Below is an excerpt from the book When Everything is Missions by Denny Spitters and Matthew Ellison.
We don’t doubt the sincerity and passion of the many proponents of “everybody is a missionary” who want to stimulate evangelism and disciple making in their communities. We appeal to the church, however, for renewed commitment to the biblical, apostolic, missionary model and vision – that the gospel must reach those who have never heard.
Missionary David Hosaflook has some difficult words for us –
“Paul taught us that the essence of missions is going places where Christ is not already named (Romans 15:20). I don’t understand why church planters so frequently ignore that little word not. Why target the Bible Belt when so many places don’t even have a Bible? Roughly 35% of the world has no access to the Gospel. I’m not talking about the people in your neighborhood who have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel. I’m talking about the 2.4 billion people who couldn’t find a Christian if they tried. How is this possible? How many of our mission workers are even targeting them? It’s less than 5%. Five measly percent is a yawn in the face of the Great Commissioner, a shrug at the plight of the damned. It’s tantamount to telling the unreached to go to Hell. Forgive my candor, but I don’t know how else to verbalize what our inaction is communicating. We’re passionate about anything other than the harvest fields of unreached souls – unreached not because they are unreachable but because we have chosen not to reach them.”
You may react to this description of the Church today as overly dramatic, guilt-producing or possibly quite harsh toward the Church. However, if we receive the observation as a well needed gut check and move beyond our positive or negative emotional response, the challenge has significant merit. Have we become delinquent in taking up the honor of the Great Commission? After all, if there is something we want to get right, shouldn’t it be the final words of our Lord’s commission to us as His Church?
And they sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it, for you were slaughtered and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have caused them to become a kingdom of priests for our God and they will reign on the earth.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered – to receive power
and riches
and wisdom
and strength
and honor
and glory
and blessing.”
– Revelation 5:9-12
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