Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)
If highly resistant people are to come to glorify God, they must at some point hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
Our culture doesn’t place much value on words: A picture is worth a thousand words. When Gutenberg invented the printing press, a whole culture was formed around the power of written words. But our online culture today is formed around the power of images.
Words and pictures are both powerful means of communication. Pictures have the power of impact. That is why they are so effective in advertising. Words have the power of content. That is why they are so important in communicating the gospel.
Pictures can tell a story or establish a mood but they cannot present a case or make an argument. For that you need words. One communications expert demonstrated the power of words by asking his students to communicate the following simple statements in pictures:
- The cat was on the mat.
- The cat likes to be on the mat.
- The cat should not be on the mat.
Now take that and apply it to the gospel:
- Jesus died on the cross.
- Jesus died on the cross for your sins.
- The Jesus who died for your sins calls you to repent of them.
You cannot communicate this in pictures. The only way to communicate it is by words. It is not enough to say, “My life speaks of Jesus!” The message must be put into words.
Do you think it is enough to say, “My life speaks of Jesus!”?
