Why Telling Your Friends Won’t Save the World

Do you share your faith with people you know?  With friends and family?  Some of you probably do … but statistically we don’t do it a whole lot.

But let’s say we did share – often.  I’m not talking about inviting someone to church, or saying we “believe in God”.  I mean actually sharing the Gospel.

Even if we did, we wouldn’t reach the world.  At least, not for a very, very long time.

Why is that?  For one simple reason.  Many people in the world have little or no contact with any believer.  In fact, they may not even know someone who knows someone who is a believer.

That means that certain groups would be reached, but others would still have little or no contact with the Gospel.

I share this often in our 2000 Years of Missions seminar.  But it’s nice to see someone else pointing to the same thing.

This past August in Christianity Today, Abby Stocker wrote an article with the title The Craziest Statistic You’ll Read About North American Missions.  Yes, it got my attention.

Please do read the article, but the point was this.  1 out of 5 non-Christians in the USA and Canada does not even know a Christian.  That’s over 13 million people.  (Yes, I know Mexico is a part of North America – but we weren’t included in this research)

Why is that?  One of the biggest factors is that there are communities of immigrants that stay pretty close together, not venturing out into other cultural groups.  And believers aren’t going in.

Worldwide, the numbers are worse – these statistics say that 80% of non-Christians do not know a Christian.

Yes, you read right.  80%.

Yes, a lot of those people know someone who knows a Christian – and so the Gospel might spread through that common connection.  But that may not happen, and that’s not always the case.  And for many people, time is running out.

These people are not being reached because cross-cultural missions is not happening enough.  Basically, whether in our home country or in another country, Christians must GO – leave their comfort zones, and enter another culture.

Maybe it’s not even another language – maybe it’s getting to know some wealthier people in your area that have no contact with believers.  But maybe it is visiting China town – and actually learning a little Chinese.  Maybe it is going to an “unreached people group” overseas – or maybe reaching out to less reached groups or in areas (like where we are in Mexico) where there are few Christians and many communities with no Gospel witness.

Those millions in Canada and the USA with no immediate chance to be reached have one advantage – they are close to churches and believers, and there may even be a couple of good radio shows or TV programs they may come across.  Imagine countries with much less Christian influence, where there are many more with even less of a chance.

There’s a reason why Jesus said “Go into all the world”.  May God grant us the courage to do just that.  Not just a one time decision to move to a new place – a daily decision to seek the lost.