How Beautiful are the Feet

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” we read in Romans 10:13.

But then: “How can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!’”

The message of the passage isn’t just one of God’s sovereignty, love, or mercy. It’s a call to action — and a theologically rich one. So rich, in fact, that Romans 10:13-15 is used to guide and ground our distribution team at Come and See.

For us, this passage contains a few truths that are key to our understanding and our mission:

• Call for Salvation: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
• Faith Requirement: Belief in Jesus is essential for salvation.
• Hearing the Message: People must hear the Gospel to believe in it.
• Sending Messengers: God sends individuals to proclaim the Good News.
• Beautiful Feet: Those who bring the Gospel are honored for their mission.

While all of these are worth prayerful reflection and discussion at length, one is especially close to my heart these days: the “beautiful” feet of those who bring God’s word to the world.

Feet aren’t usually something we’d think of as beautiful today, and they certainly weren’t at the time of Jesus. It was a notable gesture of humility when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet; so, too, when Mary (Martha’s sister) anointed Jesus’ feet.

But the Apostle Paul insists the feet of those who bring the Gospel are beautiful.

And that says something important about the mission of those messengers and about biblical beauty itself.

The beauty of the mission

The beauty of the mission can be found in all the answers that are implied in the series of questions Paul asks in verses 14-15.

All can be saved by calling on the Lord, if messengers selflessly choose to call out the Good News to the very ends of the earth. 

Such relentless, compassionate witness can bring the world to belief.

The beauty of the doubtlessly dirty, tired feet delivering God’s word is the beauty of God’s love expanding, life by life, as those feet travel the world.

The beauty of those weary feet is the promise of life everlasting, of hope, of a transformative relationship with the world’s maker and redeemer.

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Biblical beauty

Of course, this definition of beauty might seem odd. It isn’t worldly beauty; or, at least, it isn’t entirely worldly beauty.

But there’s another use of beauty in the Bible that is important to note. In the Book of Exodus, we find direction from God about how the Israelites were to construct the Temple, dress themselves, and offer worship — down to the most minute of details.

In Exodus, we find tremendous worldly beauty on display. “Gifted artisans” are given skill with their trades to create objectively beautiful sacred items for the Temple. They worked with gold, silver, gems, and wood. The garments of the priests were similarly stunning.

This isn’t the beauty of dirty feet carrying the Message. This is sublime, material beauty.

But both of these kinds of beauty point to the same place — to the same Person: God.

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And both of these kinds of beauty ennoble and uplift the people who bring others closer to Him.

This beauty draws others nearer to those who’d share God’s word. It isn’t valuable because it’s beautiful; it’s beautiful because of its value.

So, I invite you to pray alongside us, that the world might be made more beautiful, because it’s been brought closer to God.

Lord,

 Help us reach the world with Your word. Give us the strength and fortitude we need to bring Your word wherever You call us and the grace and love to bear witness to Your Good News as we travel the path You’ve set before us.

Bless and encourage those carrying the Gospel within their hearts. Let the Good News be always in their mouths; let it shine always through their lives.

 Let everyone know Your name, that the whole world might call upon You and be saved.

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Blessings,

Mark McKane
Chief Growth Officer
Come and See Foundation