Do You Feel Led To Do More?

Charles Peace was a notorious criminal in England in the 1800s. After being found guilty for all of his crimes, he was sentenced to death at Armley Prison. While on the walk to his execution, a prison chaplain walked with him while reading Bible verse after Bible verse from The Consolations of Religion. Confused at how he could rifle these off with no emotion, Peace stopped him to say, “Sir, if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worth while living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!” Although Peace stated this in an effort to insult the chaplain, could there be an element of truth in his statement? Do we lack enthusiasm and urgency in sharing Christ with others?

This is something that I’ve discussed with my good friend, Grant. Oftentimes, he and I would listen to and send each other sermons that we felt worth sharing. One sermon we had shared with each other was from David Platt, where the question came up of, “What happens to those who never heard the Gospel?” After lots of discussion around a tough topic, we both understood that having faith in Christ is what leads to eternal life. And, with that, we instantly confessed that we could do a better job of proclaiming Christ to others. Although neither of us felt called to long-term missions, we both felt especially sad for those who live their entire lives and never hear the Good News of Jesus; many label these people groups as “Unreached.”

In fact, a few Sundays back, Pastor Josh shared a staggering statistic on how many people in our world today are unreached. Of the 7.75 billion people alive today, around 3.23 billion of them are part of an unreached people group with little or no access to the gospel. It was learning info like this many years ago that led Grant and I to a desire to do something more. So, I downloaded an app called “Unreached of the Day.” This app from the Joshua Project shares a different unreached people group each day - along with a summary of that people group, where they are located, outreach ideas, and focused prayer. Each day, I share the link with Grant, and he “Likes” the message to show me that he’s praying for that unreached people group with me. Just a couple of weeks ago, both of us were stunned to see that the unreached people group for that particular day was located in the United States. It’s hard to come to terms with the reality that there are people, not just in other countries, but even living among us right now who don’t know who Jesus is.

With that in mind, I’d like to challenge you with a question. Do you feel that you could be doing more to advance the Gospel? Not only in unreached people groups, but even in your everyday life? For me, it was as simple as downloading an app, and praying alongside a friend every day for people around the world to know Jesus as their Savior. But for you, it could be something different. Maybe you’re passionate about sharing Christ with those who practice another religion. If so, look into joining a Gateway international mission trip. Do you have friends or neighbors who are Muslim? If that’s you, consider signing up for World Outreach’s 6-week workshop on “How to Connect with Your Muslim Neighbor.” Maybe you just want to do a better job of proclaiming Christ in your everyday life - at work, at school, at home, etc. If that’s you and you feel like you need help, check out our resources on RightNow Media. However it makes sense for you, consider taking a step today that will help you share the Gospel with others.