Expanding Our Vision of World Missions

2009-01-19

Today, we believe that the world population can roughly be divided into three equal parts. We live in the first third. There are many varieties of churches, many Christian activities and programs, many Bible translations, many Christian radio and television programs... in short, the Christian materials available in our third of the world is overflowing and the Gospel witness is quite abundant. Statistics say that approximately 90 percent of all resources go to these nations of the world.

The second third has access to the Gospel, but the people are not truly evangelized or there is not a wide acceptance of the Gospel. The Bible is available in their languages. About nine percent of Christian resources go these nations.

The final third has no access to the Gospel. They do not have the Bible in their language. Less than one percent of Christian resources go to these areas of the world.

Put this in perspective: In a crucial passage of eschatology, Jesus says this, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14). He wants all peoples, not just western society, not just the most wealthy, to come to a knowledge of Him and be saved from the certain judgment coming upon the earth.

With all of the evidence for the Gospel that we have in our communities, we have a great responsibility to share with those others who have never heard. This includes the people God places around us. But we also have a responsibility to be fully aware of the needs around the world, and how we can be involved.