Speak It Out, Write It Down

Author: Michael Gott

All true evangelists have a driving passion that is often overwhelming: a desire that others will come to know Christ.

You have been called and ordained by God. No one is an evangelist for Jesus who has not been ordained by the laying on of unseen hands! Remember then Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ words, "A man should only enter the Christian ministry if he cannot stay out of it." No evangelist that I have ever heard of applied for the job. We have been called, compelled, and commissioned by the Most High God to the work of evangelism.

I do believe most, if not all, who read these words would much rather preach or sing for nothing than not at all. You believe with me that the work of evangelism is the highest and the greatest and the most glorious calling in which anyone could ever be involved. Often you have praised and celebrated the name and fame of Jesus as one who has faithfully filled God’s chosen place of service for you. All that being true, you then passionately want to get the message into the hearts of as many as possible.

Primarily, your ministry in evangelism has been to stand and boldly proclaim or sing the Word. We realize that effectual evangelistic preaching is the dynamic release of a divine word that has first gripped the heart and the mind of the evangelist. But I lay before you another dimension to consider, and to do so, I will use a rather lengthy illustration from modern times.

It is probably provable that C. S. Lewis has in the last two centuries evangelized more people in the reasonableness of the Christian faith than Billy Graham or all the seminary professors in the world! The curious thing is that he has done this almost exclusively through his writing. Lewis, in fact, seldom spoke before large crowds and even then was not an electrifying speaker. In most cases, he was content to remain almost totally hidden. He was in some ways a recluse, an inconspicuous witness.

The scholarly professor lived a rather quiet life immersed in his books and writings. But C. S. Lewis was an evangelist through the written word, and he became the foremost apologist of Christ in all the twentieth century. And now well into the twenty-first, he is possibly more at the height of his influence than when he lived in England.

And how did it happen?-With a pen and paper! And often he literally hand wrote every word. No word processor, no personal computer - he wrote it sitting in his little white house outside of Oxford. He preached by his pen while sitting in a personal study of less than two hundred square feet.

Had he not written, it is likely we would have never heard of C. S. Lewis, and millions would have never considered Christ. Yet today there are more books written about him than those he wrote himself. It is amazing to consider the results.

He wrote to all classes and kinds - the child and the adult, the seeker and the agnostic, and the most conservative person and the most liberal. Today his writings are still literally devoured by all kinds of people world-wide.

He wrote with reflection, with reason, and with purpose. No evangelist ever hit the pure vein of truth any better. What he says rings true for time and eternity. Even now his audience grows daily. God alone knows all the conversions.

C. S. Lewis died in 1963. Now, over forty years later, he is eagerly sought for again and again. Conversely, Whitefield, the great evangelist, bemoaned the fact, as he realized his lifespan would be short, that he had left so little in print.

The English word "evangelism" is derived from a Greek term meaning literally "to bring or spread good news." It is impossible, therefore, to talk about lasting effective evangelism without considering the role of the written witness.

Our problem is that often evangelists are such activists that we feel it a pain to sit down and discipline ourselves to pen and paper. Our first goal in evangelism is to lead people to Jesus; the work of evangelism is to witness of Jesus. So that, the true incentive of evangelism is to bring glory to God. But if we only speak, our witness is over unless we leave something that outlives us. What is more powerful or penetrating than words written not with the power of human personality but with the anointing of the Spirit of God?

Think with me, how many times has your heart been stirred by something you read? Only last night I had a kind of personal revival from my late night reading just before I went to sleep. This morning the words still burn in my heart. It was a well-worn book that stimulated it! Words written many years ago. The author has been dead for a century, yet he still speaks. Remember those words,

. . . he still speaks, even though he is dead. Hebrews 11:4

How can we deny the role of literary evangelism? Read the Gospels and Paul. In Job we read,

Oh, that my words were written! Job 19:23

Therefore, consider this essay a personal challenge from God to you at this moment in your life.

Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord. Psalm 102:18

Just imagine the possibilities.

So I plead that you write. And not just putting sermons into print, although there is a place for that; but sermons were prepared to be spoken, and writing is a totally different form altogether. I once read James S. Stewart, the great Scottish preacher, saying that he intended his writings to not sound too much like the faint echo of a spoken sermon. The same truths certainly but presented in a totally different format. What sounds good does not always read well. Write the gospel message in a format that is designed for thoughtful reading.

While it is true that in many cases the truth will be more effectively communicated by the living voice than by the printed page; nevertheless, what ministry the written word has had in the lives of millions! The written word is often "the living and abiding voice." Your sermon is a shooting star; your writing is the moon!

So remember, spoken words have their weakness too! They are an arrow shot while the written word can be read over and over, contemplated, and the truth considered twice and twice more and inextricably lodged in the subconscious part of memory. And with God’s touch on them they may never be consciously remembered or verbally quoted, but they are still there in the memory.

An uneducated maid was ill, and her mind wandered during a high fever. In that condition, amazingly she began to quote a great length of words she had read. Someone recognized it to be Spurgeon’s sermon purchased by the owner for a penny the month before. The simple servant girl had read it probably several times, and in that fevered condition it poured out of her mouth as if she herself were the preacher! Oh, the power of the written word even on a simple servant girl.

God conceived the gospel. He gave it its contents. He displayed it in the person of Jesus. But then He published it. The fact that He committed it to the printed page should arrest our thought. Through the ages God has guarded the written Word and sent His Spirit to bear witness of Christ through it. John 15:27 literally says,

And you also will bear witness . . .John 15:27

or, you will do the same.

So, forever speak it out, but also write it down! Write it in well reasoned and persuasive words. Because you believe the gospel is vital, be not afraid to engage the world using the written word.

Do not be totally fulfilled because you have proclaimed the message. Write it down for coming generations! Discipline yourself to marshal your arguments, to declare, support, and defend the truth. Write it seeking to convince and convert. Make it plain and, like Luke, with many "persuasive" words convince the reader, always remembering as you write, that human argument is no substitute for the work of the Holy Spirit. But write, nonetheless, trusting the Spirit of God to drive your words into hearts and minds and to place those written words before someone who would never listen to you preach.

Written words and the Holy Spirit are an explosive combination. Those words can be used to bring people to faith in Jesus in spite of the passing of time and the uniqueness of circumstances. Often in unpredictable ways He opens the minds to attend the truth presented from words written.

As evangelists we must remember that the gospel is not primarily an invitation to men to do anything. It is a declaration of what God has done in Christ on the cross for their salvation. So, tell it plainly; people must grasp the truth. The written word does that in a way that a spoken sermon may not.

We must admit that much of the lack of lasting decisions in our evangelistic ministry is due to the fact that emotions have been deeply stirred while the mind has never been adequately engaged. Therefore, write to engage both the mind and heart.

Through your writings consider it a privilege to testify to and for Jesus Christ. Write defending Him, commending Him, and bringing before your reading audience evidence and truth which must be considered before the historic Christ can become the personal Christ. Dare to do it!

So if God leads you to write, write as an evangelist, and through your writings you will never hold your peace for ages to come!

Write "with the finger of God" (Exodus 31:18). Have your mind prepared and write "with the pen of a ready writer." (Psalm 45:1) Therefore, write it down!

Now back to "evangelist" C. S. Lewis. The biography written on his remarkable life was entitled The Authentic Voice, but other than his BBC radio broadcast talks he was no spoken voice at all. Yet his "authentic voice" is known to millions through his books.

In his writings, most of which were evangelistic or apologetic in nature, he emerges as an active, energetic messenger of Christ, full of deep wisdom and humility. His words have life in them.

Through his books, this reluctant literary evangelist, who was never sure that he was effective, gave his whole heart and mind to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. His pen was "the authentic voice;" could it be so with you?

And he still speaks today - because he paid the price and wrote it down!

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