April 2019 – More than 41% of the global population is unreached with the gospel, according to the Joshua Project, a nonprofit focused on gathering information about the world’s least reached people groups. What efforts for evangelism should be made in light of the vast numbers of people who are still unreached?

The priority of evangelism
Ryan Bush, president of International Church Planters, teaches theology to pastors and missionaries in the global south (primarily South America, as well as parts of Africa and Asia) to equip them for church planting in those areas.

“Talking about the numbers and how many people don’t know Christ according to the Joshua Project, how should we be concerned?” he asked. “I’m not held accountable for statistics. I’m responsible for the guy sitting next to me on the airplane. Salvation is not up to me. Sharing is up to me. That’s evangelism.”

Bush’s main focus is not on making new converts, but on training existing believers to become missionaries in their own regions. He believes that maintaining the right priority equips evangelism.

“If you’ve ever driven the Andes mountains in Ecuador or Peru, you’re familiar with roads that will make you question what you’re doing,” he said. “But if you’re lucky, you’ll have a rail on the side of the 2,000-10,000 foot precipice that will keep you from falling off.”

There are such guardrails for evangelism, he added. Mainly, the rail to hold onto for guidance in evangelism is preaching and teaching the Word of God.

“Teach the Word in all contexts and circumstances,” he said. “In Jesus’s ministry, activities that met physical or social needs always pointed toward meeting spiritual needs.”

However, flexible methods allow the Word of God to be taught with greatest impact.

“We’ve got to hold the priority of teaching the Word of God in a tight fist,” Bush said. “But on the other hand, we hold our methods and strategies lightly.”

The mercy of evangelism
Don Currin, veteran church planter and Eastern European coordinator for HeartCry Missionary Society, echoed the focus on the individual as the starting point for effective evangelism - beginning with answering the question, Who is my neighbor?

“Let us define the word neighbor,” Currin said. “A neighbor is any person in need of mercy. I am to show mercy to my neighbors who are suffering, whether their needs are physical, financial, or spiritual – to show the mercy of God to such an extent that I share the message that God showed infinite mercy in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ.”

In these terms, it is not difficult to find a starting point for ministry. The person needing the mercy of Christ could be next door, in the next seat, or just down the road.

“There are always some in need near our own doors,” Currin said. “There are people in my neighborhood with all the trappings of the world who offend the average church member … we see the body piercings, the evidence of drug abuse, the tattoos.” He believes Christians’ eyes are often blind, their ears deaf to the cries of those who need Christ. Each local church must learn to see its community as sheep without a shepherd.

Mercy as the catalyst for evangelism activates true outreach that changes lives, thus allowing people to comprehend the character of Christ.

“Never be content with looking at people with pity, yet not following through in extending mercy to them,” Currin said. “The mercy that impacts men for Christ is not a sympathetic sentiment of compassion, but an act of obedience. We should never be satisfied with a subjective feeling of pity, but rather what we see must lead to the action of sacrificial mercy.”

The strength of evangelism
The role of the individual in evangelism is upheld by the strong bones of the church, its leadership, and God’s Word, three elements providing structure, guidance, and authority.

God has made the church central to His work and purposes on earth, and so a connection to the church must be at the core of evangelism.

“The local church is the means God has given us to fulfill His commands,” said Mark Dever, president of 9Marks, a ministry for churches and church leaders. “The church is not a human idea. It is fundamentally God’s idea and God’s work. Jesus has entrusted the church with the keys to His authority.”

The pastor is at the head of the church and the head of efforts for evangelism, as the shepherd who provides care and leadership for all individuals – both those leading others to Christ and those being led. As shepherd and overseer, the pastor must protect and shepherd the flock.

“Everything that a minister does must be done with the sheep in mind,” said missionary and pastor Anthony Mathenia, who serves with HeartCry Missionary Society. “Decisions that are made must be made in the best spiritual interest of the people.”

And of course, proper shepherding, as well as proper obedience by the flock, must revolve around the authority of the Word of God.

“The goal of the preacher is to open up the Scriptures and point sinners to the Savior, to strengthen the weak, to relieve the burdened, to grant clarity to the confused,” Mathenia said. “A minister of the gospel must provide spiritual nourishment.”

The Word of God is what gives confidence in evangelism and strength to the church. Mathenia said that in Revelation, we see the Great Commission fulfilled in the great heavenly gathering of every tribe, tongue, and nation.

“We know that this Great Commission works – that it will work,” Dever pointed out. “We don’t have to fear, to merely wish that it would work. We know that it succeeds.

“This is the point of the whole Bible, of God’s revelation to us. It’s about Him making promises and keeping them. His Word to us is promised, and we respond by trusting Him.”

The surety of that promise means the work of evangelism relies on nothing but those three principles: the teaching of the Word, the mercy of God, and the authority of the church and its leadership.

“Christian ministry is about spreading the fragrance of Christ,” said Conrad Mbwe, pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia, Africa. “Once we have grasped that, there is a buoyancy that comes into our ministry, a sense of satisfaction that what man can do, we have done, and we leave the results up to God.” 

 G3 conference
AFA Journal staff writer Stacy Singh attended the 2019 (seventh annual) G3 Conference: The Mission of God. The sources she quotes were speakers at the event. G3 stands for gospel, grace, and glory: three pillars built on the foundation of Scripture.

“It is our goal to see the people who attend G3 reach neighborhoods and the nations with the gospel,” say conference organizers.

The 2020 G3 will be January 16-18 in Atlanta, Georgia. Its theme will focus on worship. Early registration tickets are available until May 31. Learn more at g3conference.com.

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Resources
International Church Planters
intlchurchplanters.squarespace.com
501-362-3339

Don Currin Ministries
doncurrinministries.org
540-707-1005

9Marks
9marks.org
202-543-1224

HeartCry Missionary Society
heartcrymissionary.com
540-707-1005