Would You Repeat That Please?

    Perhaps you have heard of the expression, "to reinvent the wheel."  The meaning is, "Do something again, from the beginning, especially in a needless or inefficient effort."  It is an expression that reminds us that there are some people who continually do the same thing even though it has already been done before.  In the Spiritual life, we have the central idea of preaching the Word of God over and over to those who have already heard it time and time again. I guess we are hoping that at some point it will really stick but that is a work of the Holy Spirit in that individual's life.  In the 1980's I became convicted about living in a small county of Virginia which had over 20 Gospel preaching churches for around 20,000 people.  At the same time, there was the situation in Spain where there was one church for a city of 200,000 people.  In my mind, there seemed to be a stronger need to help in an area with few workers, then to keep on doing the same thing to a group of people who seemed to be dead to the Gospel.   Romans 15:20 says, "Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:"  

     The Apostle Paul was one who didn't let the grass grow under his feet as he went from place to place with the Gospel message.  It was also evident that the people cared for him in places like Ephesus where when he left, the leaders fell on him with tears, probably very sad to see him go.  So, Paul was well liked in some places.  Paul had spent two years teaching in the school of Tyrannus but there came a time when he brought it to an end.  The verse for today reminds us that there were more people who had never heard the gospel and Paul was determined to go there and to bring them the message of salvation.  Paul didn't want to build on another person's foundation but wanted to start from scratch.  There is real excitement when you reach a person with the Gospel message who has never heard it before.  The "ho-hum" of the church becomes the "hallelujah" of the tribe in distant lands who have never heard the message before.  Preaching the gospel time and time again to those who have heard it and refused it often reminds me of trying to build on another's foundation.  There are those in our country who have never heard the gospel message.  We find that especially true even in some of our large cities with a large foreign population.  It was once reported that the city of Charlotte, North Carolina had over 3,000 french speaking Africans.  You didn't have to go to Africa as a missionary, you just had to cross the street or to go into the next neighborhood.  Look for those who have never heard.  You might be surprised where you find them.  Praise God today that He still has a message of hope and peace for the people of the world.