If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast of an obligation that has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it.
This line always hits me as a priest because of my obligation to preach, but I think it is very appropriate for all of us. All who are baptized are given the same commandments to preach the kingdom of God to all people. To take the gospel to everywhere, you go. And so, I can say the same thing to you, “Woe to you, if you do not preach the gospel.”
Let me give you a few examples of what I mean by that.
I have a friend that is a doctor, and he is a primary care doctor. In his office, he has a stack of Bibles. Anytime someone comes into his office (e.g., a patient, a drug rep, or anyone he may be working with throughout the day), he asks them, “Do you have a Bible?”
Sometimes people look awkwardly at him and say, “No, I’m here to see a doctor.”
He tells them, “But the Bible is the most important thing.” So, he hands out Bibles to Catholics or non-Catholics or drug reps or anybody that doesn’t have a Bible. He hands them a Bible. The next thing he says is “Do you know how to use it?”
And if they don’t know how to use it, he’ll open up the Bible for them and show them how to read and pray from the Bible. Then he hosts his own Bible teaching gatherings. Once a week or once a month, he’ll gather together with people that want to gather, and they’ll study the Bible together. I think that’s awesome.
Here’s a doctor, this primary care doctor, who’s preaching the gospel. He’s evangelizing to all the patients that come into his office.
I go to a gas station in Madison only because they have scripture passages on their sign every day for people to see. Just inspiring scripture passages. I am impressed that this gas station owner is preaching the gospel. He’s doing it.
These are just a couple of examples of people that are preaching the gospel in their environment. Regardless of whatever they may be doing for work or whatever they may be doing in their day-to-day routines, they found a way to preach the gospel.
That is true for all of us. We are called to preach the gospel. We’re entrusted with this great gift. It’s not a reason for us to boast as Paul says; however, we realize that because we have been baptized, we also have an obligation imposed on us.
We have this obligation to preach the gospel, and woe to us if we don’t do it.
So, it’s kind of easy for me as a priest because that’s part of my vocation, but all of us are called to do that in some way. And so, I just invite you to think about that.
How could you be a part of preaching the gospel in your daily life either at work, at home, or whatever you do?
Maybe there’s some group you can start up at work. Maybe there’s some card or prayer that you can just hand out.
Here’s a great one. I have a police officer friend who used to work for the SWAT team. He’s a huge guy and looks very intimidating. When he pulls people over for a speeding ticket, he always puts his arm on the car door so that his tattoos of Mary and St. Michael the Archangel can be seen.
He puts his arm on their door, and he says to them, “First of all, are you Catholic?” The person might say yes. If they say yes, he asks, “Do you regularly go to church on Sunday?” If they say no, he says, “Alright, I’ll let you off with this ticket, but you have to go to confession.”
I asked, “Are you allowed to do that?” He said, “Doesn’t matter if I’m allowed to do it. I’m supposed to do that. I’m evangelizing.” He’s right. He has a point.
So, all of us can do this in our daily lives. I just invite you to think about how you can do it in simple ways.
How can you evangelize and actually bring the gospel to people in your life, to your workplace, and ultimately, to the world?
Image credit: Robert Couse-Baker
