Romans 15:14-21 "Those Who Have Never Been Told"

Romans 15:14-21 (NRSV)

​¹⁴I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. ¹⁵Nevertheless on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God ¹⁶to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. ¹⁸For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, ¹⁹by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. ²⁰Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else's foundation, ²¹but as it is written,
"Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand."

Observation: Paul wraps up his letter to Roman Christians by saying he is confident in their ability to teach the faith to one another. He now expresses his sense of a call to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to people who have never heard of him. 

Application: It is way too easy as a Christian, and even easier as a congregation, to become inwardly focused. When change happens, we think first, "how does this affect me?" When we're discussing important group choices, we think first, "How will our members feel about this? How does this serve their needs and interests? Will we get complaints? What if they decide to stop worshiping or stop giving? What about the financial future of our church?" We can fall a long way down the rabbit hole of worry and anxiety before we start to examine these thoughts and recognize them for what they are: distractions. 

Mind you, every congregation should make consensus-driven decisions. You need to agree as a group about how best to serve your mission. But if you are a church, and you accept Jesus' Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations," then your mission is not to please the people who are already part of your church. Your mission is to share Jesus with people outside of your church. People who don't know him or have a relationship with him. Yes, you need to trust and care for each other to do that. But you don't have to devote you entire focus to making each other comfortable. That's what clubs do. The Church is not a club. It's a movement. We exist to benefit those outside ourselves. 

Prayer: God, focus our eyes, our hearts, and our minds on those who desperately need your peace, your love, your grace. Give us the ability to tune out distractions as we seek to share you with those who most need to hear.