Comments on: Did Saint Francis of Assisi get it wrong?

By: What is Evangelism? – Part 3

What is Evangelism? – Part 3 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:39:25 +0000

[...] For other people, what comes to mind is actions. A famous quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi is “Preach the gospel everywhere. If necessary, use words.” (Did Assisi get it wrong?) [...]

By: Ask the leadership coach » Did St. Francis of Assisi get it wrong?

Ask the leadership coach » Did St. Francis of Assisi get it wrong? — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:04:45 +0000

[...] Coach Mom posted a noteworthy aricle today onHere’s a small snippet [...]

By: EvangelismCoach

EvangelismCoach — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:52:52 +0000

Thanks for chiming in.

Perhaps my point is better stated in that many use St. Francis to justify their lack of saying anything.

His life may very well have backed up his claims in the bigger picture. But in our soundbite culture, this statement has been perhaps lifted out of his context and used to justify our own lack of speaking.

Thanks for sharing.

Chris.

By: Daniel Black

Daniel Black — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:41:54 +0000

I’ve been studying the life of this man recently. In no way did St. Francis get it wrong, and in no way was he condoning apathy. His life is a living statement of that fact. He not only preached the Gospel with words, but he portrayed incarnational love. Live the message you declare. That is the meaning behind those words and are backed up by other quotes. Also if you study his life, his passion and love for Christ alone was contagious.

“While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.”

“The preacher must first draw from His secret prayers what he will later pour out in his holy sermons; he must grow hot within before he speaks words that are cold in themselves.”

“Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light;and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.”