Join the Mission without a Passport!

The New Testament rips up ethnic and religious superiority by its roots. It exposes the universal rot of sin that condemns us all. Still, apart from God’s grace, it’s fairly easy for us sinners to look down on people who don’t look like us, talk like us, or worship the one true and living God.

Unfortunately our churches don’t look like this now, but God says that a day is coming when faces from every language and people group will gather in HIS church in heaven. Which must also mean that there will be faces of those who repented but were once part of every other religious group. In Revelation 5:9-10, heaven’s courtiers sing a song to Jesus depicting the scope of this future scene in God’s throneroom.

For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.

But how will all of these different people end up as followers of Jesus? For example, people without a Bible in their “heart” language? There are 3000-4000 language groups that fit this description, and another 500-1000 groups have portions of the Bible but not a complete translation. That means 1.5 billion people are still in need of a complete Bible to read. And then there are vast numbers of people who are devoted to tribal religions, or Hinduism, or Islam, or Buddhism, most of whom have little or no access to the gospel. How will people now apart from Christ one day become followers of His who end up worshiping Him in heaven with us?

Missionaries, you might say. Absolutely. How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news! the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:15. But the worldwide mission force is not large—at least not for the remaining 5.5 billion people who aren’t believers. There are only 445,000 missionaries, a number which includes both Protestant and Catholic missionaries. Furthermore, 97% of them live and serve—not among unreached people, but in places and among people where a gospel beachhead has already been established. No wonder 86% of the world’s Muslims have never met a single follower of Jesus—and most likely never will in their lifetime.

There simply aren’t enough missionaries. But you and I can augment that force and actually make a difference. Make a difference without selling your house and belongings, without flying to another country and learning a new language. Right now you can make a difference over there, while living here. How?

I will also bless the foreigners [most of us fit this category since God said this to Israel] who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name… Isaiah 56:6

Pray. Maybe just one day a week if doing so every day seems too daunting. Intercede for a particular country, or a people group, or a language group, or people of a certain religion. Let your interest guide you and then find resources to help you pray. Like the monthly prayer guide for the world’s 31 largest (“frontier”) unreached people groups available at Keystone’s Mission display in the lobby. Plus, I frequently google my country of interest, click on “news,” and use recent developments to guide my praying. Go to Www.joshuaproject.net for exhaustive information on countries, peoples and religions. But if you’re not sure how to pray once you do decide who to pray for, go to www.prayercast.com and pray along with the prayers you find there.

In visually rich videos (3-6 minutes) that have been done exceptionally well, Prayercast chooses converts from the individual country/people group/religion to lead you in prayer. Or you can pray for an entire religion. Or pray especially during high holy days of other religions. The prayer possibilities are nearly endless.

The Kaaba [House of God], Islam’s holiest site. Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Let’s get blunt. If you are the kind of Christian who dismisses prayer as little more than a religious ritual, you’ll unlikely be willing to pray for anyone so far away, or for people whose changed lives you’ll never hear about. So…, here is a refresher list of promises God’s made to answer His people’s prayers:

1 John 5:14-15, Mark 11:24, John 14:13, Ephesians 3:20, John 16:24, Matthew 7:7-8, James 4:2.

You may be thinking, I haven’t seen God answer a lot of my prayers. Why would I expect Him to answer my prayers to save people I’ve never met and never will? Fair enough. First of all, sometimes we ask God for things that are not his will for us (1 John 5:14) and His answer is “no.” Which is still an answer. However one thing that we know with absolute certaintly is His will, is that He doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent (2 Peter 3:9).

Secondly, sometimes God’s answer to our prayer is “not yet.” Which is also still an answer.

One last thing. Don’t be surprised if God does more than answer your prayers for lost people. He just might begin to expand your heart for the world in a way you didn’t expect. He might turn you into a world Christian!