That the preacher and preaching should be at the forefront of the Great Commission and of all biblical missionary endeavors is clearly set affirmed by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Rome:

“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’”¹

There is a saying that is erroneously attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, which states, “Preach the gospel always… Use words when necessary.”² The point that we should “live out” the gospel before others is well taken. However, the quaint saying is not entirely true. In fact, there is enough error in it to make it rather dangerous. The Scriptures teach that God has chosen words and verbal proclamation to be the primary means of redeeming men regardless of their nation, tribe, people, or tongue. In I Corinthians 1:21, the Apostle Paul wrote:

“For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

A cursory reading of the Epistles will clearly demonstrate that God’s primary means of communicating His truth to men is through proclamation or preaching. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul makes a remarkable statement, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel…”³ Here, Paul is not denying the importance of baptism or rewriting the Great Commission that commands it.⁴ He is simply demonstrating the importance of the preaching of the gospel, without which, there will be no one to baptize.

Jesus began His ministry “preaching the gospel of God.”⁵ He told His disciples, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.”⁶ Like his Lord, and the other Apostles, the Apostle Paul was also a preacher. He declared that for the sake of the gospel he had been appointed a preacher and a teacher,⁷ and that he was under divine compulsion to complete his stewardship.⁸ From his correspondence, we understand that he was “eager to preach the gospel”⁹ and aspired to preach it, “not where Christ was already named,”¹⁰ but in “regions beyond.”¹¹ He also sought to communicate this same passion for preaching the gospel to his disciples. He admonished young Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”¹² In the church, he exhorted him to “give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.”¹³ Outside the church, he admonished him to “endure hardship” and “do the work of an evangelist.”¹⁴ Finally, at the end of his life, Paul gave the following charge to Timothy and to all who would follow him into the regions beyond:

“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”¹⁵

1. Romans 10:14-15
2. Most scholars agree that what Francis actually said was, “It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.”
3. I Corinthians 1:17
4. Matthew 28:18-20
5. Mark 1:14
6. Mark 1:38
7. I Timothy 2:5-8
8. I Corinthians 9:16
9. Romans 1:15
10. Romans 15:20
11. II Corinthians 10:16
12. II Timothy 2:15
13. I Timothy 4:13
14. II Timothy 4:5
15. II Timothy 4:1-2

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More By Paul David Washer

Paul David Washer

Paul is the founder of HeartCry Missionary Society and currently serves as its missions director. He also ministered as a missionary in Peru for ten years. He has preached hundreds of sermons and has authored a dozen published works. Paul lives in Radford, Virginia, with his wife Charo and their four children: Ian, Evan, Rowan, and Bronwyn.

More By Paul David Washer