Writing and Face-to-Face
by Terry Wane Benton
Some are not writers, and that is understandable. They are gifted in a personal way, but not so much at expressing themselves in writing. Not all have the same gifts and talents, and that is certainly understandable. Paul believed in face-to-face teaching and in the power of the written word. Writing has a wonderful place in communication. His 13 letters have endured much longer than his face-to-face teachings and continue to impact the world because they are preserved in writing. You can teach more people for longer periods by writing the truth and publishing it on various websites, in bulletins, and on social media platforms. To Paul, it was not a matter of face-to-face or writing, but face-to-face and writing.
There is something very rewarding about teaching a person face-to-face. If all Paul did was write and never teach face-to-face, he would not know the rewards of seeing how his teaching panned out in someone’s life that he personally witnessed. A preacher and teacher of the word needs to teach face-to-face as much as he can and find someone who will engage with him. Leading someone from darkness to light through personal teaching is more personally rewarding, as you see the word at work in a heart and get to observe the change it is making firsthand. When Paul wrote the words and sent them out, he did not always know how people were taking his words. He worried that the brethren at Corinth would get mad at him, and some did. “His letters are weighty, but his bodily presence is weak” was among the criticisms he heard secondhand. But those were carnal brethren, and that criticism would not stop Paul from writing. He believed in writing and face-to-face teaching. Those Corinthians who criticized his writings were the same ones he said that his face-to-face sessions with them were fruitless because they were carnal and spiritually immature (I Corinthians 3:1f). “I couldn’t talk to you” (personally and face-to-face) because you were not able to absorb it and understand it. He wrote a letter to them, and they criticized him for writing and not talking face-to-face. The truth is that he believed in what he said face-to-face as well as the need to write some things down (I Corinthians 4). Just think what we would miss if Paul believed in only face-to-face teaching!
With Paul, there was a need to preserve the teaching in writing and spread that writing as far and wide as possible, and there was the personal satisfaction of seeing it work in a heart you had personally talked to.
In writing, he never realized who all was being affected and changed, but he knew that if he cast the seed out onto the fields, God would bless it and give the increase, no matter what! Casting the seed in the media available to us can and will be blessed by God if we speak the truth in love for souls. It can be misused for sure, but a careful teaching of truth in love can be a source of enlightenment and encouragement, and you may only hear secondarily from time to time of some of the good it did in a reader’s heart, but the word of God does not return to God void and empty of good.
Some are spreading teachings through video sessions available worldwide, and some are writing articles on websites and social media accessed worldwide. When wisely done and always true to the scriptures, the media use casts light in this dark world on some soul who was seeking truth, and God providentially connects seekers with the jewels of truth they needed to find. You might not be a writer, but you can take some of these writings and share them with someone you love, and the Lord will give the increase somewhere and sometime unknown to the original writer. Paul had no idea how far and wide his writings impacted souls for centuries around the world. I think back to childhood about the Hobbs tracts in the church tract rack that I read as a young teen. They had a lasting impact, and Brother Hobbs never knew it. The good of writing cannot be measured.
Be a light in this dark world in all the ways you can! Your light is needed in this dark world. Teach by example, teach personally, teach in song, teach in all the ways you can think to teach the word, and God will bless all efforts and work it into His providence toward saving and edifying souls, and none of that labor is in vain!
