Just BE Good News???

'Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.' This quote is mistakenly attributed to Augustine of Hippo, but considering the value that Augustine put on preaching, he never would have said such a thing.

The sentiment is nice. Preaching goes beyond words, just like 'love' is more than a word but includes action. So does preaching. James tells us not only to be a hearer of the Word but also a doer; the same goes for preaching. Don't just speak it, but follow it up with your lifestyle.
Unfortunately, however, the intentional art of preaching has taken backseat to simply 'being Good News'. People feel awkward telling people about Jesus (or even just saying his name) so they figure 'I'll just show Jesus instead of talking about Him'. That's dangerous for evangelism, because as Paul asks in Romans 10:14 'How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?'

A few years ago, as a youth pastor I started an annual festival called 'Explosion', which focused on acts of service in our community. We wanted to BE Good News, rather than just talking about it. But I found that we were using BEing the Gospel as an excuse for not actually SPEAKing the Gospel. The theme that first year was, in fact, 'Be Good News' but the following year we made the theme 'Show AND Tell'. We can not merely BE Good News, we must also open our mouths.

That mentality has also made it's way into how we approach preaching. We no longer preach Christ and the Gospel, but rather 'how to become a better person', self-help, shining your light brighter type of motivational talks. Talking about a Saviour inevitably opens the door for people to ask 'why do I need to be saved?' which may lead to awkward conversations or confessions. Better to stay away from that, and instead of stating what God is against (sin) let's focus on what He is for.

The only problem with that, is the Bible. Scripture teaches at least as much about sin as love and justice. We now have 'committed Christians' who don't see Jesus as their Lord OR Saviour, but just as a perfect example of what it means to share the Gospel through the way He lived His life.

The idea isn't to get back up on our soap boxes preaching 'turn-of-burn' messages, but to preach the Gospel of Jesus. To open our mouths corporately and privately. To share Him both in word AND deed. And to equip our hearers to do the same. That's what it means to preach the Gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15).