“Preach always; use words if necessary.” Some say that these are the words of St Francis and many will argue that St Francis never said this quote. They are right in that he never said that but he did do it. There is a story of St Francis in the book, “The Little Flowers of Saint Francis,” where he called one of his disciples and he said, “We are going to go preaching.” He took the disciple through a town and walked all around and through it and then walked home. The disciple asked him when they got back why they didn’t preach and Francis told him they were preaching by their actions. In today’s readings, we read about working and specifically toiling for the Gospel. St Paul said that it is an obligation for him to preach the Gospel and whoa to him if he does not preach it.
How many of us feel we are called to preach the Gospel?
How many of us are actually called to preach the Gospel?
All of us actually are truly called to preach the Gospel. I will repeat that: All of us are called to preach the Gospel. I know if you just got frightened that you realized a great truth. You and I are called to preach the Gospel. Now at this point, you might be raising a few standard objections, such as, “Wait a minute, I can’t do that because I don’t have a degree in theology. I am not a priest. Isn’t it their job? Isn’t that why they study?” Or maybe you think, “I wouldn’t even know where to start. What does it mean to preach the Gospel?”
First of all, you don’t need a degree in theology to preach the Gospel. None of the Apostles had one. They simply loved God with their whole heart, trusted radically in God and went forth. I remember this one story of a fellow who decided, “I shall go forth and convert Jehovah’s Witnesses.” So he studied and memorized the stumpers for the JWs and then he went forth. He called one out and started an argument with one and defeated him in the argument, but, do you think he won a convert? No, he did not. Another beautiful story in, “The Word Among Us,” was about a prisoner who had converted to Catholicism. A protestant in the prison challenged him to a debate which they held in the prison library. They went back and forth and were able to do one thing, which was to prove to everyone that they were unable to be Christian in their speech. This same Catholic prisoner went on from there, deeply changed. He started fasting and praying more and studying less for the sake of being able to win arguments and more to follow God. That Lent, he won a great convert to the Lord because he was able to journey with him and share his experience of the Lord changing his life. You see, it is important to know the faith but it is essential to know the Lord and let Him transform your life and share that. If you have the big fancy degree you might try to change someone’s head but, in truth, our Lord is after hearts. He doesn’t want us to merely know of Him but to know Him. That is way the Lord will reach us, even if we are immersed in sin. When I told someone that he had to change everything he reminded me that he would be able to reach out to people that I couldn’t because of where he was and where I was. People related to him better than to me when they knew him and when they knew how God had changed his life they would turn. Most evangelization is done today by relationship rather than by knowledge. I find when the heart has changed then the head wants to follow. Once that relationship starts, it happens then that they want the knowledge, they want the reason behind their new love. If we only study the faith without love, it brings only pride.
Here is a good question: what is the Good News? If you were asked, “What is the Good News?” what would you say? John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. That is the Gospel and that is why you want to believe in it. That is why you want to preach it so that your friends and family do not perish but instead get to experience a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ because you love them and you don’t want them to miss out.
So how can you preach the Gospel? First and foremost, be evangelized yourself. Let the Gospel save you. Let Jesus Christ transform your life. If you think, “I don’t think that has ever happened,” then right now say, “Jesus, I invite you into my life.” No one trusts a salesman who doesn’t use the product. I remember a story of a minister in the government who was told that the herbicide they were using was harmless so publicly he and his director of operations drank some. Talk and knowledge are cheap; relationships are hard work. The Gospel is not knowledge but a life saving relationship with God. That is the first step.
Second, pray and ask God to set up opportunities to share what you have experienced God do in your life. And God will do that. Every time I get on an airplane or a bus I do that and it is pretty amazing. It was actually easier without a collar but it still works. If I have Good News I want to share it, otherwise I am just selfish.
Third, do good things. Your example says the most. One fellow told me that while he was in the military a fellow came up to him and said, “I am going to become a Catholic because of you.” The man, who was now a priest, asked, “Why? What did I do?” He told him, “It is what you didn’t do that inspired me. You didn’t gossip. You didn’t look at pornography. In fact, we all knew it was you who kept tearing it down. You were not boastful. That is why I will join the Church because I see God’s effect in your life.”
Fourth, wear a sign that says, “Christian,” on you, for two reasons. One to witness and two it will help you to behave because you know people are watching. If you have a big crucifix on, you might think twice about setting a poor example. If you have a sign that says, “Catholic,” on your car, you might think twice about fingering someone. Why shouldn’t I have a sign of what I love to show my delight that Someone loved me enough to die for me. A married person often wears a sign showing who they love. I love seeing a married person who has on their phone a picture of their spouse. It is awesome.
So who is called to preach the Gospel? We all are.
How often are we called to preach? Always. And always by the grace of God.