"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 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? ...And how shall they preach, except they be sent? Romans 10:13-15
To be saved, the following must happen: one must call on the name of the Lord, but how shall one call on the one that he has not believed on? But how shall they believe without hearing? And how shall they hear without a preacher? How will a preacher go if he is not sent?
The process of bringing the gospel to the sinner begins with having a sender, then it is followed by a preacher preaching. The sinner then hears the gospel message and believes; upon believing, he then calls upon the Lord and he is saved. But what if the preacher is not sent? Then the sinner is cut off from the message because how shall they believe if they do not hear, and since faith comes by hearing the message of the gospel, it becomes obvious how important both the sender and preacher are.
Are you called to send those that are called to go? Esteem your calling highly, because what you do with it can determine the eternal welfare of a sinner. God designed the gospel in such a way that it involves all who are saved to bring it to the lost. For many people in the church, the work of soul winning is the exclusive responsibility of the preacher, but the truth is that all of us are called to it in one way or the other. Some are called to go, while others are called to send. It is absurd when the preacher is left with the responsibility to both go and send himself. This is not the model for spreading the gospel of the kingdom of God. We do great disservice to the cause of God's kingdom when we hold back from sending the preacher who is called to go.
If we are thinking correctly about the reason why God blesses us, we cannot but see that part of that reason is for the sake of the gospel of the kingdom of God. So you see, the sender and 'goer' are both essential in God's design of spreading the gospel. When we all come to this realization, spreading the gospel will become less cumbersome.
Toni
