Romans 1:14 (ESV)
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the
wise and to the foolish.
Paul’s deep desire was to take the gospel where it had not gone.
For the Jews there were two groups of people in the world, Jews and Gentiles.
For the Greeks there were also two groups of people in the world, Greeks and barbarians,
wise and foolish, educated and sophisticated, or uneducated and unsophisticated. Paul passionately
wanted to proclaim the gospel to the Roman Church, but then to go west of Rome to
the barbarians beyond. In verse sixteen he says “I am not ashamed of the
gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” The
gospel is for everyone.
We have a natural tendency to judge people. This person
would make a great Christian. That one would never be open to the gospel. Our
judgments are almost always wrong. The “nice” people that we get along with are
sometimes the most unaware of their need for Christ. The “others” are sometimes
the most open if they first see the love and compassion of Christ in us. The
passion of Paul’s life was to take the gospel to the “others.”
From the Jewish perspective Rome was least likely to embrace the Jewish Messiah, and yet here was a church in Rome made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers. From Roman Christians’ perspective the barbarians were least likely to believe, yet Paul’s desire was to take the gospel to the barbarians. Both groups saw others as unacceptable outsiders. Who is your “other”? It may be another ethnicity, another religion, another social strata, another circle in society. When we recognize our “other,” may we begin to pray for them that their eyes might be opened to the gospel. We often feel most comfortable with “our people,” however you define that, but it is to the “others” that God had called Paul. Is it possible that God is calling you to reach out to the “others” in your life with the love of Christ and the Gospel of new life?
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