Similarly, the gospel cannot be reduced to behaving in a cross-shaped manner or to social programs. Saint Francis of Assisi is often remembered to have said, “Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary.” This is a clever saying (although its origination with Saint Francis is historically dubious), because we all recognize that sometimes actions do speak more forcefully than words. But it is dreadfully wrongheaded to suggest that the gospel is best (or even adequately) proclaimed by actions unencumbered by words.<\/p>\n
It is also off-base to think that Christian social activities, such as providing assistance to the poor, are the gospel-even though it is popular in some quarters to call such activities the “social gospel.” Such actions might serve to remind those who benefit of part of the gospel story once they hear it elsewhere or if they already know it. But the actions themselves only become a gospel proclamation derivatively when the recipient hears the full gospel elsewhere and then is able to make the link between the actions and the full narrative.<\/p>\n
Because we are uncomfortable sharing the gospel, afraid that we will turn someone off or be perceived in the wrong way, we can convince ourselves that the gospel is best communicated with actions, not words. But the true gospel is not reducible to Christian activities.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Matthew W. Bates from Salvation by Allegiance Alone, Baker Academic, 2017 Similarly, the gospel cannot be reduced to behaving in a cross-shaped manner or to social programs. Saint Francis of Assisi is often remembered to have said, “Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary.” This is a clever saying (although its…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[201],"tags":[1543,54,451],"class_list":["post-96884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-notes","tag-good-works","tag-obedience","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":65553,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-few-words-about-the-social-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":96884,"position":0},"title":"A Few Words about the “Social Gospel”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. We \"conservatives\" sometimes speak of the \"Social Gospel\" in a way that shows we know very little about it. Many think the Social Gospel is all about churches sponsoring social activities like social meals and recreational activities. While these unscriptural practices are wrong and may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thanks-for-the-article-on-the-social-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":96884,"position":1},"title":"Thanks for the article on the Social Gospel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just wanted to say I appreciated the article on What Is the Social Gospel\u00a0on your site. I believe it was by Richard Thetford, so I will send a note to him too. I'm in Texas, so I am not part of your community, but I am a church\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21620,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-gospel-and-the-social-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":96884,"position":2},"title":"The Gospel and the Social Gospel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"What is the Difference? by Bob Myhan Many of the Lord's churches have gone the way of the modernistic de\u00adnominations, abandoning the gospel for\u00a0\"a different gospel, which is not another\"\u00a0(Galatians 1:6-7). Paul, in the passage just quoted, used the word \u201cgospel\u201d in an accommodative sense. There was but one gospel.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21623,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-social-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":96884,"position":3},"title":"What is the Social Gospel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Richard Thetford Have you ever asked yourself \"what is the social gospel?\" Most individuals that have been raised in the Lord's church have come to know and understand what the social gospel is. There are many, many individuals in churches of Christ around the country today that are actively\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/Street_Arabs_and_gutter_snipes._The_pathetic_and_humorous_side_of_young_vagabond_life_in_the_great_cities_with_records_of_work_for_their_reclamation_1884_14579159707-193x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55023,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-appeal-of-ketchersides-teachings\/","url_meta":{"origin":96884,"position":4},"title":"The Appeal of Ketcherside’s Teachings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Herschel Patton via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0- April 1974 We have been saddened lately by a few brethren, mostly among the young, abandoning strict adherence to a \"thus saith the Lord\" and casting their lot with liberal brethren, even to the extent of \"open fellowship\" with the denominations - as advocated by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88095,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-was-peter-afraid\/","url_meta":{"origin":96884,"position":5},"title":"Why Was Peter Afraid?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clay Gentry In Galatians 2:11-14, the Apostle Paul recounts a surprising incident that occurred in the church in Antioch. Peter, who had been freely sharing meals and fellowship with Gentile believers, abruptly \"separated himself, fearing the circumcision party\" after \"certain men arrived from James\" (that is, Jewish-Christians from Jerusalem).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}