“Preach the Gospel at all times. And when necessary, use words.” -St. Francis of Assisi

I bought a t-shirt with this quote on it when I was a teenager at a conference for Christian students. I heard these words repeated many times in books, sermons, arguments, and blog posts. These words were used to justify being an example to others, not ramming the good news down someone’s throat (ramming and good news never go well together). During a different season in my life, I used this quote to question the motive what I called “drive-by evangelism”.

Somewhere along the way, the original saying (attributed to Francis) got shortened to – “Preach the gospel; if necessary, use words“. St. Francis was a well-known monk, whose work and writings in the Middle Ages continue to influence many today. There is just one problem with this popular and well-known saying – St. Francis didn’t write it.

Those words cannot be traced to any writings or sermons of St. Francis, nor any stories told about him within 200 years of his death. The first appearance of this phrase with attribution to St. Francis was 200 years after his death. Long after those who lived with him were dead as well. Many believe that someone said this and tagged St. Francis’ name on it, so it would get more press.

A modern equivalent would go something like this. You create a cool gadget or device. You want it to be successful and marketable. So you say Steve Jobs helped design it. You share a quote from Steve, about how he thought it was pretty cool. Since he was the brains behind the iPhone and the iPad and the MacBook Air (and those are all pretty cool), the general public believes this must be pretty cool too. The only problem is that Steve Jobs didn’t really make it and the product is nowhere near incredible.

The problem with those infamous words from someone other than St. Francis isn’t just that Francis didn’t say that (although we could argue whether the words reflect his spirit). The problem is that it puts into question whether our words are necessary. And words are incredibly necessary. They are essential.

Now, I have seen some people who have been all words and no action. They preach at a person about hell and sin, while the person is hungry or thirsty or in serious physical need. It’s like the infamous quote from Peanuts where Snoopy is begging for food and Charlie Brown tells him to “Be of good cheer” and then goes on his merry way. That’s not the right approach. However, some overreact and say “we are just going to show them the gospel, show them love, and if we need to, we will open our mouths too.”

But that’s just as much over the edge as the person we are reacting against. Both matter (words and deeds), both are important. And you are going to have to determine which are needed in the moments and relationships you are in. In the book of Matthew, chapter 5, Jesus says the following.