A Bird’s Eye View of Church Planting Where the Gospel Has Never Been.

by Jerry Benge

God’s plan has always been to fill the earth with His glory (Isa. 6:4). Looking back at all that God has revealed to us about this glorious plan from Genesis 12:1-3 through Revelation 7:9-10, we see the end game as “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Can you imagine what that day will be like?

But notice something else: The participants in this glorious celestial choir of redeemed sinners are people from “all tribes and people and languages!” Who but God Himself could unite such a diverse group of people in such a conflicted world?!

So how are we doing with this glorious task to spread the fame of God’s name to all peoples? Thus far, we have reached every continent (not including Antarctica which has only penguins). That is a good start. Furthermore, there are likely at least some Christians in most countries if you are simply looking at national boundaries. But consider this: The wording of these texts (including the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20) does not emphasize national boundaries (which often change in times of war) but rather (as already mentioned) “ethnic groups” or “language groups.” 

By that standard, there is more work to be done. Much more! The number is not exact, but we are looking at close to 3,100 distinct language groups that have little to no access to the Gospel! Just think about that for a moment. Why are these groups still unengaged? Because they have difficult barriers to overcome: linguistic (difficult languages); geographical (remote and sometimes harsh living); political and/ or ideological (hostile to the Gospel). To put it bluntly, the low hanging fruit has already been picked. So, when you look at all this, it is easy to understand why we continue to send more resources to language groups that already have Gospel influence, while overlooking (perhaps ignoring?) the unpicked fruit higher up on the tree.

It is not merely a question of cost. Jesus already made it clear (and Bob has echoed this in our Luke series) that the Christian life is costly (Luke 9:23-24). But when you are aiming for the infinite worth of God’s glory echoing throughout eternity in a multiplicity of languages due to a Redeemer whose life, death, and resurrection will finally have put together a fractured world—that totally changes the equation.

The above observations explain why in the past five years we have taken on five missionary families (nearly 25% of the missionaries that we support) to go to places with people groups where Christ has not been named (Rom. 15:20). Consequently, we need to make sure that all of us are doing our part in “holding the rope” for them. That requires a thorough understanding of what goes into the effort to see the Gospel gain a foothold in such places. If you have been to our prayer meetings or followed this in your ABF, you may have some idea already of some of the details. But there is nothing like a “birds-eye flyover” to give you a more comprehensive understanding of the incredible challenges these missionaries face. It will motivate you to grasp the rope more regularly and tightly in your prayers.

Below you will find a couple of links that we highly recommend. The first one is a video that we showed on our Missions’ Movie night back on August 13. Ask anyone who saw this 30-minute movie, and they will tell you how powerful it was to see the glory of God in the evangelization, discipling, and organizing of the Yembi Yembi people (in Papua, New Guinea) transformed into a Christ-loving, Gospel-propagating healthy church. If you didn’t see it, please click the first link below.

If you have already seen it, consider listening to a more in-depth testimony from missionaries (Brad and Nina Buser) who were featured in a 9Marks podcast. You can get to it by following the directions under point 2 below:

1.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e1zThDI3eo&t=38s

2.    Go to www.9marks.org.Then do a search for: On the Yembi Yembi, with Brooks and Nina Buser (Missions Talk, Ep. 15).

For God’s glory through the praise of all peoples,

Jerry Benge

Missions Pastor