Dear Sir,
I read with interest the article by John McLernon on mission strategy (en, May 2017); he presented well some of the challenges and competing claims that we experience as we aim to remain faithful to our calling to make disciples in a rapidly changing world.
As a minor point I would take issue with his reference to the well-known ‘quotation’ from St Francis of Assisi: ‘Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.’ The problem is that it seems unlikely that Francis ever said this; apparently until comparatively recently there are no references to it at all. On the contrary he preached – verbally – himself, and trained his followers to preach the Word. The nearest there seems to be is a statement that ‘All the Friars … should preach by their deeds’; taking this in context it is simply probably repeating the exhortation we have to live our lives worthy of the calling we have received.
Of course the truth of any statement of this sort is not dependant on who said it, but on whether or not it is in line with the Scriptures. Having said that, quotations are used powerfully in writing and in preaching. Particularly as this misquotation is often used by those who take a different slant on the importance of the Word from most en read-ers, it’s useful to be able to point out that it is almost certainly just that, a misquotation.
In Christ,
