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LIVING LIFE, SOWING SEEDS
BY PASTOR TERRY TOWNSEND
BUT HOW CAN THEY CALL ON HIM TO SAVE THEM UNLESS THEY BELIEVE IN HIM? AND HOW CAN THEY BELIEVE IN HIM IF THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD ABOUT HIM? AND HOW CAN THEY HEAR ABOUT HIM UNLESS SOMEONE TELLS THEM?
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ROMANS 10:14 (NLT)
Reading Romans 10:14, we see Paul asking three rhetorical questions with three apparent answers.
THEY CAN’T:
• Call on God to save them if they don’t believe in Him.
• Believe in Him until they hear about Him.
• Hear about Him until another person tells them about Him.
Back in the 1980s, when I was a student ministries pastor, this verse began to make sense to me. I realized that way too much of my time was spent with people who believed like me. These people were my tribe. We spoke the same language. It was comfortable for me. But all of a sudden, ‘comfortable’ wasn’t good enough. My comfort had to change if I was going to make a difference. I saw the need to become uncomfortable with my life, uncomfortable enough to put a world map on my wall and start praying for the entire world.
I can’t tell you exactly how it happened, but within three years, our family was on the way to Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. And I knew God was leading us there!
Fast-forward 30 years: I had just turned 60. Lila and I were speaking at a convention and arranged to have lunch with a friend Lila had grown up with. She lived in a beautiful high-rise, riverfront building with amazing views. It seemed like she had it all!
As we talked, the conversation lagged, and it became apparent that she was blind to the beauty around her. She just seemed empty. After finishing lunch, we drove away with Lila grieving over the friend she now barely recognized.
I was agitated as I turned to Lila and said, “We’ve got to live our lives purposefully! I will write a personal vision statement for the rest of my life.” It was the wake-up call I needed.
Over the next few days, I struggled to put my thoughts into words, finally writing, “Because the Gospel is for everyone, I will live to take it to those who don’t have access to it.” Since that day, these words have encouraged me, sometimes corrected me, and constantly challenged me to improve. Even as I write this, I realize how short I’ve fallen.
Moving Forward
Have you created a personal vision statement? If not, I challenge you to write your own. If you’re anything like me, it will help to keep you on track.
