Romans 10:14

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?

Why would anyone listen to a preacher?

The answer is different for everyone but at the core the reason is the same.

Dissatisfaction.

Each of us has to come to grips with how we respond to dissatisfaction. We might not even know why we are dissatisfied. I can only answer for myself and the same goes for each one of us. What we are dissatisfied with is as varied as our experiences.

The issue for the preacher is to offer up a solution to one and only one problem, sin.

If a person is not caught in sin they might not see that sin is their problem. In fact the sin they seek to escape might not even be their own. It might be that of their abuser. Abusers are in every aspect of life seeking those that they can prey upon for their own needs.

The most sinister abuser fails at love. Those that cannot do it, cannot share it and will mask their agenda of abuse under words of love with empty promises. I call this the most sinister abuse because sometimes the abuser themselves do not know what they are doing to their victims. God loves us and if we have never been loved in any way how can we come to know the love of God having never been loved ourselves?

John 13:35

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

The success of the preacher is seen by how his flock loves one another. If a flock cannot love one another, why would a stranger want to join them?

It will never be a safe place for the abused to find help if we do not show them that we share a love they have never experienced for themselves.

The love of Christ abides in us, let it show.

Ephesians 3:19

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The only sound reason why any of us would seek to obey our Lord and Savior is because we love Him. That is a tall order to achieve for some of us because we have developed trust issues from failing to find love ourselves.

We all want to be loved and seeking it in this world has the inherent danger of trusting in someone who is not trustworthy. Coming to a place of trusting in Jesus Christ in the same way we trust another human is fraught with danger. This is because the faith to know Him is not an emotional journey it is a spiritual journey.

When we expect the wrong things we will be emotionally disappointed. This is why studying HIs Word and knowing what to expect of our Lord is so vital. Unrealistic expectations can only lead to disappointment and disappointment is the enemy of trust.

What exactly do we expect when we hear this passage that says we can hope to be filled with the fullness of God? What we expect must match what we know about God and what we know about God comes from two primary sources, what we are taught and what we have experienced.

Given that Israel had experienced God saving them out of slavery and that it was insufficient to trust God enough to obey His commandments, then what does God have to do to gain our trust?

That depends on what we as individuals expect. Since we are different in needs then we must look within ourselves to recognize what is required for us to trust Christ enough to give Him a chance to prove Himself to be faithful.

Our ability to be faithful to Him is directly related to discovering His faithfulness and that is dependent on realistic expectations.

What we are taught creates expectations and if we are taught wrong how can we ever hope to discover this love that surpasses understanding?

Romans 10:14

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?

Why would anyone listen to a preacher?