In the way

1 Corinthians 2:1-4

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

One of the pieces of advice I was given when I started preaching was: "Proclaim the word and then get out of the way."

While I can understand the well meant sentiment behind that advice, I've come to think of it a flawed.

Our actions must mirror the words that we preach. Our walk must match the talk.

And, while God's spirit won't be hampered by our words or actions, it can only help if we practice what we preach.

Living the way of love.

Practising the grace of forgiveness. ( and it takes a LOT of practice)

Reaching out with the gospel of hospitality.

All these things draw much better pictures of the nature of God than we can paint with words.

May this Lent be a time of matching our actions to our words - or a time of preaching the gospel without words!