Hearing
Read Romans 10:14-21.
We live in an unprecedented age of words for the church. Never before in history have there been so many words about so many things. We have books, television programs, articles, newspapers and magazines, blogs (lots of words there), podcasts, sermons...on and on the list could go. Words about words, words about Jesus, words about words about Jesus.
At the same time, we live in an unprecedented age of unbelief. Most of us have heard the survey that touts how the fastest growing "faith" community are the "nones"—those who claim "none" as their faith. (Some folks argue with the conclusion that the church is declining. What is happening, they say, is that those who were nominal to begin with are actually being honest about their lack of involvement in their former faith.)
In an age of voluminous words, why do we have such fragile faith?
Paul would say it's because faith doesn't come from speaking (or writing or singing). Faith doesn't come from mere words. Faith comes by hearing—hearing the words spoken about Christ, "hearing" the life lived for Christ, hearing the song of the Savior Jesus Christ. For whatever reason (and reasons are best discerned by people a whole lot smarter than me), those around us are not "hearing" about faith in Jesus from us. For all practical purposes, the church is silent.
Now, it's easy to point to scandals in the church, prominent persons who have "fallen away" from the faith, or arguments within the church itself—but faith comes by hearing, Paul says. Faith comes when people hear the true story of Jesus from the lips of and through the lives of those who follow him. Rather than point at others or despair over the situation, perhaps our calling is simply to tell someone about Jesus and what he has done for us.
Because faith comes by hearing the word about Christ.
We live in an unprecedented age of words for the church. Never before in history have there been so many words about so many things. We have books, television programs, articles, newspapers and magazines, blogs (lots of words there), podcasts, sermons...on and on the list could go. Words about words, words about Jesus, words about words about Jesus.
At the same time, we live in an unprecedented age of unbelief. Most of us have heard the survey that touts how the fastest growing "faith" community are the "nones"—those who claim "none" as their faith. (Some folks argue with the conclusion that the church is declining. What is happening, they say, is that those who were nominal to begin with are actually being honest about their lack of involvement in their former faith.)
In an age of voluminous words, why do we have such fragile faith?
Paul would say it's because faith doesn't come from speaking (or writing or singing). Faith doesn't come from mere words. Faith comes by hearing—hearing the words spoken about Christ, "hearing" the life lived for Christ, hearing the song of the Savior Jesus Christ. For whatever reason (and reasons are best discerned by people a whole lot smarter than me), those around us are not "hearing" about faith in Jesus from us. For all practical purposes, the church is silent.
Now, it's easy to point to scandals in the church, prominent persons who have "fallen away" from the faith, or arguments within the church itself—but faith comes by hearing, Paul says. Faith comes when people hear the true story of Jesus from the lips of and through the lives of those who follow him. Rather than point at others or despair over the situation, perhaps our calling is simply to tell someone about Jesus and what he has done for us.
Because faith comes by hearing the word about Christ.
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