Catching a Global Vision

When Christians hear "missions," they are faced with a mammoth challenge. Scan the following verses and you will see the challenge, especially in the italicized words:

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples (Ps. 96:3).

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations (Matt. 24:14).

If God expected us to announce the good news in many countries, that would be a grand enough assignment. But--imagine!--His intention is that every tribe, tongue, people, and nation should hear. What a relentless God we have! He wants all men, women, and children "to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (I Tim. 2:4). That was His plan when Paul penned those words to Timothy, and God has never changed His mind.

How are we going to respond to this challenge? Being scientific North Americans, we reach for our pocket calculators and try to grasp the matter mathematically. If we do so, we may reach two mistaken conclusions.

Calculation No. 1: Tapping the calculator keys, you may compute: "There are about 215 nations in the world. And there are Christians found in 195 of them. That means we have completed 90 percent of the job."

Conclusion: "There is no reason for me to be very concerned about missions, because all that is left is mop-up operations."

Result: Nothing is done.

Calculation No. 2: "There are 6 billion people in the world." Tap, tap, tap. "Nuts, that number doesn't even fit on this little calculator. I'll use a pencil instead.... Okay, 6,000,000,000. There are at best 2 billion people who claim to be Christians. Oh my, that leaves 4 billion that face eternity without Christ's cleansing pardon."

Conclusion: "We have been working at this thing nearly two thousand years, and we still have reached only a third percent of the world. What's the use! The world is so big and the goal so unattainable. Why break your heart in a hopeless cause?"

Result: Nothing is done.

Even though the above calculations are mathematically accurate, both conclusions are false, and the results are disastrous. Yet many Christians have made these mistakes. They leave a mission fair or lay aside a magazine article on missions, concluding that the challenge is either too small to bother with or too gigantic to tackle.

How can you gain a proper understanding of Christ's global mission challenge to His church? Statistics can be useful, and we shall consider many figures throughout this book. But let us above all look at people: the people who live and breathe with us under the same sun, the people for whom God's Son gave His precious blood.

In order to catch the vision of Christ's global mission challenge, we would benefit from eyeball-to-eyeball contact with real people around the world. Of course, few of us have the opportunity to be globetrotters. Therefore, I invite you to learn about the world through the fictional account of one young man.

Al, a Young Man on an Adventure

Al grew up in a Christian home, attending a Lutheran church in Minnesota. Confirmed at fourteen, he was a robust, energetic teenager who liked to dream. And what a dream Al had! He and a friend named Jack wanted to travel around the world, just for fun and adventure. They had talked about it for several years, and when high school graduation arrived, in spite of their mothers' objections, they stuffed their backpacks and booked passage to Australia.

The first three months down under were rocky. Away from home for the first time, Al and Jack found their independence hard to control. Although they didn't fall into any grave sins, they spent far too many hours in Australian bars and squandered their money. When their assets dipped to the danger point, they awoke to the fact that they were not accomplishing what they had planned. Their excursion was to be the experience of a lifetime, and they had been wasting it.

Wanting to start fresh in a different culture, they took a ship to New Zealand and hitchhiked all over this land of green, rolling hills and snowcapped mountains, meeting many wonderful people in the process. Al and Jack could have stayed there forever, but their hearts and imaginations were drawn by the prospect of the many more peoples and cultures that lay before them. So they landed construction jobs and saved up in order to finance the rest of their journey.

Just when they were about to strike out across the world, bad news arrived from home. Jack's father had had a heart attack, and Jack was needed at home to help run the family business.

What was Al to do? The logical thing, the cautious thing to do was to hop on the same plane with his buddy and head back home. But being on the threshold of fulfilling his dreams, Al was not about to be cautious. Spreading out his map, he reasoned, "I've gone halfway around the world, but all I've seen is water and two English-speaking countries. Ahead are Indonesia, Indochina, India, the Middle East, Europe--all the places I've wanted to see, to hear, even to taste and smell. If I go back the way I came, I'll miss all the adventures that await me. Even though I'll be alone, I've got to forge ahead!"

So Al struck out on his own with youthful zest. Though some people would consider this a foolhardy decision, the Lord watched over His child and brought him safely through all his travels. But most important, during the next twelve months the Holy Spirit gave Al something that he never expected, something that every Christian needs--a heart for the world.

Come along with Al and learn what he learned.

Papua New Guinea

En route from Australia to Papua New Guinea, Al daydreamed about what he would see there: Stone Age people in loin cloths, witch doctors, maybe even cannibals--from a safe distance, of course. Walking the streets of Port Moresby, he was a bit disappointed. Most of the people wore Western garb, and there was hardly a thatched roof to be seen. However, the biggest surprise was the large number of churches in Port Moresby. When Al spotted a chapel of the Gutnius Lutheran Church, he felt compelled to enter, hoping to find someone who might explain the strange things he had found in Papua New Guinea.

Fortunately, Akii, a church member who spoke English, was present and welcomed the young traveler. After getting acquainted, Al ventured to ask, "Why are there so many churches here, Akii? I thought New Guinea was a heathen land."

"Heathen would have described us even fifty years ago," Akii replied, "but the gospel of Christ has set us free from the dark ways we inherited from our ancestors. We are now a Christian nation, blessed with faithful missionaries and our own pastors."

"I had no idea," Al responded. "But up in the mountains and back in the jungles there must still be headhunters and cannibals, right?"

"Yes, there are still some unreached tribes, but 90 percent of us belong to some Christian church. In fact, one in six Papuans is Lutheran, like you and me. It is true that some are tempted to go back to the old practices of Satan. Others are tempted to abandon the Savior for the new allurements of Satan being imported from the Western nations. Still others are caught up in fighting among our language groups. We need good Biblical instruction and counsel to help immature Christians avoid these traps. But, all in all, it still can be said that Papua New Guinea is one of the most Christianized nations in the world. Praise God for that!"

That evening Al returned for a youth gathering at the church. The devotion and faith of the young people were clearly evident. There was no denying that Akii had told him the truth. At the close of the meeting, Al spoke up, "Thanks for letting me see the Papuan church in action. It's nice to know that missionaries have met with success. The job of telling the world about Christ must be almost completed, right?"

"You shall see for yourself as you travel from land to land," Akii responded. "How I would love to go with you. You have a unique opportunity, Al. You have learned something about the people of God in my country. Why not make a point of trying to learn a little about the Christian church in each of the lands you visit?"

"I'd never thought of that before, Akii. When I planned this trip, all I intended to see was new landscapes and exotic peoples, but I'll try to do what you suggest. Thanks for the advice."

Indonesia and the Island of Bali

Heading west from Papua New Guinea, Al began to explore the islands of Indonesia, the fifth most populous nation in the world, with 200 million people. Indonesia, although located five thousand miles east of Mecca, has more Muslims than any other country in the world. In fact, Indonesia is about 80 percent Muslim.

Al traveled mostly by train or bus. The vehicles would be stuffed with people of poverty, along with their chickens, goats, and bags of grain. Some trains poked along at a tedious pace, and others had many holes in the floor, not just the one used for the commode. Often the trains were so crowded that Al would travel for hours without sitting down, and sometimes he would sleep in the luggage racks. He looked at old and wrinkled men and women who had endured this treatment all their lives. For these people it was a way of life--for him it was torture. However, once he accepted the torture as the price necessary for learning about the people, his willpower and patience were renewed. If he had not made this decision, he never could have endured the thousands of miles of bus and train rides that awaited him (Dana Brones, "A Gospel for All People," unpublished paper, 1973, 4).

Although he rarely met people who spoke English, he eventually learned that God was doing marvelous things in Indonesia. In 1965, there had been a Communist coup, followed by a bloody Muslim reprisal. Meanwhile, the few Christians had been peacemakers. This event had led many nominal Muslims to turn from their traditional beliefs. As a result, the Holy Spirit has converted more Muslims in Indonesia than anywhere else in the world. Indeed, 10 percent of the people are now Protestant.

This good news buoyed Al's spirits. He learned that there are even three million Indonesian Lutherans, the result of German missions. Thus far Al was ready to conclude, as many do, that the church had done its duty and the goal of the Great Commission was almost fulfilled.

Then he journeyed to Bali, an island in which 90 percent of the 2.8 million inhabitants are Hindus. Al's arrival was opportune. He was just in time to witness a high religious festival, a blend of Hinduism, Buddhism, and animism, in which the Balinese people worship and appease hundreds of deities. Artistically the festival was a delight, with sacred dances, statues constructed with foods, and giant mosaics of rice-dough cookies; but spiritually, the festival was a dark charade of occult practices and demonic bondage. On the last great day of the festival, two dozen priests offered prayers and sacrificed scores of animals, including an eagle and an anteater, to appease Rudra, a demonic manifestation of the island's supreme being. Unnerved by the whole experience, Al hoped that Bali was only a rare exception to the progress being made by Christianity.

Calcutta and Nepal

For Al and his conclusion about the near fulfillment of the Great Commission, India was like a kick in the teeth.

The first shock was Calcutta and its 13 millions. The city evidenced poverty and squalor at every turn, bearing witness to its namesake, Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. Most heart-wrenching was the sight of the one million who live their entire lives on the sidewalks. They are born there, grow up, have children, and die right there. When the drenching monsoons fell, throngs fled to the train depots to protect themselves from the powerful rain. When the downpours lasted all night, the people literally slept on top of one another. For Al the pictures on the cover of Time and Life magazines had become real; they would no longer be forgotten by turning to the sports or entertainment sections (Brones, 5).

It was not only the wretched poverty that disturbed our young traveler. West Bengal, the state of which Calcutta is the capital, is the home of sixty-eight million people, and only O.1 percent are Protestant Christians.

The day he spent at the Ganges River was an experience never to be erased from his memory: funeral processions arriving to cremate the dead and spread the ashes on the sacred river; people bathing in the polluted waters to obtain spiritual cleansing; people reverently bowing to the sacred cows that meandered everywhere. The spiritual darkness was oppressive. It occurred to Al that this tragic scene had been reenacted every day for thousands of years. In spite of the heat, he shivered at the thought.

If the island of Bali was a puddle of paganism, Calcutta and West Bengal seemed like a sea. But the ocean of need called India awaited him. One of every six people in the world is Indian--over 900,000,000 people crammed into 2.4 percent of the world's land mass. By the turn of the century, the home of the Taj Mahal and the Himalayas will house more people than China. And religions? Hindu, 82 percent; Muslim, 12 percent; Christian, only 2.6 percent (Patrick Johnstone, Operation World, 1986, 215-16).

Al had learned a bit about Hinduism from high school friends who dabbled in meditation and the Hare Krishna cult. His buddies had raved about Hinduism as a high and mystic philosophy. But they did not realize that only the high castes know this kind of Hinduism. Across India Al witnessed the religion of the masses: idolatry on an enormous scale with 33 million different deities venerated and multitudes of sacrifices and rites for purification. But, Al inwardly grieved, no one was ever thereby cleansed of sin. A Bible verse learned years before came to mind: "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10).

Al's sightseeing could not be complete without his heading north into Nepal to see Mount Everest. His dreams of climbing the lower slopes of that great peak were dashed by an attack of malaria. With shivering tremors racking his body, he entered a missionary hospital in Katmandu, the capital of Nepal. As he spent four days receiving a sequence of shots and quinine tablets, he thought of all the people who did not even know what a hospital was or who could not afford the fee which to him was only a day's wage. Finally, the treatment was sufficiently effective for him to continue traveling, though in a weakened state (Brones 1973, 6).

Lessons in New Delhi

After leaving Nepal, Al journeyed to New Delhi. On Saturday he searched for a Christian church and worshipped there on Sunday morning. After the Bible study, a hospitable and well-educated elder named Vinoba invited him to dinner, a kindness which Al gratefully accepted. Following the delicious meal of curried rice, Al ventured to ask the questions that were surging inside him.

"With millions of Hindus and Muslims on all sides, why hasn't the church in India grown larger?"

"It has grown in some places," Vinoba answered. "In the southern state of Kerala 20 percent are Christian, including churches that were apparently founded by the apostle Thomas. The most Christianized states are in the far west of India; Manipur is 34 percent Christian, and Nagaland, amazingly, 85 percent. "

Al was somewhat impressed by this news, of which he had been unaware. But he was not satisfied. "Why then haven't those Christians evangelized the rest of the country?"

"Why haven't the Christians of other lands done so?" Vinoba countered.

"Maybe because we aren't Indian. It would be much easier for you and the believers of Kerala, Manipur, and Nagaland to reach India."

"How do you know it would be easier for us?"

Flustered, Al struggled to control his frustration. "You are all Indians, aren't you? You all share the same country, customs, and languages."

Vinoba chuckled. "My son, you have all the idealistic impatience that comes from being both young and an American. You have been gazing at India these last few weeks, but let me tell you the truth that lies underneath your limited impressions. India is not one culture; we are many peoples all living under the same roof. The masses of India speak 18 languages in 700 dialects. Furthermore, the caste system has us segregated into islands of humanity that do not touch each other. Do you understand, my son?"

"I'm trying to. Do you mean that for Indian Christians to reach other Indians with the gospel, they need to cross wide cultural barriers too?"

"Yes. "

"Hmmm. . ." Al fell into deep thought and then recalled, "On the wall of my church back home we have a map of the world, and all the countries where my denomination is working are colored blue. I had always assumed that meant the whole nation had been reached."

"The map misled you, didn't it?" Vinoba offered perceptively.

"I always figured that once a number of churches had been established in part of a nation, those Christians could eventually reach the whole country. Since Christianity is established in at least a corner of almost two hundred nations, I thought the job was almost finished. Perhaps everybody back at Zion Lutheran thought that way."

"We once had a map like that, Al, but we tore it down when we realized that Christ did not send us to countries but to peoples."

"What's the difference?"

Vinoba reached for the teapot. "Have another cup, my friend, and I will explain. The Lord Jesus told us, 'Go and make disciples of all nations.' Do you know which Greek word He used when He said 'nations'? "

"Can't say that I do, Vinoba," Al shrugged.

"The word is ethne. What English word does that sound like to you?"

"Ethne, ethne, . . . ethnic?"

"Correct. The word ethne leads us to recognize our responsibility to proclaim the good news of Christ to all the world's different ethnic peoples: groups who share a common language, culture, philosophy, and world view. The apostle John emphasizes ethnicity in Rev. 7:9 when he says, 'There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.' "

"I see. The targets should be ethnic peoples, not simply the political nations that belong to the United Nations. But how many ethnic groups are there?"

"Good question. The anthropologists tend to divide peoples in different ways. But the U.S. Center for World Mission has determined that there are 24,000 different cultural units in the world. Here is a riddle for you, my young friend. In how many of those people groups is there a community of believers with sufficient size, resources, spiritual maturity, and evangelistic zeal to proclaim the gospel to everyone in their culture?

"I have no idea, Vinoba. Before I left home, I would have guessed over half. But now, who knows?"

"Those who care know. Let me tell you, for I believe that you care also. Of the 24,000 ethnic groups, only about 14,000 have a Christian community of at least one hundred. That leaves 10,000 nations to go. They are the unreached peoples of the earth, living and dying with little or no opportunity to hear the precious name of Jesus proclaimed in a manner they can understand. In India there are 3,000 major people groups, and the Christian church is still weak or nonexistent in over 2,900" (Johnstone, 218).

The numbers struck Al like a bolt of lightning. It seemed as though scales of blindness were falling from the eyes of his heart, as they had for the apostle Paul after his conversion on the road to Damascus. With a flash of amazed comprehension, Al knew he would never be the same again.

"Let me explain it in another way," Vinoba continued, "so you can understand more fully. There are six billion people in the world. How many claim to be Christian?"

"I think it's about two billion."

"Very good. Now there is a myth I have read in some Christian books. It is said that if every Christian were to bear witness to Christ and lead one other person to trust in Him, then there would be about four billion believers. Then if those four billion could each evangelize one more, . . . "

"We would get the job done," Al interrupted. "I've heard that idea from my pastor. It sounds logical to me. So why do you call it a myth?"

"Because it overlooks the cultural, ethnic factor. Listen closely. The two billion Christians are culturally close to only about one billion other people. I'm talking about the Christians' friends and neighbors who talk and act and think much the same as they do."

"And the other three billion?"

"They speak different languages from the Christians. They have unique customs, ideas, and religions. It does not matter how far away they live. Though they may be near or far, their culture is different, and they will only be reached by some compassionate disciple of Christ who dares to cross the cultural barrier."

"You mean missionaries!" Al interjected. "For Indian Christians to reach all their countrymen, they will have to be missionaries every bit as much as the Westerners who came here."

"You have learned well, my son. As you continue on your travels through God's world, may He teach you this truth in your heart as well as in your mind. "

Al's story continues in Part 2 of 3.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.