Quote:
Originally Posted by a mere housewife  Quote:
Originally Posted by VirginiaHuguenot To quote from a modern (liberal) theologian: Quote:
Words are power, essentially the power of creation. By my words I both discover and create who I am. By my words I elicit a word from you. Through our converse we create each other.
When God said, "Let there be light," there was light where before there was only darkness. When I say I love you, there is love where before there was only ambiguous silence. In a sense I do not love you first and then speak it, but only by speaking it give it reality. -- Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC's of Faith, p. 413
| | Would it then be possible to say that since God's Word creates the reality of our changed actions, by those actions (though not exclusive of language) we preach His Word? |
My line of thinking is this: all of nature testifies to God, and as Christians we testify to the grace of God working in us by our conduct, and by our words (or sometimes by our silence). But I would not describe our actions as "preaching." The heavens declare the glory of God, but it is not preaching. We who are vessels of God's grace and mercy, bear the imprint of our gracious Heavenly Father's face, and show forth his praise and glory with or without words.
Preaching is a distinct means of grace ordained by God without which ordinarily there is no possibility of salvation. It involves the proclamation of the "good news," the gospel, ie., the Word. The witness of Christians by good behavior ought to draw men to hear that Word preached. But I would distinguish those two things (witness and preaching) because one is general (creation, the good conduct of believers) and one is specific (the proclamation of the gospel by those sent by God and likewise ordained as his heralds). Therefore, they are not interchangeable, and in fact, preaching has priority. One may give a cup of cold water to another in need and so bear witness to Christ, or one may give a cup of cold water for altruistic but unbelieving reasons which is sin. But by the Word, even by the preaching of the Word, we may understand what is good and right, because it is God's own Word, his self-revelation, who is goodness, and righteousness, and holiness. His Word puts our actions in proper context. It even goes deeper than actions which we can only superficially observe; it exposes hypocrisy, because it is a two-edged sword. So I would revise what Francis said to say, "Wherever you go, testify to the gospel; your life must be joined to your words, words being necessary to the preaching of the gospel, and your good deeds must accompany them as heat and light accompany fire (Martin Luther). I hope this helps. I know it's a "precisionist" response to St. Francis, but c'est moi.
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Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor,
The Matthew Poole Project
"Let your Morning Thoughts, and your last Evening Thoughts, be what shall become of you to all Eternity." -- Matthew Poole