Who Are the Unreached? Part 2

At the end of 'Who are the Unreached' Part 1, we said:

Maybe a better definition of an 'unreached' heart is one that has yet to hear the gospel in such a way, that it resonates, connects and is understood with the clarity needed so the person truly hears the Creator's intended meaning of that truth in such a way as to correctly accept the truth and understand what it means to forsake all and follow Christ, or else to knowingly understand but reject the truth. 

We said how that the definition that many give to 'the unreached' and the noble sounding idea that we should only seek to 'reach' the people within that given definition, would exclude the bulk of Sub-Saharan Africa.

It would also mean that we should cease all evangelism, missions and discipleship efforts in places like my home country of Australia.  Australia is a place with many strong self-sufficient reproducing churches. However, it is also a place of vast numbers of the unreached. 

The Great Commission is to make disciples

Jesus didn't tell us in his 'great commission' to go and reach the unreached, but to go and make disciples of all the nations.  It wasn't a joblist of ticking off whether each ethnic group of the world has at least one self-sufficient reproducing church and at some time in its history had the gospel presented to it, but rather its an ongoing 'commission' to continue to reach everyone, in every generation, in every corner of the world. 

Any person who has not clearly heard the gospel enough to understand its true meaning in order to respond, is unreached according to our current definitions of 'unreached'.  In fact more biblical language would be to say they are unsaved or lost. The great commission is not just about reaching the unreached, but about bringing the means of rescue to the unsaved. It's about finding the lost, helping those who are blind to the truth to see, enabling those who haven't yet heard the truth to hear it.

Aussie evangelist Sam Chan calls Australia a 'post-Christian, post-church, post-reached' world. There was a generation past that may have had a strong gospel witness, but we are not responsible for past generations, nor does what happened in past generations with gospel witness give us a reason to cease gospel witness in this generation.  This generation, even in Australia is largely 'unreached'.  There are thousands of people in the streets, homes and offices of Australia who have never heard God's name except as a swear word and who have never owned or opened a bible and who have never even entered the doors of a church or heard a sermon or explanation of the gospel.

These are the unreached.

Inclusion or Exclusion?

Sadly there are even some missionaries and mission organisations who are focused only on their idea of including or 'reaching the unreached', (or some say the 'least reached' groups), but it ends up being exclusion of so many others who are 'unreached'. 

('Unreached' is also sometimes said to refer to those places where less than 2% of the population would be evangelical Christians, and 'least-reached' are places where less than 4% - that would mean there are 12 people groups in Botswana in the 'least reached' category and 4 people groups in the 'unreached' category, but the 'Joshua Project' says there are no unreached people in Botswana!)

Jesus' great commission I don't believe is given so that we only focus on those who fit into the category of designated ethnic groups who have not yet heard the gospel, to the exclusion of every other unreached person around the world. Rather it is a reminder that we are not to exclude or neglect anybody…. even those in hard to reach places in our world and those who's language group is small and unattractive in terms of potential 'numbers of conversions' to put on a newsletter, or those based on financial viability and cost of making gospel access possible.

Whether its to your Jerusalem, your Judea, your Samaria or the ends of the earth, there are unreached hearts who need to realise and understand their condemned state and hear and comprehend the message of good news in Jesus Christ.

It might take just as much (or more) effort, expense, danger and culture learning to reach the drug addicts in your city, as to get on a plane and fly to a remote desert or jungle village. 

We need to encourage all Christians wherever they are to be part of Jesus' great commission of sharing the good news of salvation with others, in whatever context God places us or calls us to.  Every lost soul that is found is precious, no matter where on the earth they lay their head at night.

And yes, that does still include those people groups around the world who haven't yet heard the name of Christ, and those who don't have the bible in their own language, but also those who know the name of Jesus Christ and have access to a bible, but don't understand the eternal life-confronting and life-change truth that comes through the living WORD in the written WORD!

Who and Where are the unreached - the lost - God has around you?  Where has God placed you?  Who might God be calling you to reach out to with the good news of salvation from sin, in Jesus Christ?

Whether its baking cookies to give to a sick neighbour who doesn't now Christ so as to grow a friendship in order to share the gospel, or having to get passports and buy plane tickets to travel overseas to some place God has called you to, just be who God wants you to be, doing what God wants you to do and going where God wants you to go….remembering His promise that in being, doing and going, He will be with you always even to the very end!

Whether its across the street or around the world, lets have a heart to reach every person with the eternity-changing and life-transforming good news of Jesus Christ.

Who are the 'Unreached'? Part 1

So often in 21st Century church and mission contexts we hear about the need to focus on reaching the 'unreached'.

It sounds a really noble and biblical challenge, and we should definitely be concerned for those who are not saved.

However, for many people the term 'unreached' has come to mean: a people group where a reproducing church is yet to be seen. It is then believed that missionaries/Christian workers should not be in such places that don't fit that definition, because they are more needed in other places.

If we take this definition, no-where in Sub-saharan Africa should have missionaries in it.  

But as noble as it might seem to say 'lets follow the Apostle Paul's example and make sure we only go to places where the name of Christ is not known', it may not be as biblical as it sounds.

Everyone needs to hear the gospel.  That includes those who have never heard the word 'Christ', but it also includes those who have no idea what the truth is regarding who Christ is and what He actually came into this world to do and bring.

Take the situation here in our corner of Africa.

In probably every village in this country, somewhere in the village of a Sunday you will find some people going to 'church' where they will sing some songs that sound Christian and will read or hear something from the Bible and have someone called a 'Pastor' speak to the people.

But there is a problem.  

What is taught may not be what the Bible says, and how the "Pastor" lives may not resemble anything about what the Bible says is godliness.

In one village situation we were told of, for the month of September (which is HIV/AIDS awareness month), every morning at the Government offices Pastors come and have prayers and sing songs with the workers asking that God would save the nation from the scourge of HIV. (similar events happen across the country at the encouragement of the Government, which is wonderful). Several Pastors from various 'churches' in the village shared the task. 

One was from a church that does not believe in the resurrection but teaches that when you die you will be re-incarnated and come back as a spirit into another child that will be born. Another Pastor has so many children from different women that people have lost count, he is a wealthy cattle owner and the expectation culturally is that if you are rich then you entertain a lot of women in your life. Another is a Pastor and also a leader in the village but teaches as much traditional belief in the ancestors as he does verses from the bible, he once said that 3 people lead us to God - the Pastor, the Chief and the Witchdoctor. Another is a local witchdoctor as well as a Pastor.

That village already has several 'churches' - so some would classify that village as 'reached'. Yet they do not have a full Bible yet in their own language - so others would classify it as 'unreached'.

Then there is the situation of our local co-worker who had a 'Pastor' say to him as he pointed to the uncles, 'These are your 'gods' - you are supposed to honour them and do what they say'.

The presence of church buildings, or people called 'Pastor', or people singing christian songs or holding a bible, does not constitute a 'reached' people group, even if that 'church' is 'self-sufficient' and reproducing.  

People need to hear the truth of the Gospel clearly and faithfully taught by Pastors who see themselves as 'set apart' for the gospel, rooted in God's Word, not compromising or diluting or mixing the truth, and prepared to live holy lives for the honour and glory of the One true God alone.  

If someone hasn't had the gospel taught to them in a way that relates or 'connects' to how they think, they will inevitably 'add on' a belief to already strong cultural practices of the world around them and attempt to function with both....like adding a 'cross' to a 'god shelf'.

Elisabeth Elliot once said: "The will of God is not something you add to your life. It's a course you choose. You either line yourself up with the Son of God…or you capitulate to the principle which governs the rest of the world." 

Praise the Lord for those who do turn from sin, and from serving Satan and culture to knowing true righteousness as a servant of Christ.  We were also told of another Pastor from another village who was being trained to be a witchdoctor but who left all that behind and came to Christ.  He said that witchdoctors will tell the people that their power comes from God (because the culture has a belief in a Creator God but who they see as far away and detached and un-connected to life on earth), when they really know it comes from Satan.  Satan is ensuring that the people continue to believe a lie and live according to that lie.  It is a lie that tells them that the far away Creator God cannot be reached, and the ancestors are the ones who they must honour instead, as they are the only 'connection' to God and they control what happens on the earth.

Even owning a bible, doesn't signify a person is in the 'reached' category if they don't understand what a bible is for.  

When we first arrived here and managed a small Christian bookshop we soon learnt that although hundreds of bibles were being sold, it wasn't necessarily a reason for rejoicing.  We would have people come to the shop wanting a 'new' bible - one still in plastic shrink-wrap.  They said it had to be one that no human hands had opened before, so that it could be taken to their church's Prophet to open for the first time and from the page where the bible fell open at that first opening a verse would be chosen by the Prophet and a 'personal' prophecy would be given.  They were then told to close the bible and put it on a shelf and ensure that no-one else ever touched it - ever - lest the promises of that prophecy blessing become a curse.  (Our staff were keen that we have a practice of only selling bibles that were NOT in shrinkwrap and explaining the truth to people who came in wanting such a bible!)

On another occasion, we visited a man who had been a kind of 'lay preacher' at such a 'church' and had a bible that he gained under such circumstances.  As we discussed matters with him, there was a verse of Scripture we wanted to show him, but that bible was the only one he had.  He was terrified that upon opening it, my husband would fall down dead! But he was willing for us to use it, if we were willing! It was opened and read... and no-one fell down dead! Following that incident he left that church.

Though many church denominations/groups are active in the villages of Botswana, and many people have bibles in their own language, it doesn't mean these people are 'reached' with the full truth of the gospel.

Many 'Churches' across Africa may be no more than gatherings of the 'unreached'.  Seeking they may be, but reached they may not be.  

In fact every African we have led to Christ in our time here had previously identified themselves as 'Christian' and were church attenders yet none of them understood the gospel. One had been baptised in his church but did not understand the gospel at all. Another didn't even know the term 'born again' was from the bible and thought it was only for those who were part of Pentecostal churches and spoke in tongues. They had no idea what a born again Christian truly was according to the truth of God's word.  They were unreached.

Maybe a better definition of an 'unreached' heart is one that has yet to hear the gospel so that it resonates, connects and is understood with the clarity needed so the person truly hears the Creator's intended meaning of that truth in such a way as to correctly accept the truth and understand what it means to forsake all and follow Christ, or else to knowingly understand but reject the truth.

Let's make every effort to be part of reaching any and every unreached heart across this globe wherever they are, with the truth of the gospel that can set them free!