Go And Preach The Gospel

Mark 16:15 (NIV)
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

One of the most famous quotations about evangelism is attributed to St Francis of Assisi: ‘Preach the Gospel. When necessary, use words.’ This is a great idea, encouraging us to live out the love, acceptance and kindness of Jesus as evidence of our lives in him. This is what we talked about the other day: becoming more Christlike as we spend time in his presence.

However, when reading St. Francis’ words now, I can’t help remembering how, when I first had an encounter with Jesus, I used this quote to completely neglect evangelism. When we share the gospel, our good actions serve to authenticate our words, pointing to the salvation Jesus has freely given us. Words and actions inextricably linked.

At Gas Street recently a series of 'Scatter' sessions (our 'motto' is Gather and Scatter) have encouraged and equipped us to share Jesus with our non-Christian friends and family members. It has challenged me to pray a simple prayer during my quiet time every morning: that the Lord would help me to reflect Jesus’ love to my friends through all my actions, and that he’d help me be willing to share the gospel when an opportunity arose. This resulted in an amazing lunchtime chat about the gospel with one of my friends which led to her expressing a desire to come along to Gas Street and discover what it’s all about.

I’m not trying to fight St Francis of Assisi when it comes to advice about faith - I know when I’m beaten! But I wonder if we need to remind ourselves that our verse for today encourages us to share our faith, and not misuse St Francis’ words as an escape clause.

Prayer – Lord, I’m sorry for where I’ve neglected your call to share the Gospel with those who don’t know you. Please help me to re-centre on your Cross every morning and allow my wonder at your love and sacrifice to propel me into Spirit-fuelled evangelism.