The River Church Community

As many of you know, I worked with incarcerated teenagers struggling with drug addiction and gang affiliation.  In this context, we often had conversations about what it meant to share the gospel.  I often argued that our non-violent posture was the soundest gospel argument that we could make.  And I still believe that.  But I am also aware that my ability to love my enemies is never as “perfect” as I hope it would be. So, where does that leave us?  If our actions do not clearly testify to the God we so dearly love, at what point are words essential?

I once spoke with a staff who relied so heavily on his actions to testify to the goodness of God that he recoiled at verbal evangelism.  Yet, from an outsider’s perspective, his actions were not clear.  This made me thoughtful.  Why did this guy have such a negative association with verbally sharing the gospel?  Was he ashamed to verbally associate with Jesus?  Could be.  Or was he afraid that if his actions undercut his verbal message that his message would be discounted?  Possibly.  My guess is that it was a combination of the two.  

In our context, actions based evangelism is held in high esteem in many circles.  Right, who doesn’t like Mother Teresa?  But how people can we point to that we really admire for how they proclaim the gospel to co-workers?  Not as many.   This affects our desire to share the gospel verbally.  I would also argue that it has led people to justify the fact that they are ashamed of our gospel—a gospel that is not shy about sin, the cross, and eternal salvation.  I am the first to argue that gospel articulation must not solely be a verbal exercise but I am also really hesitant to make it entirely non-verbal.  

One of the advantages of being a pastor is that I am often explaining my job.  To every question about what I do, I can throw out a gospel line and see if anyone wants to talk.  When I write about sharing the gospel verbally I am not referring to standing on street corners with a sign and yelling.  I am talking about having a conversation with people about what is most important to you—your faith.  We are not providing answers per se but rather telling a story that has compelled us to follow.  And maybe in our telling, God will work a miracle. 

Tony Traback, Pastor of Mission Mobilization