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“Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”
While this well known quote is almost always attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, most of us already know that it is very unlikely that he ever said those words. However, they can still elicit powerful responses, both from those who embrace it as great wisdom and those who reject it as compromise. A recent online article by Mark Galli at Christianity Today’s website (and some of the responses it has drawn) demonstrates this quite well. And yet, after spending the last several years immersed in all things Francis, I think many are still missing the mark.
Though Francis never made this statement, it is in many ways a very Franciscan sentiment. In fact, it was likely inspired by these other quotes from Francis:
“It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.”
“…As for me, I desire this privilege from the Lord, that never may I have any privilege from man, except to do reverence to all, and to convert the world by obedience to the Holy Rule rather by example than by word.”
While the nature of hagiographic records makes it difficult to know if Francis truly said anything attributed to him, we can be assured that all three quotes are reflective of the example and tradition he left behind. They demonstrate the Francis was deeply committed to both the proclamation and embodiment of the Gospel. Mark Galli makes an important point when we notes how the quote can be too easily co-opted by the postmodern tendency to mistrust of words. If this quote is used to diminish the importance of verbal preaching/proclamation, then it is a betrayal of the spirit of St. Francis.
Perhaps to better understand this quote and it’s underlying message we must better understand St. Francis himself. First, it must be noted that Francis lived in a largely pre-literate society- that is, most of the population could not read or write. Therefore the role of public preaching played an essential role in spiritual formation. This does not diminish the importance of proclamation today, but we must acknowledge the elevated importance of verbal communication as a means passing on knowledge and information. And those who heard the majority of his preaching were the nominal Christians of his era, already passingly familiar with the faith.
Knowing this, then, we can read this quote in a new light. It is not spoken as a universal truth where words should always be of secondary in importance to actions. Rather it is a context specific corrective to an age and culture that gave lip service, verbal allegiance to the faith, but whose actions betrayed entirely different beliefs and values. In the same way, the church today is at risk of making the same mistake. Again, acknowledging the risk of undervaluing preaching, the church in the West has lost much authority in its failure to live the Gospel it preaches.
Francis was given authority by the Roman Catholic Church to preach in churches, which he did often. However, he was far better known for his extra-liturgical preaching, sermons given in the open air of piazzas and pastures. He used styles and tactics borrowed from the troubadours of his day, both through romantic prose and foolish frolicking. Without rejecting the traditional liturgies of the Church, he broke past the norms and conventions of both the church and the culture to preach in ways that caught peoples attention. He was attractional at its very vest!
Even when he did preach in churches, he would use living examples and props to bring life to the message. One of the most well known traditions popularized by St. Francis was the live nativity. While we might see this as a creative and sentimental example, it was, in fact, a powerfully prophetic gesture. He brought into the heart of the church and the Scriptures the messy reality of the nature of the incarnation (cow manure and all). He saw the story of Scripture to be something to be lived and experience, not merely commemorated. So, while we can defend preaching is central to Francis’s example, we cannot do so without recognizing that he preached in ways that were intentionally disruptive to nominal faith, pointing instead to active participation in the Communion of Christ as His Body.
St. Francis never sought to elevate action over speaking in the task of bringing the Gospel, but neither did he believe that Gospel was only a message to be communicated. Francis recognized that the Gospel was all consuming, the work of God to restore all of Creation unto Himself for His glory. He embraced the truth that the authority of the Gospel he proclaimed with his mouth was given authority by the Spirit-empowered life that reflected the reality of its transformation. And in the same way, he knew that, even in the imperfect, clumsy and often sinful lives that we lead, the inherent authority of the Gospel message would still touch the hearts of those who needed to hear it and therefore must be preached.
Inevitably, out of the diversity of our giftings and experiences, out of the brokenness and strengths of our culture and understanding, each of us will find ourselves at different places of emphasis on this issue. This should not be seen as disunity or division, but necessary dynamics in a Body with many parts, held together out of mutual submission and love and accountability.
Therefore, preach the Gospel at all times, in both word and deed.
Thanks for taking the time to write this, Jamie. It is one of the more important posts in this conversation on the words of St. Frank (as Rich Mullins called him.)
Thanks Bill. I had to restrain myself from writing a lot more. Perhaps more in the future (or here in the comments)
Peace,
Jamie
Thanks Jamie…this year, we were challenged with the reminder that we can actually tell people the good news…like, through talking. We were impressed to start telling the working girls on 9th Street the story of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears. Jesus said that her story would be told throughout the ages…wherever the gospel goes. The gospel should go wherever we go.
“Necessary dynamics”. Well said, Brother Jamie.
I’m bringing a truck full of manure to church on Sunday for a little object lesson. I think it’ll really minister.
Hey Chris,
Excellent example of where the proclaimed Gospel is fused with the lived. Thanks!
Peace,
Jamie
Do it, Aaron, but be sure to take pictures!
Funny enough, we are doing community gardening with our little church, so I did actuall bring manure to church last week.
Peace,
Jamie
We should be living epistles, as well as declarers of God’ Good News. We should walk the talk. The world hungers to touch the Bible covered in flesh. And yet Paul declared that even when certain saints preached out of vain self glory, he rejoiced, because God’s Word went forth. He knew that regardless of the vessel, God’s Word would accomplish what He wanted it to. In fact, it is so important that God’s word be proclaimed, that God said, he would raise up rocks to declare his praise, if we would not. I believe that God wants us to both walk and talk His Word.
Exactly my point, Chere. Thanks!
Peace,
Jamie
Love that first quote of St. Francis & boy do I miss Rich Mullins.
Me too, Karen, on both counts.
Peace,
Jamie
[...] Previous Post – Preach The Gospel At All Times. [...]
[...] couple of blog posts I would like to highlight: “Preach The Gospel At All Times”, a response to Mark Galli’s take on St. Francis & proclamation. I also penned [...]
Nicely done. This tension, between proclamation and demonstration, is one that has been central in my thinking and mission over the past few years. I am an evangelist, but one who has come to reject the forms of evangelism that threaten, manipulate, coerce, guilt or shame people into the Kingdom of God. These tactics were all in my arsenal for over 30 years (though not the only ones, and certainly not often used), I confess. And although I have discovered that evangelism is mostly about “making disciples” (rather than just converts) and that disciple making is messy and difficult to “count”, I have also come to the conclusion that some of us are actually gifted and called to proclaim the story of Christ verbally and call people to follow him (though in ways that likely resemble St. Francis more than Billy Graham these days).
All this to say that I found your post very encouraging and well balanced. I’d like to post it over at our site (www.DoableEvangelism.com) if you don’t mind. I would very much like to engage our readers in this discussion.
Hey Randy,
Thanks for your great comment. We have people in our little inner city community that are indeed gifted and called to verbal evangelism, so I fully agree. Please feel free to reprint this article at your site (with the appropriate linkage, of course). Thanks!
Peace,
Jamie
Will do. Thanks!
[...] some of my problems with the reappropriated quote in a bit, but first I’d like to highlight an excellent response to this article by Jamie Arpin-Ricci, a church planter in Winnipeg (@missional on twitter). He highlights from a [...]
[...] Preach The Gospel At All Times.: This article was in response to Mark Galli’s critique of the oft quoted & wrongly attributed “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary use words”. This is, perhaps, the piece I feel most passionate about writing this year. I would highly encourage you to take some time and consider the challenge on what it means to be His witnesses to the world. [...]
The statement doesn’t say “don’t use words.” Your article nicely draws out the dramatic tension between walk and talk, not an exclusivity of one over the other.
Even if he didn’t say it, the statement nicely underscores the fact that this dramatic tension is only resolved in the One in Whom we trust.
Thanks Art. I agree.
Peace,
Jamie
[...] Another blog post responds to Galli’s article, showing the sentiments from Francis that probably gave rise to the saying attributed to him. I think the post asserts that Francis’ position as being that Gospel proclamation is inextricably intertwined with Gospel life, which is the same basic position as Galli’s. This is a sentiment which is also expressed in the section of the Heidelberg Catechism that I posted yesterday. [...]