THREE TRUTHS ABOUT GREAT ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE A ROLE IN CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

Every truly great organization, secular or Christian, consists of great leaders at all levels of the organization. Leaders are often defined as those who influence individuals or groups to think, feel and take positive action to achieve goals. Based on that definition one could say that all Christians are called to be leaders. How so? Matthew 28:19-20 calls for Believers to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;…”. This call from God to make disciples of or to “evangelize” all nations is actually a call to leadership for every Christian. By sharing the Gospel Message Believers "influence others by causing them to think, feel and take positive action" when they receive the Gospel Message. It is important to note that the Believer is only able to influence others to action by sharing the Gospel Message with them. Only the Holy Spirit can convict a non-believer of their sin and true need for repentance. Scripture is clear that God intended to use Believers as leaders in His plan to make disciples of all nations.

Every great organization, secular or Christian, understands what its key challenges are and develops strategic missions and plans to achieve its goals. And the Church has quite a challenge in “making disciples of all the nations”. While much of the world has been reached estimates are that about 35% or better of the world has yet to hear the Gospel Message. According to the Joshua Project ( http://www.joshuaproject.net/ ) approximately 7,000 of the estimated 16,600 People Groups in the world have yet to be effectively reached. People Groups are simply a breakdown of the various nations of the world and groups within each nation. That means roughly 3 BILLION people are at risk of dying without hearing the Gospel Message. In fact, it is estimated that approximately 70,000 people die per day in this world without ever hearing of the Good News of Jesus Christ. That startling statistic alone is reason for a sense of urgency in evangelism efforts. The body of Christ still has a lot of work to do when it comes to the spread of the Gospel Message. And therein lays the great need for Believers to embrace their roles as leaders. In Matthew 24:14 we are told “And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the entire world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” God has placed a great responsibility on our shoulders and we are not done until the entire world is reached.

Every great organization, secular or Christian, must assume responsibility at all levels of the organization for achieving its stated plans and goals to be successful. If ever a time existed for Christians to step forward and take charge in the field of evangelism it is today. The call to evangelize all nations is clear in scripture, there is much to be done and the challenges are many. According to the Joshua Project for every dollar of Christian giving only one penny goes towards Church planting in the un-reached People Groups. Financial reforms in Churches relating to the allocation of monies to Missions are critical to church planting efforts on the Mission Fields in these final frontier areas. Funding for Missions in the unreached People Groups must be increased to a level that permits adequate and timely progress to be made.  The Joshua Project also points out that the nations in which the un-reached People Groups reside are among those nations that are the most closed to Christianity and where scripture has in many cases yet to be translated into the native languages. See the Map of Un-Reached People Groups areas of the world below:

Missionaries frequently find obstacles at every turn in these tightly controlled countries and often face personal risks to their own lives. Probably due in part to all of these challenges only 10% of missionaries are estimated to be working among the unreached People Groups. Finding ways to increase the presence of missionaries in these hard to reach countries is critical to advancing the Gospel Message.  Obviously the lack of Bible translations in the native languages of the unreached People Groups makes communication more difficult and time consuming.  Finding ways to expedite translation work is a key to the spread of the Gospel.  The Church will have to sharpen its focus and its allocation of resources to address the challenges in reaching these remaining People Groups.

So the next time someone asks you “who are the leaders in your Church that are responsible for world evangelism” you won’t have to look far for the answer – the leadership is wearing your shoes. Possessing great leaders at all levels, having solid strategic plans to achieve goals and taking personal responsibility for action are THREE TRUTHS ABOUT GREAT ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE A ROLE IN CHRISTIAN MISSIONS.