Use Your Words, Part 2

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

St. Francis’s quote about preaching at all times has been used as a kind of escape clause for those of us who have a hard time sharing the gospel verbally. We can rightly see in the quote an admonition against hypocrisy—we want our whole lives to reflect what we believe in our heart, and that includes all our actions.

But many of us are reluctant or hesitant about sharing the gospel in words. There are many reasons, of course, and the Scripture above speaks to one of those. Some of us are simply ashamed of the gospel (if that weren’t a temptation, Paul wouldn’t have written that sentence). If that’s the case with us, we need to repent and do some serious thinking about the wondrous nature of God, His power, and the fullness of the work of Jesus Christ.

But many of us are reluctant because we’ve believed a lie—that the power of the gospel is in us, who are weak and inconsistent. The opposite is true: the gospel is true and has the power to save no matter how much or how little of the Bible we know, how much evangelism training we may have had, or even whether or not we had a spiritually victorious day. His truth is no less the truth, with no less the power, even when we’re not doing all that well with God.

Of course things are better when we are closer to Him, and we are naturally more excited to share the good news when we feel spiritually strong and things are going well. But here is some good news about the good news: it’s true and is the power of God to salvation every day. That’s true when shared by vessels that are brilliant and educated and filled with God’s love, and even by vessels that are having a bad day. In fact, sharing the good news sometimes gets us out of a bad day.

Prayer: Forgive me for thinking that your power is limited to my moods and the consistency of my walk with You. Help me to understand that the gospel, when shared with words, is powerful in and of itself. I resist in Jesus’ name the taunts of the enemy that are working to keep me quiet. Help me to gain a new level of boldness in sharing your powerful good news.