God has been working and stirring in my heart. I went to East Asia this summer on a mission’s trip with my church, and it was fantastic. I was there for ten days and experienced the people and culture, and I realized that there were many people that had never heard the name of Jesus Christ. It breaks my heart!
Did you know that there are 2.9 billion people that have never heard the Gospel? That is 40.7% of the people on the planet: that is almost half the people in the world. They do not have the opportunity to turn to God. They have no hope. I hate saying this, but they are going to hell. God has given us a task: The Great Commission found in Matthew 28.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” — Matthew 28:19-20
The main point emphasized is “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” This part of the verse commands to go to all countries in the world and share the Gospel.
The Christian church has not done so well in this task. The church is still sending missionaries, but most are working with those who already are Christian. Only 1 in 30 missionaries work with these ignored 2 billion people, who need the Most High God!
“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? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'” — Romans 10:14-15
The solution to this travesty is to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” Churches can train and send more obedient followers of Christ to “make disciples of all nations.”
In the time it took you to read this article, approximately 200 people died that had never heard the Gospel while 400 hundred babies of unreached families were just born. The number of the unreached people groups is growing by the minute. When do we start? Now!
What can we do, and how can we help this issue?
- You start by praying: be praying that people and this generation step up. Ask God where He can be using you.
- Be telling others about the need. There are so many people that would be great for missions but don’t know the importance of the issue.
- You could financially support mission organizations or missionaries. You don’t need to be on the mission field to contribute to the Great Commission.
You were made for Missions! Christ Jesus said so. Not everyone is made for going onto the mission field. Pastor John Piper said, “You are a goer, a sender, or disobedient”. Harsh words, but true. There is no option for “none of the above”. God made you for missions whether you like it or not. Go to www.joshuaproject.net; find out how you could make a difference!
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’.” — Isaiah 52:7
So moving to see the next generation passionate about being obedient to God’s word.
Right?! God is working in so many people. Stoked to see what he does!:)
Thank you so much for writing this article! It inspired me when I read it. I will be praying!
So glad it could encourage you!
While I definately believe in the American church being involved in missions and sending out missionaries (I am actually hoping to be a missionary myself) there is a certain perception that really bugs me and I thought I should point out. YES, there is a definite need for help in these countries and the gospel to be shared, but what bugs me is when christian americans simply focus on 3rd world missions while ignoring the mission field right in front of them. While this article says that not everyone is called to the mission field, I’d like to disagree – every Christian is, in his own way, called to some sort of mission field, whether it be simply being a godly example to your nonchristian friends or helping a sick orphan in India. maybe more people know ABOUT Jesus in the U.S, but there are still many people who don’t truly KNOW him. I just wanted to point this out. And please don’t get me wrong, I did love the article and 3rd world missions ARE certainly important. 🙂
I totally agree with you!:) I guess I wrote with misconception in the sentence, I am glad that you addressed that. I find that the American Church can go out of balance both ways. The Great Commission commands “make disciples of all nations” including the nation you are in. Thanks for your impute!:)
I get what you’re saying. Jesus IS really the only way to God and there are no loopholes but…still…maybe I’m not looking at this with the proper perspective or something but I still have a hard time accepting that our loving God would condemn people like that. I mean, is it just their misfortune that they be deemed as ‘unhearing of the Gospel and therefore on the straight path to hell’?
I understand that we are the lucky ones, who have heard of the Bible and its teachings and have access to all these resources but I’d still like to think that our God is fair and just enough not to ship people straight to hell just because they haven’t had the opportunity to hear the Gospel.
I don’t think we can solidly point out, factually, that these people are going to hell. Says who? God is loving, God is just, God is fair. And to me it seems unloving, unjust and totally unfair to only give some people a chance and others not.
Missions is an act of love. We believe that Jesus is the only way to God and that no one comes to the Father except through Him and therefore we must spread the Good News as far and wide as we can. But we haven’t touched everyone yet and it’s not going to be easy to do that and what do we know? Maybe God is working through the Holy Spirit in the ‘unreached’ places.
I know that hell exists but I just don’t think it fair to assume that everyone not reached by some missionary from some far-off land will automatically go to hell. Who knows? Only God. Maybe God will
bring them some realistation through nature or some other aspect of creation. Who says it has to be people that can bring the Good News?
I am not condemning missions, I’d actually love to partake in a mission trip myself sometime soon. But God is so much bigger
than us and He, in His amazing power, can do ALL things. And that includes reaching those unreached by man (yet.)
Another thought: we sing of how God is mighty to save, of the grace He has shown us and the mercy by which we might live. Well,
if He demonstrates that love, that grace, that mercy to us, then why not to them? We, who have heard the Gospel and still dispel it, still sin, still make mistakes, we are forgiven. Does God’s mercy then end with those people? Does it not reach them? I refuse to believe it. God loves us all equally and I don’t think anyone doesn’t have any chance to go to heaven simply because some man or woman hasn’t arrived to tell them about the Good News.
Go to those people, yes. Tell them about God’s love and about Jesus and fulfill the Great Commision, yes. Tell them so that
they may have life and have it to the full.
So basically, what (I think) I’m saying is that I don’t know what happens to those who die without having heard the Good News and I don’t think it is humanely possible to know what happens. That is something that only God knows. Maybe He reaches out to them in some other way, maybe not, but I don’t want to give up on the hope that they don’t stand a chance to go to heaven.
I think this is a topic where you just have to formulate your own opinion because no one (except for God) does or can know what is true. So for me, personally, I choose to believe that there is still some kind of hope that God reaches them in some way before they die. Obviously I’m not saying that they just all get a free pass to heaven because of their ignorance but I don’t want to slate them all totally as ‘going to hell’ because I don’t know, and no one can know.
But I don’t think we can say, with such finality, that unreached people are going to hell. We don’t know and there is
always hope.
Ok, I’m sorry, I just saw the length of this thing (over 500 words, I’m sorry; I’ve always had a problem with condensing my writing.) Anyways, I didn’t plan on turning this into a lengthy rant, but, lucky for you, it did. I hope this is clear and I really appreciate your reply and am looking forward to hearing from you again to see what your views are on this 🙂
Hey I have a blog called Operation 10:14, hope it will be encouraging for you! http://operation1014.blogspot.com/ 🙂
And to you too, thanks for this discussion. Your desire to learn and do and be for God is clearly evident simply through what you write. Please do write again soon, God bless.
Just wanted to remind you that God’s Word says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That means ALL. God’s Word also says that the ONLY way to the Father (or God) is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). It may not seem as if it is fair, but that is what God’s Word says. That is why we need to go out and share the Gospel.
OK I think I need to clarify this: I am aware that we live in a world of sin. I know that the only way to the Father is through Jesus. I know all of this. But I also know that God works in mysterious ways. We do not, and can not, understand exactly how He works. And the Bible also tells us not to judge others (Matthew 7:1). Who are we to say what happens to other believers or non-believers? I totally and one-hundred percent support this call to bring the Gospel to the ‘Unreached People’. Of course, that is great; brilliant; the right thing to do. But I do not think we can say ‘oh that person, who has never heard of God, is most definitely going to hell.’ No. We don’t know how this thing works. None of us have died. We don’t know what happens in those final moments. There are people I knew who have died after living lives as non-believers and, maybe it’s stupid, but I desperately cling to the hope that they, in their final moments, somehow turned to, repented and believed in God. I don’t know. No one knows. These people living in places where they have never had the opportunity to hear of God and all that He has done for us? I don’t know. What is it then that gives me and you this live-changing, life-saving, opportunity to know Him but not them? I don’t know how it works but I don’t think you can just slate them for hell. Who knows? Only God.