The whole practice of the Way, of following Jesus Christ, is essentially channeling Him. You can see this in Peter as he stands before Caiaphas and accuses him of Jesus' murder. You can see this in Paul, not only in his writings, but especially in his later years as he interacts with people. And you can see it in the first few weeks and months of the church after pentecost as they were all of a single mind and heart, parts of a body connected to a single head, as it were.
Our practice is to not say or do anything except what He says or does through us, just as He didn't say or do anything except what the Father said and did through Him. Just as He said, "I can't do anything at all from Myself," so also He said, "without Me you can't do anything at all." And in the ancient church of the first and second centuries it was understood that a person who wasn't living as He taught wasn't to be considered a Christian regardless of what came out of his mouth. That is, if you couldn't see and hear Jesus from this person, then he wasn't a disciple.
The power of the Gospel is more than just words, it is literally the Spirit of Christ taking over and living and expressing Jesus Christ out through us so that all around us can see and hear Him even though He wears our faces. Without this, without being able to see and hear Him through us, why should anyone follow or believe what we say? How is it different from any other religious belief without the Spirit of Christ making His presence known? As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, they would know the power behind his words when he came to them, and that he didn't initially come just speaking words of human wisdom.
This is the greatest problem and challenge in the churches today. People just aren't experiencing Him, seeing Him, or hearing Him from those who claim to belong to Him, and they're calling BS on it. There are too many today who "preach the Gospel," and simply don't see the need to actually follow Him or do anything He said. Thus we have situations like the many pastor scandals, the entertainment churches which, when viewed behind the curtain are full of very material and fleshly concerns, and those who "preach the Gospel" by arguing their own theology viciously and hatefully against others. They "preach the Gospel," but do not love, do not forgive, judge and condemn, and teach others to do the same through their actions if not their words. They "preach the Gospel," and prey on young women and even boys. They "preach the Gospel," while making themselves wealthy from their congregants. They "preach the Gospel" while enslaving their listeners under rules and moral codes which amount to another Law which Paul wrote those who are in the Spirit are not under. They "preach the Gospel," but have no idea what it means, or if they do, do not care.
You know when you've encountered Jesus Christ through someone, even if you don't make the connection at first. You never forget Him. So also should be all those through whom He lives His life. "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live but Christ lives within me..." This isn't a metaphor, but the summing up of what it means to be a Christian, not following rules and moral codes, but fully surrendering your words, actions, and thoughts to the Spirit of Jesus Christ with whom you have been made one thing rather than to your own neurological and psychological responses.
So, yes, absolutely preach the Gospel, but more importantly, be the Gospel.
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