Hal Chaffee Ministries

(Watch the corresponding sermon here: https://www.youtube.com/live/eMNyMER6AqA?si=Q4HKZON_bwHbwEmN)

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace – Ephesians 6:15

As a father of seven, I often tell my children to get ready for school in the mornings. Sometimes they reply, “I am ready!” But then I see that they have no shoes on their feet. My response is, “How can you be ready without your shoes?”

Shoes imply readiness. No one is ready to go anywhere without shoes, especially not to battle. In describing the Armor of God, Paul tells us to put on our feet the ‘preparation of the gospel of peace.’ The key word here is ‘preparation’ or ‘readiness,’ as some other translations put it. We are to be, and live, ready.

We all know what it is like to fail to be prepared for something. Sometimes we overestimate our abilities and go unprepared for this or that. As a preacher, I know the pain of going unprepared to the pulpit. Early in my preaching days, I had times when I approached the stage without properly being prepared to give a sermon. And, I will tell you, the only thing worse than listening to an unprepared sermon is preaching one! I’ve had several instances on the stage where I wished to be under a rock in some desert rather than on stage before the people of God trying to finish a sermon that I wasn’t prepared to preach. And many of you have had similar experiences, perhaps in public speaking or perhaps in other areas. Perhaps you were not prepared for a meeting, or a job interview, or for a test. We know the pain of walking through something we haven’t properly prepared for. However, there can be no worse thing to be unprepared for than war. When one is unprepared for war, not only is his own life at risk, but the lives of those he has sworn to protect. If I fail to prepare for a sermon, I may suffer loss at my church, but if I fail to prepare for battle, the losses could be my family and my own soul. Being prepared for spiritual battle is not an option for us. The stakes are too high.

What do we need to be ready to do?

The Bible says that our feet are to be shod with the ‘readiness of the gospel of peace.’ These shoes are a part of our defense against the devil and his demons. If we fail to ‘wear’ them and use them, we are making ourselves an easy target.

What are these shoes? They represent a ‘readiness,’ but a readiness to do what? Scholars differ on what they think this passage means exactly, but I believe Paul leaves us a key clue to understanding what he was seeking to communicate. He doesn’t just say the readiness of the gospel, but the readiness of the gospel of peace. In another letter, he used the same phrase. It also has a connection to feet:

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! – Romans 10:15

The connection between the two verses seems undeniable to me. Perhaps as Paul was observing the Roman soldier before him as he was imprisoned for Christ, he saw his feet and exclaimed, “How beautiful the feet of those who bring the gospel of peace!” Therefore, a readiness to preach and share the gospel should be an important part of our Christian armory.

Sharing the gospel as a defense

Sharing the gospel is essential to our health as a Christian. We are all called to be disciple-makers. This doesn’t mean that we will all be preachers or teachers, or that we will lead small-group bible studies, but it does mean that we should be a part of the process of disciple-making. For many, it simply means that we live out our faith in our daily grind, taking and making opportunities to share Christ with our co-workers and neighbors. It is impossible to love our neighbor as ourselves if we have no desire or willingness to lead them to Christ. How can we love our neighbor and allow him to be plunged into hell with no word of exhortation or warning? I don’t mean that we should be fanatics, for we would only achieve the opposite of our goal. But we should be wise fishers of men, casting our nets with skill and patience, listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we do it.

Being active in sharing our faith is a defense against apathy and apostasy. The reason for this is two-fold. First, fulfilling the Great Commission is a command of scripture. To disobey the commands of Christ is a woeful step in the wrong direction. How can we claim to be His disciple or friend if we do not do what He commands? It is our sacred duty to take the medicine of the gospel to a sick and dying world. Who won’t condemn the doctor who fails to bring the cure when he has it in his hand? Likewise, there will be condemnation for the person who fails to warn the wicked of his sinful ways:

When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. – Ezekiel 33:8-9

Jesus said that we are either with Him or against Him, either we gather with Him or scatter abroad (Matthew 12:30). Either we are gathering souls with Christ in fulfillment of the Great Commission, or we are a hindrance. The Bible doesn’t leave room for neutral ground.

Secondly, the act of sharing the gospel keeps us sharp and growing. When we step out of our comfort zone to make the gospel known, we will either win or learn. We certainly won’t always win, for many will not accept Christ no matter what we say or do. But every time we share Christ we glorify our God and give ourselves an opportunity to grow in our faith. The more we do it, the more we will learn how others think and how best to answer questions. We will discover objections that will drive us to our knees and to our studies, looking for answers. It will help us become robust in our faith, and able to defend the faith with confidence. The scriptures exhort us to do this:

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; – 1 Peter 3:15

Moving forward is a great defense. A great offense is a great defense, as they say. We aren’t to strap shoes to our feet so that we might sit, but that we might stand and move forward. Our armor is not equipped for long-distance battle. We are given a sword, not a bow. We are to look the devil in the eye and slice him with the sword of the spirit. The devil, however, is equipped with a bow, shooting firey darts. The best defense against projectiles is to keep moving; it’s hard to hit a moving target. Those who are sitting on their rear ends, doing nothing to further the gospel, are easy pickings for Satan.

How do we share the gospel?

Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. – Acts 8:4

It wasn’t just apostles and evangelists who were preaching the word, it was ordinary Christians taking the word of God everywhere they went. In Acts chapter eight, the disciples were scattered because of persecution, with no organized leadership. As far as we know, no one had been ordained to be a pastor or evangelist at this point, the only appointed leaders were the deacons, and they were appointed to serve tables, not to preach. But we see that the people and the deacons went and preached. I don’t mean that they all stood on soap boxes in the middle of the town square. Some did, but most simply shared Christ with whoever crossed their path, whether it be a business associate, a neighbor, or someone they met in the marketplace. They were living missionally in all that they did.

A great example of this is Aquila and Priscilla. They were tentmakers, but we see that they were so active in ministry that they attracted the attention of Paul. And because they were so knowledgeable in the Way, they helped Apollos better understand the gospel. (See Acts 18)

The consensus among early Church scholars is that it was ordinary people who facilitated the great spread of the gospel in the first few hundred years of Christianity. They simply lived their faith and talked about their Jesus. Their lives were so exemplary and their love so deep that it shook the world. They let their light shine, just as Jesus commanded them to:

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:16

We should be preaching the gospel in two ways. First, we should live by the Spirit in such a way that our lives bear testimony to the truth of Jesus. Christians should be known by their love:

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. – Jesus (John 13:35)

Our good deeds should preach a message loud and clear that we are cut from a different cloth, that this world is not our home, and that people are more important than profit.

having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. – 1 Peter 2:12

Secondly, we must use words to preach the gospel. I put this second not because it is less important, but because we must have the first before we have the second. If our actions and temperament are in opposition to the gospel, our words will only push people away from Christ, not closer to Him.

At the college campus, we sometimes run into preachers there whom we call the ‘flame throwers.’ They usually have signs in bright colors outlining sins committed by college students. They scream and holler at students, calling them wicked and evil, often berating them. They don’t realize that they are doing more harm than good, even if some of the things they say are technically true.

I don’t mean to say that we must build a relationship with someone before we share the gospel with them. I don’t believe that at all. But the words we speak should come from a heart of love and compassion, even if they are somewhat biting.

But let me not fail to emphasize that we must use words to preach the gospel. Preaching by the way we live is essential but not a replacement for using words. It is by the word of God that we are saved. If people never hear the word, how can they believe it? And if they don’t believe, how can they believe?

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” – Romans 10:14-15

Each of us, therefore, should be ready to preach by our actions and our words, not one or the other.

Conclusion

Our shoes must be firmly fastened to our feet, being ready to move at all times. We must be ready ‘in season and out of season’ to ‘preach the word’ (2 Timothy 4:2). This is a command of Christ, but also a defense against the devil. The Bible says we must ‘submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee’ (James 4:7). When we submit to God by taking our place in promoting the kingdom of God, then we can resist the devil. How can wrestle with him if we do not put our shoes on and join the battle? We have a sword, but he has a bow, shooting his fiery darts. If we sit still, we are an easy target. Our safest place is in the fight.