Has the Gospel of Jesus Reached the Ends of the Earth? (Acts 1:8-Power)
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Have We Reached the Ends of the Earth?
It has been around 2000 years since this passage has been penned. Since then, the gospel has rapidly spread like a wildfire around the world. To this present day, disciples of every generation have been diligently sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. The message of the Son of God coming to die for our sins, eternal life, forgiveness, the coming Kingdom, and the judgment to come. After two millennia, could we finally be reaching the ends of the earth?
According to the Joshua Project, (an organization that researches and coordinates missionary efforts to identify and reach unreached people groups) 7,098 of the 17,070 people groups are considered unreached, or approximately 3.15 billion people world-wide. Equivalent to 42.1%, this is a staggering amount. It should cause us to wonder why the western church, as wealthy as it is, is so under involved in missions in the most needed places.
In fact, these days when we hear the word missionary in the west, we often have a misconception of what it means. Ordinarily, we think of a group of church people heading to a well-evangelized country for about a week to help expand a sanctuary or build a house. If we are truly called to go to such a reached country, then we must know for certain that we are hearing from our Lord. God will specifically move the hearts of those meant to labor there. There is certainly work to be done in places like that and the blessing of God is upon those laboring there within His will.
Our Father’s Business
Jesus told us, “And you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” We have entered a time where we have been put on notice. Our time is short, and we must be busy with our Father’s business, not being distracted with everything else.
We ought to reach the ends of the earth. Meanwhile, the church in the east within the 10/40 window (the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude) is under heavy persecution. Instead of sending multitudes of believers from our churches in the U.S. to help in the places needed most, we often find them spending time having structured programs in Mexico for a week instead.
According to Operation World revised 7th edition, Mexico is 95.03% Christian as of 2010. Consider the countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, or Algeria, all of which have less than 1% total Christians each. We must ask the question. Are we spending time with the Lord who has redeemed us? He who desires to walk with us in the cool of the evening. Is there a disconnect? Perhaps something has been lost in the vast ocean of time.
Live Out Sermons
Let’s turn our attention to an example of a small group of believers in a very remote village in northwestern China. There was a Christian man from Shanghai who once preached to about 70 young people from several house churches in a remote region of northwestern China. He first took 3 hours to preach on the “Lord’s Prayer”. The young people were squatting and sitting all over the mud floor or leaning against the wall of the little hut. They were not just listening; they were writing down every word he spoke.
After he finished, the house church leader gave him some tea, saying, “Please have some tea, then you can preach to us again.” After 3 hours of solid preaching, he preached for another 4 hours. All that time the young people were taking down notes, and echoing, “Amen, amen.”
Finally, he sat down totally exhausted. The house church leader said, “Now let us sing.” So, they began to sing. He was so shocked as he listened to them singing. The first few sentences went like this: “Do not listen to sermons, do not listen to sermons. We will not listen to sermons….”
They sang that after 7 hours of listening to sermons! Then they gave the answer. Clenching their fists, they sang, “We will live out the sermons!” (From 8 Lessons we can learn from the church in China.)
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral [a]excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
How different it would be if we would live out the sermons we heard! The Bible in II Peter 1:5 exhorts us to “apply all diligence.” We could also say, “make every effort.” This is exactly what we need today. We have stepped into a time when it is necessary to break free from all spiritual slumber and awaken to what is happening. Unlike those believers in that little hut in remote China, many believers in the free world will hardly tolerate an hour of preaching. If we were willing to be absorbed into the teaching of the Bible like those mentioned in the above story, perhaps we would be more willing to go beyond our comfort zones.
Some of the countries that need outreach mentioned above often fill our heart with fear. Escaping the chains of our comfort zones will help us build our faith and confidence. It helps us overcome fear and complacency. When we become obedient to Jesus’ command, we find great blessings involved. Those specific blessings are reserved for those willing to serve Him. Especially in the places that are considered unreached like those mentioned above.
The desire of the Father is to have a willing heart. We should cultivate a love for God’s word as one Chinese believer had many years ago. A man living in a time when the Bible was scarce. He had spent thousands and thousands of hours carefully handwriting his own Bible. Consequently, his hands became permanently deformed and twisted from all the writing. (Hearts of Fire pg. 205)
Safety vs. Danger
After the resurrection, Jesus commissioned us “to go into all the world.” Yet, it appears that much of the effort coming out of the western church operates only when we feel safe. The most dangerous place to be is not being trapped in an overseas prison for our faith. It is not us being tortured for years being a witness for Jesus. Instead, the most unsafe place to be is outside of the will of God.
The most dangerous place to be is not being trapped in an overseas prison for our faith. It is not us being tortured for years being a witness for Jesus. Instead, the most unsafe place to be is outside of the will of God.
Ideally, if we truly desire to imitate Jesus, then we must internalize the words He spoke, “For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10. These words ought to produce action in us. They should result in us advancing the kingdom of God to the last remaining strongholds of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave for us so that we may live. We should be willing then, to take this good news to “the remotest part of the earth” as an act of love for our fellow humans in foreign lands. Let us kindle the fire within our hearts this day to follow Jesus wherever He sends us. Let us commit our hearts afresh to His perfect will and lock arms together to advance the kingdom of God in the bonds of unity and love.
We are incredibly blessed by Ben, a guest contributor and writer, a missionary with a heart to advocate for the most unreached places. He kindly volunteered his time to write a timely admonishment for the GCM (Global Catalytic Ministries) community. If you would like to draft an article email [email protected].
Learn new disciple making tactics to reach your own lost family, friends, and neighbors. – Get Coached
