“So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.” (v. 17)

Y’all remember what they used to tell us in church? Back in the 1900s?

“If you just live your life differently—if you quietly honor God—then people will become curious. They’ll wonder, and they’ll ask, ‘What makes them so different?’”

It’s a cute idea.

And, yes, people of faith and integrity and generosity and hope are generally attractive.

But some of y’all have been waiting thirty years for someone to ask you about “what makes you so different”—and you’ve missed countless opportunities to actually do the thing God uses for their salvation.

Which is TELL THEM.

Romans 10 reminds us that, as with Israel, not everyone who hears will believe. But it also tells us that everyone who believes believes because they heard! Faith comes by hearing, and hearing specifically the message about Christ.

You should keep living to honor Him (obviously). But stop presuming that your cleaned-up life is the only witness they need. They need the witness of your words!

That’s a big ask, I know.

May we remember that it is the singular ask of the Great Commission.

— Tyler