“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known….”
Romans 15:20-22 (NIV)
Why do we go? We’ve got 3 simple reasons why we should mobilise the body of Christ to reach unreached people groups. Have a few more? Contact us via socials or write to us at www.unreached.network/contact-us.
This blog post is part of a series. You can read the Introduction and parts 2 and 3 here
1. Jesus’ command
Jesus said, “If you love me, you’ll obey my commands.”(John 14:15) Before going anywhere, fill your soul with the greatness of our wonderful saviour and commands will become permissions! It’s not emotional blackmail, it’s a statement of devotion and surrender. Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18). It’s not a stationary, ‘reach your neighbour’ kind of command. It’s a ‘get your hands dirty, get uncomfortable, let me show you what I will do when you follow me’ kind of command.
Jesus doesn’t issue a command without giving us assurances of his help and presence (Matthew 28:20, John 14:15, Matthew 11:29) or without first setting us the example of what ‘going to all nations’ looks like. He incarnated himself, left the comforts and glory of heaven, made himself nothing, lived a humble yet fulfilling life, loved people well and was relentlessly focused on the mission his Father had sent him to earth to accomplish. He has shown us how it’s done and now he sends us out again to carry on, or more precisely, to finish the work that he began.
2. Unfinished business
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14 (ESV)
So how are we doing at completing the work Jesus gave us to do 2,000 years ago? WIth approximately 7.83 billion people living in the world today, approximately one third of them live with little access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (we call these ‘unreached people groups’), and around 144 of these people groups (or 5.7 million people) are yet to hear the good news of Jesus at all.
So, all in all you could say that we’ve done a great job, right? 144 out of 17,324 people groups and 5.7 million out of 7.83 billion people isn’t bad! Won’t the rest just hear naturally?
3. If we don’t go, how will they hear?
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,” Revelation 7:9 (ESV)
God has a plan and His plan hasn’t changed. Since the beginning of creation, he has commanded us to fill the earth with His glory. To fill the earth with the beauty of cultures, colours, music, expressions of worship, dance, language; beautiful cuisines, each person reflecting something unique until the whole earth is filled with His glory. His glory, carried by people who worship him. People from every tribe, people, nation and language. The earth isn’t filled, the job isn’t complete until every people group, every nation and every language is represented before His glorious throne.
Our notion of ‘little access to church might be having to make extra efforts to get to church but for someone in an unreached area, this could mean there being one worker living in a town 10 hours away that in all probability they will never meet. For those living in unreached areas, it is currently impossible for them to hear any truth about Jesus without God directly intervening such as through a dream or vision. If everyone else waits for someone else to go, if nobody makes the effort to learn their language, to study their culture or to cross a potentially dangerous and hostile border, how will they hear?
So the question is, do we want to be part of the end game?
Let’s bring this thing home.
This blog post is part of a series. You can read the Introduction and parts 2 and 3 here
The Unreached Network works with Newfrontiers churches to help engage unreached people groups all across the globe. The Unreached Network is a hub of encouragement, good practice, resources, cross-cultural training, prayer, raising awareness while supporting those who are sending and church planting. Our main agenda is to keep the priority of reaching unreached people groups on the agenda for our Newfrontiers family of churches. Connect with us to find out more about how we can support you as you explore how you can also play your part. www.unreached.network/contact-us.
