“I was lost and no one was looking for me”

Several years ago, I attended a meeting about ‘unreached people groups’. The keynote speakers were Nik and Ruth Ripken.  I sat literally spellbound as they shared their testimonies about going to some of the most spiritually dark places on earth.

He is the author of several well-known books such as The Insanity of God and The Insanity of Obedience.  Ripken says the first book tells us why we should go the nations, and the second tells us what to do once we get there. Throughout the second book, he presents truths gleaned from countless hours spent with those living in creative access contexts. He discovered that ultimately it is the supreme sacrifice that Christ made for their salvation and the hope of eternal life found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

One thing he brought out in his personal testimony has stuck with me. He was raised in a dysfunctional situation and did not know strong parental love, nor was he exposed to the gospel. He said something like, “I know what it is like to be lost and have no one looking for you”. 

Sitting there that night a hard truth was stirring in my mind.  For many lost people around the world today, not only are they unreached with the gospel, but there are no known concrete plans to reach them.

Every truly born-again follower of Christ should be familiar with the passages recording what we refer to as the Great Commission. One of the most familiar is found in Matthew 28:19-20.

The assignment is clearly stated and the world is waiting for obedient Christians to tell them about, and how to, ‘observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you’.  Nevertheless, it appears that many believers have either misunderstood or ignored the task Christ assigned to us in some of His last words on this earth.

Taking this process to the lowest common denominators we may conclude that people fit in one of three categories as it relates to Christ’s command: 1) Those who have heard the teachings of Christ, but are not ‘observing’ (see obeying/living) them 2) Those who have heard the teachings of Christ and are living by them, and 3) Those who are waiting to hear that we often refer to as ‘unreached peoples’.

I think there is a strong parallel between ‘unreached peoples’ and Nik Ripken’s statement about being ‘lost and have no one looking for you’.  Most likely, people without Christ do not even know they are ‘lost’, and many would be seriously insulted if they were told that is their present spiritual condition.  But, the most disturbing factor is that there are literally billions of people who apparently have ‘no one looking for them’.

It is a fact that our world population is quickly approaching 7.9 billion. The most generous numbers say there are around 780 million born-again Christians. Simple math says that leaves over 7 billion without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. No matter how you look at it there are more people ‘lost’ than ‘found’.

Throughout history theologians, pastors, missiologists, and others have theorized and worked to reach the lost of their generation and the future. Some of the modern efforts are:

• In the early 1700s, the MORAVIAN MOVEMENT saw hundreds of missionaries go to extremely hard places. Many of them lost their lives for preaching the gospel.
  • They made great strides in reaching the lost, but they were unable to reach the whole world.

• WYCLIFFE BIBLE TRANSLATORS was founded in 1917 with a commitment to get the Bible to all peoples in their language. The first translation was completed in 1951. With the great technological advances, they desire to have the Bible, or at least portions of it, in all 6,909 languages by the end of the year 2025.
  • The progress is enormous, but the task remaining is monumental.
• In the mid-1970s a great shift in missions strategy began when missiologists embraced two new concepts: 1) classifying the earth’s inhabitants as ‘PEOPLE GROUPS’ instead of nation-states, and 2) calling for CONTEXTUALIZATION to reach these ‘people groups’.
  • Many ‘people groups’ have been reached with the gospel, but there still remains over 5,000 people groups classified as UPGs (unreached people groups)

2. AD 2000 & BEYOND: In 1989 two leading missiologists developed a plan to see a ‘church for every people and gospel for every person by the year AD2000.
   • No doubt this was a noble goal, but billions of people have no access to the gospel nor a church to attend

3. 1040 Window: The focus on this geographical area located between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator, with the world’s highest levels of poverty, ‘unreached people groups’, and intense resistance to the gospel raised the level of interest, but the area remains in great need to hear the gospel.
   • Today there are still over 1 billion people in that area who have never heard the gospel even one time.

Men and women of faith spent hours in prayer, research, and discussion in the development of these plans. God blessed these efforts and most certainly will do so in the future.

But, the fact still remains the task is unfinished. Although this can be deeply concerning we should never be tempted to throw up our hands and quit.

Several factors keep me from considering quitting as an option.

1. The extreme mobility of people today
2. Through great technological advances
3. Immense resources at our disposal
4. Former mission fields are now becoming ‘senders’
5. Christ did not permit us to give up

Let’s take a good look at the world around us, the opportunities God is giving us to reach the world with the gospel, and recommit ourselves to finishing the task He commissioned to us.

Why not reignite some of the goals and objectives that have driven the great movements of the past.

Is it not reasonable to believe that in our lifetime we can see…

• Missionaries willing to lay down their lives as the Moravians did.
• Translators using modern technology to get the Bible in every language and realize the dream of the founders of Wycliffe Bible Translators.
• Laser-focused actions to get the gospel to all 5000+ of the ‘unreached people groups’.
• Every human hearing the gospel and having a church close enough accomplish the vision of the AD2000 and Beyond
• The 1040 Window become the hub of world outreach rather than being the marginalized recipient of Great Commission missionaries and resources.

Those dreams, visions, strategies, and actions of those who’ve come and gone before us were not created nor executed in a vacuum. They came from the sincere hearts of real men and women of God with a passion and commitment to fulfill the Great Commission, and that should be our position also.

May it be that not one unbeliever on this earth can say, “I am lost and no one is looking for me”.

 

Written by Clint Morgan, General Director of IM, Inc.