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Great Commission Priorities

Great Commission Priorities. Where are the people who have not heard about Jesus? Where should we prioritize taking the Gospel?. Prioritization of the Great Commission (Overview).

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Great Commission Priorities

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  1. Great Commission Priorities Where are the people who have not heard about Jesus? Where should we prioritize taking the Gospel?

  2. Prioritization of the Great Commission (Overview) • There is a great need to prioritize the Great Commission. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on bringing the awesome truth of Jesus to the least reached. • 80% of missionaries are among evangelized (nominal) Christian people groups and a very large portion of Christian resources are in the U.S. • There are many people who have heard little or nothing about Jesus and have almost nobody praying for them (by name) or who can tell them about Jesus. • We need to prioritize these unreached people so we can obey our Master and complete the task He's given us all to do. • We can pray more for those who have not heard the truth about Jesus and we can reallocate the resources at our disposal in order to more significantly impact the world for eternity.

  3. Past Fruitful / Successful Missions • Christian missions have been successful in many places like sub-Saharan Africa • Just like a successful investment portfolio requires reallocation to strategically distribute resources (especially when do well in some areas and not in others), effective Great Commission outreach requires reallocation of resources.

  4. Completing the Great Commission • Jesus told us to make disciples of all ethne / ethnos (people groups) • In order to do this, we Christian disciples must be engaged with all ethne • At present, there are many peoples with little or no Gospel witness • In order to fulfill Jesus’ last command, we must make it a high priority • This requires that we send people and resources where they are currently sparse but in very great need

  5. Where are the majority of gospel / Christian resources?

  6. If resources were distributed equally, they would be distributed according to: Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD 2200. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001. (WCT)

  7. Actually: Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD 2200. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.

  8. 0.51 x proportional share 7.4 x proportional share 0.017 0.0018 0.0083 0.049 1.3 Afghanistan 0.000072 x proportional share < 1.0 (Has less than country’s fair share per person) = 1.0 (Has country’s fair share per person) > 1.0 (Has more than country’s fair share per person) Data Source: World Christian Trends, Barrett & Johnson Ratios of Countries’ Portions of the World’s Christian (Personal or Church) Income on a per Person Basis Lowest Ratio (less than country’s portion) Highest Ratio (more than country’s portion)

  9. Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD 2200. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.

  10. $130,000 $1,551,000 $15,800 $9,800 $171,800 $40,800 Afghanistan $30,400 Mozambique $1,400 Data Source: World Christian Trends, Barrett & Johnson Cost Effectiveness of World Missions Based on the Cost to Lead to the Baptism of a New Convert Most Effective Least Effective

  11. David Barrett on Good Missions Stewardship “Dollar for dollar and hour for hour, the harvest coming from the 10/40 Window nations outstrips that from the rest of the world 100 to 1,” Barrett says. “That is, if the same money and time spent to win one person to the Lord in the West were put to use in the 10/40 Window nations, the effort would yield a harvest of 100 souls added to the kingdom of God. It is 100 times more cost effective, therefore, to reach those in the 10/40 Window. But for a sizable number of ethnolinguistic groups, cost-effectiveness reaches 1000 times more than in Western countries.” World Christian Encyclopedia

  12. Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD 2200. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.

  13. 1.6 x proportional share 0.034 6.0 x proportional share 0.0097 0.090 0.022 0.33 0.29 0.97 Afghanistan 0.0035 x proportional share < 1.0 (Has less than country’s fair share per person) = 1.0 (Has country’s fair share per person) > 1.0 (Has more than country’s fair share per person) Data Source: World Christian Trends, Barrett & Johnson Ratios of Countries’ Portions of the World’s Christian Workers on a per Person Basis Lowest Ratio (less than country’s portion) Highest Ratio (more than country’s portion)

  14. Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD 2200. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.

  15. 0.18 x proportional share 0.054 5.0 x proportional 0.0070 share 0.0078 0.056 0.21 0.33 0.52 Afghanistan 0.0035 x proportional share Note: Most of the red or orange nations are islands < 1.0 (Has less than country’s fair share per person) = 1.0 (Has country’s fair share per person) > 1.0 (Has more than country’s fair share per person) Data Source: World Christian Trends, Barrett & Johnson Ratios of Countries’ Portions of the World’s Christian Periodicals on a per Person Basis Fewest Most

  16. Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD 2200. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.

  17. 268 0.034 2 368 <1 16 <1 13 29 562 Afghanistan 0.02 Data Source: World Christian Trends, Barrett & Johnson Number of Evangelistic Offers or Opportunities to Become a Disciple per Capita per Year Fewest Most

  18. Needed in the U.S. • Clearly the U.S. has more than her share of Christian finances, resources, and ministers. • Thus, the U.S. does NOT need more money to obey the Great Commission in this nation • Obedient followers of Jesus with vision (from the Lord) are needed

  19. The Great Need for More Emphasis on Reaching the Unevangelized with the Gospel

  20. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” Romans 15:20, 21 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Revelation 5:9 After this I looked and 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. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9

  21. From “World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD 2200” by David Barrett and Todd Johnson • Current Missionary distribution: 2.4% (among) unevangelized, 24.5% evangelized non-Christians, 73.1% Christians (pp. 40 & 55) • 1990 AoG missionaries – 2.0%, 34.2%, 63.8% (p. 57) • 1990 Pentecostal/Charismatic missionaries – 1%, 25%, 74% (p. 56) • Foreign mission money p.a. – 1.7%, 11.7%, 86.6% (p. 55) • Full-time workers – 0.4%, 23.7%, 75.9% (p. 55) • Tracts (leaflets) p.a. – 0.2%, 4.0%, 95.8% (p. 55) • Only 8.7% of all Christian personnel, outreach, and evangelism ever gets through to the evangelized non-Christian world/peoples and only 0.3% to the unevangelized (p. 81) • 91% of all Christian outreach/evangelism does not target non-Christians but targets other Christians in (60%+) Christian countries, cities, peoples, populations, or situations (p. 3) • It costs Christians 700 times more money to baptize converts in rich Christian countries (Switzerland) than in poor unevangelized countries (Nepal) (p. 3)

  22. Windows International Network • “Only five pennies of every $100 given to missions goes to the 10/40 Window!” • That's 0.05%!!!

  23. Pioneers (Missions Organization) • “Worldwide, Christians earn $12.3 trillion a year.Of that $12.3 trillion, only 1.7% is given to Christian causes of any kind.Of this 1.7%, only 5.4% goes to foreign missions.Of this 5.4%, only 1% goes to people without any opportunity to hear about Jesus!” • Let's break this down:  0.092% of all Christian earned income goes to missions.  0.054% of the money of Christian causes goes to unreached peoples. 0.00092% of all Christian earned income goes to people with little or no opportunity to hear about Jesus! • Core Value: Unreached PeoplesWe believe that our primary calling from God is to proclaim Christ among unreached peoples--those groups remaining in the world who have the least opportunity to hear and understand the life-giving message of the Gospel. There are still many hundreds of ethno-linguistic groups who do not have their own churches. Our passion is to bring the first spark of light to these dark places. <http://www.pioneers.org/Portals/0/UltimateImpact.pdf>, page 5 <http://www.pioneers.org/Default.aspx?tabid=39&PrevTab=1>, Core Values Matter

  24. Quote from Justin Long in the May-June 2006 issue of “Missions Frontiers” • "The majority of Christians in the world are still not aware of the challenge of the unreached, and many that are aware feel little or no responsibility.  . . . Of the US $15 billion given to missions, less than 2% is given for mission to the unreached, and less than 5% of the world's missionaries are focused on the unreached."  (Emphasis added.) • "Will we change?  If current patterns continue, the unreached will still represent one-fourth of the world's population in 2025.  'Insanity,'wrote Albert Einstein, 'is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.'" (Emphasis added.) < http://www.missionfrontiers.org/2006/03/PDFs/08-11_Ethne.pdf >, page 9

  25. Where Are Missionaries Needed the Most? • Unreached people groups • Least evangelized world or unevangelized world (“World A”) • 10/40 Window

  26. Where Are the People Who Have Not Heard About Jesus? • Most Christians can more easily locate countries rather than people groups • Joshua Project* and WCT missions information was used to prioritize the nations using ten criteria • Data for 15,893 people groups and 222 countries were used to evaluate the status of Christianity in the nations • The results have many possible applications about world evangelization efforts *<http://www.joshuaproject.net/download.php >

  27. Prioritization Weighting

  28. Note: Most of the purple nations are (small) islands Data Source: Advocates for the Unreached Great Commission Prioritization of Countries Lowest Priority Highest Priority

  29. Country Great Commission Status / Prioritization Scores

  30. Need of USA vs. Other Countries *Note: Of the 1,533,000 Christian workers in the U.S., 1.28 million or 83.4% of these Christian workers could perhaps be missionaries in another country in order to achieve global equity

  31. Need of USA vs. Other Countries (cont’d) Sources: Barrett and Johnson WCT, Joshua Project

  32. Lausanne Covenant In 1974, it was more difficult to get many Christians, especially from different denominations, to agree upon some things. Yet, something remarkable happened after the Rev. Billy Graham and his evangelistic association helped initiate Lausanne I: The International Congress on World Evangelization in Switzerland. In July of 1974, more than 2,300 evangelical leaders from 150 countries agreed upon the Lausanne Covenant to be more intentional about world evangelization. The following paragraph is quoted from the Lausanne Covenant of 1974 and would be an excellent centerpiece or core value of any church missions program or personal missions involvement.

  33. 9. THE URGENCY OF THE EVANGELISTIC TASK "More than 2,700 million people, which is more than two-thirds of all humanity, have yet to be evangelised. We are ashamed that so many have been neglected; it is a standing rebuke to us and to the whole Church. There is now, however, in many parts of the world an unprecedented receptivity to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are convinced that this is the time for churches and para-church agencies to pray earnestly for the salvation of the unreached and to launch new efforts to achieve world evangelization. A reduction of foreign missionaries and money in an evangelised country may sometimes be necessary to facilitate the national church's growth in self-reliance and to release resources for unevangelised areas. Missionaries should flow ever more freely from and to all six continents in a spirit of humble service. The goal should be, by all available means and at the earliest possible time, that every person will have the opportunity to hear, understand, and to receive the good news. We cannot hope to attain this goal without sacrifice. All of us are shocked by the poverty of millions and disturbed by the injustices which cause it. Those of us who live in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism." (Emphasis added.) <http://www.perspectives.org/about/lausanne.html>

  34. What Can We Do? • #1 – More prayer is needed for people in highly prioritized nations who have little or no opportunity to hear the truth about Jesus and very few Christians to pray for them • New missionaries can be sent to least reached peoples • Gospel tools can be used or translated to help reach high priority people • Greater emphasis could be placed on international student ministry

  35. Practical Ways to Make a Difference • Churches and individuals can evaluate the missionaries / organizations they support and consider focusing more on high priority countries • Churches could add more new missionaries &/or establish goals to increase the percentage of their support in high priority nations • 10/40 Window Bible school scholarships, radio, Bible translation, or scripture / gospel literature support could be earmarked for high priority countries (like with Gospel for Asia, the Bible League, or Every Home for Christ) • Get involved with international student ministry

  36. Conclusion • There is a great need to prioritize reaching people who have little or no access to the Gospel • Countries with many least reached peoples can be targeted with more focused prayer and new missionaries or gospel resources.

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