Proclaim Christ Boldly (Romans 10:14–17)

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
– Romans 10:14–17

We pray every day on this podcast for unreached people around the world. And I am convinced that most Christians in the United States don’t realize there are three billion people who are unreached by the gospel. Three billion people who don’t have a Christian or a church near them who can share the gospel with them.

Either people don’t realize that, or Christians think that those three billion people are going to be okay when they die. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for why we are not talking in the Church about unreached people all the time. Surely we don’t believe or realize there are three billion people who have never heard the gospel.

Romans 10:14–17 reminds us of the urgency of the gospel.

Three billion people are on a road that leads to eternal suffering. And we’re doing nothing about that. Or it’s just kind of a program in the Church for a few people who actually care about that. Three billion people, whom Romans makes clear, are separated from God by their sin. People who are on a road that leads to eternal judgment, and have never heard the gospel. I’m convinced that’s why the Book of Romans was written. And it’s summarized here in these verses that I just read.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. The only way those three billion people can be saved from their sins is if they hear about Jesus. If somebody tells them about Jesus. This is why Paul writes, “How can they hear unless someone shares with them? How can they believe if they’ve never heard? How can they call on Him if they’ve not believed in Him?”

The only way they can hear and be saved from their sins is if somebody goes and tells them. Three billion people, thousands of people groups; we just pray for one of them each day. Some of them represent millions of people. There are that many people who’ve never heard the gospel. It’s not that they’ve heard it and rejected it. They don’t even have access to it. They don’t have somebody who can share it with them.

Romans 10:14–17 calls us to rearrange our lives to meet the urgent need.

Surely that’s not just for a few people to care about. This is for every follower of Jesus to pray about. This is why we pray about this every day on this podcast. But this is not something we should just pray about. We should seek to spend our lives spreading this good news to them. This doesn’t mean everybody’s supposed to pack their bags and move to one of these places.

But it does mean we’re supposed to rearrange our lives. We should rearrange the way we use our money, resources, and time to get the gospel to them. And that we should all be open to however God wants to use our lives to reach them. Even if that means packing our bags and moving, or if that means going on a short-term trip. Even if that means going to study there. I think about all the opportunities for students to study among the unreached. I think about all the opportunities for students who are getting degrees to have doors open to work among unreached people.

Oh God, we pray you to help us to hear Your Word and live accordingly. Help us to see this reality of billions of people today who have little to no knowledge of the gospel. And God, we pray for deep conviction from Your Word and Your Holy Spirit in our hearts, that if they don’t hear, they can’t be saved, exactly what Your Word is saying here.

This verse calls us to use our time and resources to get the gospel to the unreached.

And God, we know You want them to be saved. We want them as Your people to be saved from their sins. So God, help us. Use our praying. Help us to give, help us to go around us as You bring people from unreached parts of the world, to our neighborhoods, to our college campuses, to our communities. Help us to share the gospel with the nations right around us.

And God, we pray over each of our lives, help us to do whatever You’re calling us to do, to give whatever You’re calling us to give, to go wherever You’re calling us to go, to spend our lives while we’ve got breath on this planet in making the good news known. How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news, making the good news of Your love known through all the gifts, skills, degrees, and opportunities we have to make Your good news known among all the nations.

God, we pray, help us as Your Church to be faithful, to do what You’ve called us to do, to make disciples of all the nations, and to see the part that every one of us has to play in that. I pray that over every single person listening right now who is praying with me right now. God, may we all play whatever part You’re calling us to play in the spread of Your grace and Your glory among all the nations.

A Prayer for the Susu People

And so, yes, we intercede right now for the Susu people of West Africa, specifically Sierra Leone, but also Senegal and Molly and Guinea, for 2.9 million men, women, and children who have little to no knowledge of the gospel. Please God, may they hear, believe, and call Your Name according to Romans 10, and may they be saved. We pray for the Susu people and thousands of other people groups like them, for billions of people in the world.

God help us as Your Church to faithfully do everything You’re calling us to do, to reach the nations with the gospel, with the unique gifts, skills, and opportunities You’ve entrusted to each one of us. We pray this in Jesus’ Name and with gratitude for those who’ve worked to get the gospel to us. Help us to be faithful to do that for others, for the nations in Jesus’ name, according to Your Word. Amen.