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"If their words are to enter men's hear ts and bear fruit, they must be the
right words shaped cunningly to pass men's defenses and explode silently
and effectually within their minds. This means in practice turning a face of
flint toward the easy cliche, the well-worn religious cant and phraseology,
dear, no doubt, to the faithful but utterly meaningless to those outside
the fold. It means learning how people are thinking and how they are
feeling; it means learning with patience, imagination and ingenuity the
way to pierce apathy or blank lack of understanding. I sometimes wonder
what hours of prayer and thought lie behind the apparently simple
and spontaneous parables of the Gospels. It is not enough for us who
are preachers or writers to give an adequate performance before the
eyes and ears of our fellow writers and preachers; instead we have the
formidable task of reconciling the Word of truth with the thought-forms
of a people estranged from God; interpreting without changing or diluting
the essential Word."
-VCG, 1954
"Because we loved you so much, we were
delighted to share with you not only the
gospel of God but our lives as well."
- 1 Thessalonians 2:8
