Why preach?

Why preach? Romans 10:14-21.

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? Romans 10:14-15 (NKJV)

In every part of the world there is a large push to not preach about God. Not only do some not want to hear about God, they do not want others to hear about God either. God is being expelled from the classroom, banished from the courtroom, and erased from society. With such an intense effort to silence the preacher, it is even more important that it does not silence us as Christians.

When the gospel is not shared, generations of people can be skipped over and a godless generation breeds more godless people; therefore it is important that Christians continue to share, preach, teach, and send missionaries thought the world. How can people believe in God if there is no one preaching the gospel?

In Paul's day there was much pressure not to preach and Christians were threatened, beaten, jailed, and stoned to death. To some extent it was Jews that caused troubles for Christians, yet they learned to distance themselves from trouble by prompting the Romans to do the dirty work impressing on them that Christians seek a greater king than Caesar. Just like today, people worked hard to silence Christians and many Christians allowed themselves to be silenced.

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!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:16-17 (NKJV)

Some Christians have excuses for not sharing the gospel; some say that they do not feel called to do share with others or say that they have trouble not knowing what to say. Others feel scared to suffer ridicule and some worry that people will not like them. Can you see God accepting these excuses when His own son suffered death to save people?

When worried about sharing your faith, it is important that you focus on how much you please the Father when doing so. It is easy to count negatives, yet a positive approach will keep you sharing where ever you are.

Why would people turn down an offer of eternal riches? Why would people not want to enter into the pearly gates? Why would people not want help and to hear solutions to their problems? If the gospel is shared sincerely, just interest alone will draw people to know more.

But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: "Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world." But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says:"I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation." Romans 10:18-19 (NKJV)

But Isaiah is very bold and says: "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me." But to Israel he says: "All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people." Romans 10:20-21 (NKJV)

God so loved us that He decided to forgive sin, while we were yet sinners. He also came to us; we did not have to go to Him. In most cases, people were not looking for Him when they were presented the good news that Jesus saves from sin, and they responded favorably.

When Christ shared with others, He did so in parables or stories; therefore if we are going "to be like Christ" (Christians) then we can start by learning the stories He told and finding how to tell them to others. This is a great way to open the doors and get people's attention.

Everyone can tell a story; stories about our lives we talk about all the time. Remembering back to a moment of our life brings us joy; not that it brings everyone else joy to hear it, but it brings us joy as we relive the moment as we tell it. Yet we become so good at telling those stories, people listen and from them friendships are built.

Now in these stories that Jesus told, there is one in particular that relates to Christians and our responsibility to share with others.

An estate owner traveled to a far country and before going called his servants together and gave to them money to keep his business running. One of the servants took a large amount of money and invested in trading and doubled the money. Another got aggressive and with the little he was given also doubled the money. Yet there was third servant who put the money away just to protect the money.

Then came the day the estate owner returned from his trip and found that two of his servants did as they were told and doubled his money. The estate owner was no so astounded about getting his money back as much as finding that he had servants that could work unsupervised. He announced to them that he would now allow them rule more of his estate and proportioned the rule based upon the amount they were originally given.

Then the last servant brought the money back to the estate owner and gave it back, he explained that he was worried about losing the money so he put it away. This meant that the servant basically did not work at all. He coasted by without becoming involved; which makes you wonder what did he do while the estate owner was gone?

The estate owner became very anger and called the servant wicked and lazy and accused him of living off the estate and doing no work. "You could at least go to a banker and invested the money and then bring to me my money with interest, but you did nothing" said the estate owner.

So grabbing the money back from the servant and giving it to the profitable servant, the story Jesus told ends; yet, Jesus goes on to say ,'For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Mathew 25:29-30 (NKJV)

To us, Christians, have been given the keys of the kingdom, resources of great number and a command to go into the world and preach the gospel. These riches we are to get busy with and manage His kingdom while He is away. To us, a day of accountability is coming and in this story Jesus told, He forewarns Christians that it is intended for them by mentioning the threat of outer darkness.

We all must preach in the world that we live and whatever resources we have been given, we are to use. We can think big and go big, receiving great reward or we can stay small and receive small rewards. However, there is much at stake and in this story Jesus lets us know that in heaven what we do will be measured. There is much at stake and if we do nothing, we will be treated as unprofitable servants.