Ears That Have Yet to Hear the Gospel
What if I were to tell you that nearly one-third of the total population of the world today all have one particularly important thing in common? What factor unifies 3.2 billion people alive today?
The answer is this: nearly one-third of the people in the world today have yet to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Ever. They live and die without hearing about the Kingdom of God, freedom, and abundant life in Christ. They often have no Bible in their language. They don’t have a church, and often there are no other believers to even gather with.
We think of the world in terms of countries and nations. Currently, there are 195 countries in the world. However, when the Bible speaks of people, it views them as people groups or ethnolinguistic units. A common phrase throughout the Scriptures is that Jesus will receive praise from “every tribe, tongue, and nation.” The book of Revelation is full of encouragement that this day will indeed come!
“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” (Revelation 7:9a).
So, nearly 2,000 years after Christ conquered death and established the Church, how close are we to seeing this vision become a reality? Out of 17,468 distinct people groups, 7,419 (41.8%) of them are still unreached. How can this be?
90% of all outreach efforts by the Church are focused on people who have already been reached (meaning, there are now believers who can reach the unbelievers around them). And of the tiny percentage of financial resources that go towards foreign missions, only 1% of that actually goes towards work among the 42% of people groups that remain unevangelized and unreached. Simply put, this 42% have never heard the gospel because the Church has done almost nothing to tell them.
God’s redemptive plan to reach every tribe, tongue, and nation can be found woven throughout the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. Before his death, Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 24:14, “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.” After his death, but before Jesus ascended back into heaven, he gave clear instructions to his disciples on how to carry out this task:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 28–20).
This is Jesus’ Great Commission to the Church—past, present, and future. He doesn’t merely suggest but commands his disciples (that’s us!) to make disciples among all peoples. We are to do this as we go into all the world, baptizing believers, and teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded. We have been commissioned as Christ’s ambassadors to Gilbert, Central Phoenix, and Peoria—yes!—but also to the very ends of the earth until all people have had a chance to hear and respond to the glorious gospel of Christ.
What a joy, and indeed a privilege, that God chooses to use us in his ultimate redemption plan. Each believer, without exception, has an important role to play in the beautiful story of God’s Kingdom being established among all people groups.
If you are at Christ Church and have questions about unreached people groups or have a desire to learn about or get equipped to be sent, let us know. We want to know who you are and your interest in seeing the gospel reach these 3.2 billion people.
