God puts a high value on words

A little while ago I told you about a guest preacher at our church who espoused the evangelistic tactic of "just lovin' on" people, rather than sharing a message with them. "After all," he said, "we all know that Christianity is about deeds, not words."

I thought that was rather an amazing thing to say in a church, where we go every Sunday to sing songs full of lyrics (and words too!) as well as hear a lengthy sermon made up of lots and lots of words, based on a text from a book that is made up entirely of words. Hmmmm.

Well, if you want to know more about what I think about this, go and read my breathtaking blogpost called The Idol of community, because I'm not going to repeat myself here. I just bring the matter up because I noticed yesterday (thanks to Jared Wilson) that Timmy Brister is all over this issue in his post entitled Word-Driven Movemental Christianity.

Timmy cites dozens of biblical passages that make note of the centrality of words to the spread of the church and the saving of souls. Here are some of my favorite examples. These show how "the word" is central to the missional enterprise of the church. Brister writes:

If a Christian is a soldier of Christ Jesus, then his only offensive weapon to move forward is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

If a Christian is an athlete running the race, then the way in which he is not disqualified is by competing according to the rules. I take that to mean that as Christians we must subject ourselves to God’s Word to run in such a way that we first are not disqualified and second run in a way so as to win the race.

If a Christian is a farmer, then he knows that the good seed that he sows is the Word of God upon the hearts of men, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.

If a Christian is an ambassador, then the message he brings is he word of reconciliation–the gospel of Jesus Christ. He does not have a message of his own, but the message given by the one who sends him.

If a Christian is to be a light in this world, then it depends largely in part to his exposure to that Word which is a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path.

In each of these images, what we find as movement/success/fruit or whatever way you want to put it is that the word of God is the sword that cuts, the seed that multiplies, the message that reconciles, the light that illumines, and the rulebook for the athlete. The Word is never assumed nor given secondary treatment. Sure we could talk about the dedication of the solider, the disciple of the athlete, the patience of the farmer, or the faithfulness of the ambassador, but if they have not the Word, they have not a movement. These traits, important though they be, are subsequent to the primary cause of movemental Christianity–the instrumentality of the word of God (and the agency of the Holy Spirit).

It looks like God places a lot more value on words than people do. Funny thing!