God's Number One Agenda Item?

 

As we begin a new year, many of us may desire to do more for the cause of Christ in our world. There are so many good ministries and causes that Christians can be involved in today...pro-life, pro-marriage, adoption/orphan care, anti-sex trafficking, missions, persecuted church, Bible translation, VBS...the list goes on and on. But of all of these, I believe there is one that stands out as God's number one agenda item...saving the lost. Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel...the Great Commission. I believe that He desires, more than anything else on this earth, that people would know Him and spend eternity with Him.

So, I believe, that the question for each of us, as believers, becomes: What am I doing to fulfill the Great Commission; to spread the Gospel to those who have never heard His name?

Although I love my country, I am not really talking here about spreading the Gospel in America. Yes, it is very important to share our faith with our family and friends. But, as Oswald J. Smith said, “Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?” I believe that each of us has the responsibility to take the good news of the Gospel to those in other countries who have never heard of Him. How we do this may be different for each of us, but it is a responsibility that we shouldn’t ignore!

There are over 1.7 billion people, that’s 30% of the world population, who have NEVER heard the name of Jesus. How will they hear if we don’t go or pray for and support those who do? And we shouldn’t desire that they hear just so that billions of people won’t suffer in Hell for eternity, though that is an incredibly important reason. The main reason should be our desire that Jesus receives the glory He deserves when people from every nation bow before Him as Lord and Savior! These are His children that He created and who He loves. He has asked us to tell them about Him. It is the greatest responsibility we will ever have.

You know, we only have about 70-80 years out of eternity to tell others about Jesus and to gain people for His Kingdom. People are what He is referring to when He tells us to store up treasures in Heaven. People are the only things we can bring with us to Heaven.

Many of you may be members now or in the past of a church which was very world-mission oriented...that is wonderful! I was not. I vaguely remember my childhood church mentioning a missionary here and there but the lost world did not seem to be the focus of my church. After leaving home, I don't remember missions being a big focus in any church I attended until we lived in Seoul, South Korea from 2006-2008 and attended Jubilee Church. And now, I am thankful that our church, Charleston Bible Church, is very missions focused.  But why, for so many years, were the wonderful churches I attended not seeming to focus on Jesus' command to us?

More often than I can count, I sat through multiple services where the pastor asked us for money to improve our church and it's "campus." But what about money to build churches in other countries where they have never heard of Jesus? I read recently that for the cost of one of the mega-churches in America, 7,000 churches could be built in a 3rd world nation. Are we truly being good stewards of the incredible resources God has given us?

If the Great Commission is to be on the heart of every Christian, as it was on the heart of Jesus and His disciples, why is the American Church, seminaries, major Christian personalities, and many Christian organizations not more outspoken about the persecuted church and worldwide missions? According to Tim Dearborn,  “Lack of interest in mission is not fundamentally caused by an absence of compassion or commitment, nor by a lack of information or exhortation. And lack of interest in mission is not remedied by more shocking statistics, more gruesome stories or more emotionally manipulative commands to obedience. It is best remedied by intensifying people’s passion for Christ, so that the passions of His heart become the passions that propel our hearts.”

That's what happened to me! Some of you may be familiar with the song Hosanna by Hillsong. There is a line in there that has become my personal prayer: “Break my heart for what breaks Yours.” I began seriously praying that prayer while living in South Korea, two hours away from the most repressive, closed to the Gospel, nation on earth...North Korea. As I began to really ask God to draw me closer to Him and to help me know Him more, I became more and more passionate about the lost and the persecuted Church. I began to write this blog because God has shown me what the number one item on His agenda is...winning the lost for Christ!

We are living in exciting times! The move of Christ throughout the world is amazing and He is asking us to join Him. I shared these stats before but they are worth repeating. This comes from the book 2020 Vision by Bill and Amy Stearns

- An average of 160,000 a day hear the message of redemption in Christ for the first time.

- Every hour, 3,000 more people decide to follow Jesus Christ which results in 72,000 new believers in Jesus every day, 91% of which are found in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

- 1,600 new churches open every week around the world

- 80 percent of the world's people have access to at least some portion of the Bible in a language they can understand

- Daily, in Africa, 20,000 new believers; Africa was 3% Christian in 1900 and is now more than 50% Christian

- In India, the home of the largest number of unreached people groups in the world, Gospel for Asia plants an amazing 7-10 churches a day!

- Uganda: One church in Kampala seats 10,500 and is filled to capacity for four services every Sunday. The church has planted more than 1,000 daughter churches across Uganda. Twenty-five years ago, Uganda’s population was 22% Muslim. Today that figure is around 6% Muslim. To find out how God is using one young lady in a remarkable way in Uganda go to Amazima

- Explosive growth in Latin America...almost all unreached people groups have been reached with 50,000 new churches per year

- In 1950 in China - 1 million believers; 2009 in China - 80 million Christians with average of 10,000 - 23,000 new Christians daily

- Mongolia - In 1989 there were only four known Christians; today there are more than 10,000 indigenous believers.

- Afghanistan - Before Sept. 11, 2001, there were only 17 known Muslim-background followers of Christ. Today there are more than 10,000. (I personally know a few of them!!!)

- During the 1990s, the number of born-again believers in the world doubled!

- In 100 AD, the time of the earliest persecution of the Church, there were 360 non-Christians for every true believer...today that number has shrunk to just 7 non-Christians for every Christian as the Holy Spirit continues to move in our world

God is doing amazing things in the world and He will do them with or without our help. My fervent prayer is that we will be involved...pray, get educated, teach our children, tell those around us, support financially, go if God calls!  "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Luke 10:2