Most of us know people who don’t believe in Jesus. That’s one reason churches exist and why we share our faith with friends and neighbors. But there’s a second group of people who have never heard of Jesus, and neither has anyone they know. The first group has countless opportunities to hear the gospel. Unless something changes, the second never will.
Missions organizations call this second group “unreached people,” and a subgroup of these people who are even less likely to hear the gospel “unengaged unreached people.” This list of terms may help, but for our purposes here, we’ll use “unreached.” These are people living in communities with no churches nearby, very few or no native believers near where they live, and no access to God’s Word.
While some Christian churches are passionate about supporting missions to the unreached, sadly, the majority are doing virtually nothing. According to a study from the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving, the average American church spends 72 percent of its budget on personnel and facilities. And while budget estimates for foreign missions range anywhere from five to 12 percent, it’s estimated that only 1.7 percent of that missions budget is spent on unreached peoples.
In church budgets across our country, reaching those who have the least chance of ever hearing the gospel is taking second (or 17th) place to a slew of other priorities, including sharing the gospel with those who’ve already heard.
Unreached people aren’t separated from Christ and the good news of his salvation by choice. They’ve never been given an opportunity to respond to the gospel. Apart from divine intervention, there is no way that a person in one of these people groups will ever come to know Christ unless a Christian from outside their community goes to them.
Why is the church not using all their resources and manpower to get the gospel to these people?
Maybe Christians just don’t know?
It’s very possible that most Christians in America are unaware of how many people in the world are unreached or haven’t given it much thought. And as ignorance of Scripture (and, hence, theology) is on the rise, it follows that a lack of knowledge about biblical mandates to reach those who have never heard is also increasing.
In March of 2017, Barna Group conducted a study of the U.S. Church’s ideas about missions, social justice, Bible translation, and spreading the gospel around the world. When asked if they had heard of the Great Commission, about half of U.S. churchgoers (51 percent) responded that they hadn’t. Of those who knew the term, only 17 percent could also say they knew what it meant.
There’s more. Another study from Barna shows the results of a recent cultural shift that is leading younger generations of Christians to believe that any kind of evangelism is wrong. Talk to them about foreign missions, and you may find yourself in a conversation about colonialism.
But this is not what we’re talking about when we discuss evangelism among unreached people. We’re talking about millions of people who have never had an opportunity to choose Jesus. These two reports from Barna beg the question: How can we carry out the greatest task Jesus has given us if we don’t even know what it is and some among our fellow Christians even believe evangelism is wrong?
What does the Bible say?
The best-known passage about missions – the one we call The Great Commission – is found at the end of Matthew:
Jesus came to them and said to them, “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 28:18-20
Though this is the passage we point to most often, Jesus delivered this message on a number of occasions with varying details to various individuals and groups of people.
Luke 24 tells us that, after his resurrection, a few people were blessed with a close, in-person encounter with Jesus. Two of them spoke with him along the road to Emmaus. He taught them what was written about his suffering, death, and resurrection in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms and said:
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
– Luke 24:44-49
And he told his disciples that the Holy Spirit would provide them with power to bear witness to his resurrection:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
– Acts 1:8
These and many other passages convey a clear message that it is the responsibility of the Church to spread the gospel as far as there are people to receive it.
Does everyone have to go?
John Piper makes a great case for reaching the unreached, and he’s become well-known for a hard statement. If you seek God’s glory and you love people, he says, you have three choices: “Give, go, or disobey.” While this may motivate some people and is mostly true, it’s incomplete.
The body of Christ is made of different parts – unique believers with distinct gifts. And more than money and missionaries goes into getting the gospel to the ends of the earth. When Paul left a city where he had preached, he sent someone to disciple the new believers. And the Antioch church that launched him was a hub of spiritual activity, including evangelism and prayer for missionaries. It also served as a landing pad for Paul and his missionary companions.
Reaching the ends of the earth isn’t only the mission of wealthy senders or of super-believers unafraid of extreme travel. It’s the mission of the whole church, each playing a role in reaching those who have never heard of him.
If you would like to learn more about how you can participate in getting the gospel to the unreached, here are some things you can do:
- Learn the history of unreached people groups.
- Read the stats about unreached people.
- Find out how unreached people groups are identified.
- Watch or share this video with a friend.
- Discover more about the groups who haven’t heard the gospel.
- Have a movie night with family to learn about missions to the unreached.
- Bring this message to your church.
And please pray. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38). Most missionaries are sent to to people who have already heard the gospel. More must be sent to the harder places. Missionaries need the strong support a church can provide – financially, through prayer, and through training and sending people into the harvest for this great and holy task.
What can you do today? Start by doing what Jesus said; pray he will send workers into the harvest. Pray for a specific unengaged people group, and seek God’s guidance about what else he is calling you to do.
