The Necessity of Words

The famous social justice maxim, “Go into the world and preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words,” reveals our woeful ignorance of the biblically prescribed act of preaching Christ, which is indispensible to both evangelism and discipleship. Missiologist and professor, David Hesselgrave’s (1924-2018) definition of the mission of the church helpfully combines evangelism and discipleship with the chief action being the proclamation of Christ: “The primary mission of the Church, and, therefore, of the churches is to proclaim the gospel of Christ and gather believers into local churches where they can be built up in the faith and made effective in service.”

The apostolic philosophy of missions is that sinners are saved and believers are sanctified through the Word of Christ, and the apostolic method is proclamation; the message is the Christ centered Word; the center of the message is the crucifixion, resurrection, and kingship of Christ; the effect is aroused religious affections for obeying Christ the King. Or to say it in a different way: the apostolic philosophy of missions combines reaching the unevangelized with the Word of Christ and teaching the undisciplined to keep the Word of Christ; and the apostolic methodology of missions employs proclaiming the Christ-centered Word in such a way that arouses religious affections for submission to Christ the King among the church and the unreached.

— E.D. Burns, The Missionary Theologian