“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (ESV)
I’m a teacher – by training and by nature. One of my favourite things to do is to facilitate the understanding of concepts, especially when it comes to the truth of God’s Word. This is my happy place. With that, also comes a love for preaching. Whilst I have the occasional honour to preach at my local church, I have a much more important and regular preaching gig – my daily life.
If you’re a follower of Christ, you’ve been called to preach too! Congratulations!! 🙂 And to preach in the places and spaces of your everyday life, like your workplace.
Before you close the article, let me share with you what I mean…
Preaching can be defined as publicly proclaiming or teaching, with the intent to persuade others to believe in a particular belief or follow a particular way of life [Cambridge Dictionary].
Isn’t that at the heart of evangelical Christianity? That we, as followers of Christ, would make Him known so that others would come to believe in Him and learn to follow His way of life? It’s really Jesus’ great commission in a nutshell (Matt 28:18-20).
It is my conviction that all believers are called to preach. Not from the pulpit, but from our daily lives. But how do we publicly proclaim our message? Especially in contexts that discourage or even forbid trying to persuade others towards your faith?
“Actions speak louder than words.”
Here is a relatively modern proverb that I think holds a lot of wisdom and truth. Before we utter a word about our faith, our actions have already spoken! Our actions communicate to people around us in a language that is ‘heard’ loud and clear. Our behaviours, decisions, attitudes and how we approach people are like a microphone amplifying the message we carry within us.
Full disclosure… In the past, I’ve used this phrase as a justification for the times I haven’t had the courage to speak up about my faith in Jesus. Please don’t follow me in that practice! I am convinced that we need to use our voice to explain the hope that we have as Christians and declare the truth of the gospel so that people have an opportunity to respond. Our proclamation needs to be BOTH word and deed.
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”
1 John 3:18
As I was reflecting on some of my previous experiences working amongst people who weren’t believers, I realised that there have been moments where the phrase, ‘actions speak louder than words’, has absolutely proved true and my actions were able to ‘preach’ a message beyond my words.
- ‘We’ll send Mel to deal with the difficult customers because she never lets them get under her skin.’
- ‘Sorry for speaking like that around you, I know you don’t talk bad about others.’
- ‘You have such a peace about you. I feel calm when you’re here.’
- ‘Everywhere we send you we get such great reports about your work. They all want you to stay on!’
These comments from colleagues and managers reflect back to me how my actions were drawing people’s attention towards something that I carry within me – values based on the Kingdom of God. I don’t say this at all to gloat, I say this to make the point that the principle is true: our actions speak and people are listening!
Every day we are communicating through how we live, what we value and believe. Jesus taught this concept through the imagery of fruit – that there would be external evidence of what is really within us.
> Good trees bear good fruit, bad trees bear bad fruit.
> People filled with the Spirit of God bear spiritual fruit and point to God’s reality.
So, what are our actions saying?
- How we treat people mirrors the love of God towards them.
- How we work with integrity and excellence reveals the nature of our Creator.
- How we refrain from inappropriate conversations models the righteousness of Christ.
- How we handle mistakes – ours or others – is a sermon about the grace of our LORD.
- How we serve and put others first is a tangible example of the servanthood of Jesus.
This list could be endless… because every action has the potential to point to the reality of the God that we love and the way of His Kingdom that we’ve aligned ourselves with.
What message are your colleagues, customers, managers or clients hearing from your life?
Be encouraged that even the seemingly unnoticed actions can communicate a loud message about the Godly values you hold and the truth that you’ve built your life upon. And for the areas where we feel our actions don’t do a great job at representing Christ, we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us develop and grow and ‘speak’ more accurately.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5
Keep preaching, friends!
Mel is Head of School for Worship.Works’ newly launched School of Work-Based Ministry – equipping believers to change their world through their work.