if necessary, use food.
  • Bathe the dirty at all times — if necessary, use water.
  • Clothe the naked at all times — if necessary, use clothing.

.
Living a godly life and being a good example is not preaching the Gospel.  Preaching the Gospel involves a proclamation of the good news of Christ crucified and resurrected.  It always involves words.

B”H

Posted in Quotes

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Responses

Nick,

I think you’ve sorely missed the point of the St. Francis quote. He was writing at a time (not unlike ours) when there were a lot of blow-hards in the pulpit. They were talking about what should be done to further the kingdom of God, but not doing it. They elevated the concept of “preaching” the Gospel to be a higher calling than “doing” the Gospel.

Francis wasn’t enough of a wordsmith to make his point using eloquent philosophical logic, so he simply turned their terms on their ears and redefined preaching.

Preaching is not just talking, it’s doing. You can’t preach with any integrity without doing the Gospel. Hence, preach by doing first, then after you have done that, you’ve earned the right to talk about it.

By: pistolpete on December 29, 2007
at 5:08 am

Nick,

I have to totally agree with pistolpete on this one. His third paragraph is especially correct.

Furthermore, just because the substitution of other terms doesn’t work here doesn’t make it stupid. This is not very good logic, especially coming from a guy who’s logic is usually quite good. You could do this exchanging of words with anything really. Try exchanging words with some of the psalms and well, needless to say, they’ll be pointless.

Also, just a side note, what about people who are mute or cannot speak? Can they still share the Gospel even if they cannot use words? Absolutely. There are many means and modes of preaching, as Francis was implying, living it out as well as speaking it out are only a couple of those but both are important in their own right.

Lastly, I’ve only been reading your blog for a few months now but it seems like you’re becoming more and more critical lately, with a much more abrasive tone. I could be wrong but sometimes, it’s tough for me to read (not saying I’m perfect or that I’ve never been too critical). I’m just telling you this as a reader who generally thinks that you have some good things to say, the recurring, biting sarcasm and abrasiveness is a bit tough to deal with. Honestly, this is why I’ve stopped visiting (and have removed from my reader) a certain couple of other blogs.

I hope what I’ve said has been said with clarity and love. I’m not attacking you and I’m not trying to seem pious or haughty. I’m not even saying you did anything wrong. I’m just sharing my opinions and I hope that’s okay. Sorry if it’s not or if I’ve offended you. Be blessed and be a blessing.

By: michael halcomb on December 29, 2007
at 7:45 am

!

By: Thom Stark on December 29, 2007
at 8:15 am

I don’t think the original context of the quote makes it stupid or worthless but today when that quote is used the original context of the quote is largely discarded and it is then generally meant to support the idea that if we Christians are just nice to people and have good moral standards then that is equivalent to preaching or sharing the gospel and even a sufficient alternative to that; in fact even more important than that (since the using words comes 2nd and is sort of a last ditch effort).
In that sense win which the quote is invoked I think Nick is right, it is worthless and even somewhat stupid, or at least not very faithful to the Gospel.

Blessings,
Bryan L

By: Bryan L on December 29, 2007
at 11:51 am

What Bryan said.

By: Sean on December 29, 2007
at 12:05 pm

Pete,

I haven’t missed the point. I understand he’s saying that we should be doers of the word and not hearers only, but like I said, being a good example (as noble as it is) is not preaching the Gospel. I also understand Paul’s point about being living epistles known and read of all men, and trust me, this was all considered in my meditating upon St. Francis’ quote. In the end, I find it ridiculous.

Michael,

Well, as I’ve said before, I’m not that big a fan of the Psalms ;) but I understand your point. I don’t really find it applicable here though because what is the Gospel if not the good news of what Christ has accomplished for us? Can you read a newspaper with your eyes closed or listen to the news on the radio with it muted? Of course not.

What do mute people do? I suppose they use sign language, or they could write, or they could carry their Bibles and point. But why would I assume that a pious mute was a Christian? They could just as easily be a Jew or Muslim, couldn’t they?

This is my point really. Being a good example is great, but there are people of ALL faiths that are good examples, moral and upright in their behavior. My cousin who’s in the Nation of Islam probably lives a more devout and clean life than most Christians I’ve ever met, but rest assured, his actions are not preaching the Gospel. They don’t testify of the resurrected Lord.

As for becoming more critical, abrasive, and sarcastic, I have to be honest in that I don’t see it. I’ve been up-front about being sarcastic by nature and obnoxious, and I think if you go back in my archives to the very early stuff I’m actually less abrasive now than I was back then. But then again, I can’t expect my perception to be yours. :( I do hope that I haven’t offended anyone with anything I’ve said but at the same time I can’t control how anyone feels about anything I say. I do pray that you continue to read my blog and interact with me over here.

Thom,

!!

Bryan,

You are very perceptive my friend. Actually, what brought it to my attention yesterday was a conversation with a Roman Catholic who was criticizing evangelistic efforts. This quote was the backbone of their argument and quite frankly it was a stupid argument.

By: Nick Norelli on December 29, 2007
at 12:11 pm

The context of Francis’ own thought includes this quote, “If you don’t preach the gospel everywhere you go then it matters not when you go to preach the gospel.”

Here is a guy who is heavily into proclaiming the good news that God loves people and reconciles them in Jesus Christ. I think the other quote was seriously meant to spur people on to more pious lives in its original context simply because they knew the gravity of the gospel and that the pious lives of the preachers made the gospel more plausible to the hearers.

Besides in Romans 5 Paul says that God shows his love for us, not in propositional revelation, but in the death of Jesus(and his resurrection). That is a shewing of the gospel with out words, but that is the very historical advent of the gospel, so it may not count.

Anyway, good post, I am an undergrad/provisional graduate student, and I work with a lot of college students who have heard that quote from Francis or read it on a shirt and use it as an excuse, inadvertently I suppose, to not talk/think about the gospel. Interestingly enough, none of their lives are so spectacular as to think that they believe in a resurrection that started in Jesus.

By: Geoff on December 29, 2007
at 12:35 pm

Besides in Romans 5 Paul says that God shows his love for us, not in propositional revelation, but in the death of Jesus(and his resurrection). That is a shewing of the gospel with out words, but that is the very historical advent of the gospel, so it may not count.

I think I like where you were going with this but I’ll just point out that Paul said it. ;) Of course God shows his love for us in action, as Michael Gorman says in his book Reading Paul, love is a verb, and action word for Paul (my paraphrase). But nonetheless, Paul preaches with words what God did for us.

Thanks for your comment! :)

By: Nick Norelli on December 29, 2007
at 12:44 pm

I am not as smart as the lot of you, but I think the Assisi quote is really more symbolic and has been abused by people arguing all sorts of points for a very long time. So, I will follow history and use it this way–I will preach the gospel, but words are not enough. Why not a song, a work of art, a story, an institution or a life? I do agree, the words are necessary, but words have no meaning if they have no context. So, in that light I think the quote is absolutely brilliant. After all, we are still talking about it and it makes us think. Thanks so much for your blog and writing. You, Nick, get me to think. :-)

By: Rich Kirkpatrick on December 29, 2007
at 2:50 pm

Rich,

Nonsense… I am officially the dumbest of the bunch! :)

Let me just say this… I understand everyone’s point about actions accompanying the message we preach. I think Jesus (Mat. 25:34-40), Paul (Rom. 2:13ff.), and James (Jam. 2:14ff.) all make this point very clearly in Scripture. It is a point that I absolutely agree with, but, as I said above, good will toward men isn’t enough and it doesn’t constitute preaching the Gospel.

Louis Farrakhan does many great things for the black and hispanic communities of this nation, to include providing food, shelter, clothing, education, etc., but when he opens his mouth to preach, it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let me also say this… We’re all aware of Carson’s old adage “a text without a context is a pretext for a prooftext” (which btw I would call a priceless quote ;) ) — The quote that I consider worthless and stupid is the proof-texted form of it. I have to attribute it to St. Francis because he said it, and taken on its own it is stupid, but my real beef isn’t with St. Francis of Assisi, it’s with those who abuse him. I appreciate Bryan L.’s observation of this above.

Thanks to everyone for opposing me here (in love of course) as it has forced me to articulate my position with much more clarity. :)

By: Nick Norelli on December 29, 2007
at 3:21 pm

Since everyone else said what I was initially thinking, I’ll toss this out:

Preach the gospel at all times; when possible, use words.

I think St. Francis would be saddened by the misuse of his quote, and would probably agree more with that little revision.

By: Dan on December 29, 2007
at 3:56 pm

I agree with you that the current use is stupid and that the phrase is mostly ridiculous. I just don’t want one of my favorite poor preacher movement starters to look bad…as if poor preacher movements don’t look bad.

By the way, I do not know why I used the werd, er word “shew” earlier.

By: Geoff on December 29, 2007
at 4:37 pm

I just assumed you were British or something. They do all kinds of funny stuff with their spelling. But I don’t mean to dishono(u)r them in what I say so perhaps I shall make a
defen(c?)e of their crazy spelling habits. :lol:

By: Nick Norelli on December 29, 2007
at 4:41 pm

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