False Dichotomies, Part Four

The fourth on Chris Wright's list of false dichotomies we create is our tendency to separate word and deed, or proclamation and demonstration, and to prioritize the first. But again, both are essential and integral to the presentation of the gospel, and to bringing about the obedience of faith among all nations. This is clear from Paul’s own practice: in Romans 15 he reflects on his whole missionary work and speaks of "what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the nations to obey God, by word and deed and by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. (Rom. 5:18-19).

In his letters he constantly emphasizes the evangelistic power of "doing good" (he mentions it 7 times in Titus, encouraging slaves in doing good so that they can "adorn the teaching about God our Saviour" - ie. Their good deeds make the evangelistic message more likely to be effective by being more attractive. Peter speaks about "doing good" 10 times in 1 Peter, and again links it to evangelistic effectiveness (e.g. for believing wives of unbelieving husbands). Jesus too speaks of the ‘light’ of good works, drawing people to God the Father.

The bad result of this separation is that our evangelistic efforts are sometimes derided by the world, because people discern the hypocrisy of those who talk a lot but whose lives don’t support what they say. Lack of integrity in this area has been identified by various researches as the major obstacle to the acceptance of the message of the gospel.