When Necessary use Words
St Francis of Assisi is know for this quote, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words”. This advice should be heeded by the modern American evangilists. The bible says that God’s people should be like city on hill, a light to the world. The apostal Paul teaches that we should “live simple quite lives and work with our own hands”, that we should be “at peace with all men”. The bible tells us to feed the hungy and clothe the poor, to lend freely and not be full of greed. When we begin to live like the bible teaches, then the world sees Jesus Christ in us. The modern gospel pedler lives like the world and in his spare time sells “eternal fire insurance for the soul”. Even the unwashed masses can see the hypocricy, men who preach about Jesus, yet don’t seem to take anything he said regarding how we live our lives very seriously.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:34 am
Imagine that . . . a city set on a hill for all to see the glorious WORKS of God and, thus, comprehend His Kingdom and so great a salvation! You best be careful brother, you are sounding more and more like a reformer from days of past. You might be accused of being one of those radical types like the Puritans that believed that faith without works is dead. Let’s face it, to come out of the world’s dark city to build Christ’s in obedience to the Gospel has nearly always been considered “a retreatist” move by the many who have lived comfortably within the dark palaces of fallen man; I see it as quite the contrary . . . a proactive move evidencing the truth of the Gospel that Christ came to “save the world” by His people leading the way as the head of all cultural reform as the salt of the earth and light of the world, the pillar and ground of the truth. Thanks for the very encouraging reminder; I for one needed to hear it and I am sure there were others, as well.
December 1st, 2007 at 11:21 pm
Hypocricy must be the devils greatest tool of evangelisation.
The whitewashed tomb , the clean cup full of iniquity. I am guilty of thinking that if i plump my backside on the ‘ right’ side of the fence then i can continue to be me. I am slowly waking up to the fact that it is the ‘me’ that will decide my position not where I sit on the pew.
I got so that I thought that the people that did’nt agree with me or do as I did were the enemy, and feelings of hate took the place of , wait for it…love.
I aim by the grace of God to become less worldly but at the same time have compassion for those caught in the snares of the world, a difficult task for a seperatist.