Submitted by C Lacy Thompson on
Southern Baptists have made it undeniably clear that they take the Great Commission
charge to carry the gospel to the world literally – and seriously.
Southern Baptists have made it undeniably clear that they take the Great Commission
charge to carry the gospel to the world literally – and seriously.
Half of their Cooperative Program receipts go for international
missions. Another 20 percent or so is used for North American efforts to share
Jesus Christ.
Missions is a highlight emphasis at annual conventions. Through
the years, missions has served as a guaranteed rallying point. Indeed, next
to the Cooperative Program, perhaps the most recognizable Southern Baptist effort
in history is Bold Mission Thrust, the name given to the denominations
25-year effort to fulfill the daunting challenge of the Great Commission.
Make no mistake – Southern Baptists are committed to missions.
Make no mistake as well – the task they have assumed is
no small one.
Indeed, recent figures offer both motivation – and reason
for concern.
First, the good news.
Christianity is the globes largest religion, claiming
1.9 billion followers – or 31 percent of the world population. The numbers
put Christianity ahead of all other faiths.
Islam claims 1.2 billion followers, about 19.6 percent of the
world population.
Hinduism ranks third with 811 million worldwide followers.
Then comes Buddhism (360 million followers), Sikhism (23 million) and Judaism
(14 million).
All in all, the World Christian Encyclopedia terms Christianity
the “most extensive and universal religion in history.”
Now, for the bad news.
Christianity is NOT the fastest-growing religion in the world
– and did NOT even hold its own in the most-recent century.
When it comes to gaining ground, Muslims are surging. So are
non-religious people.
In 1900, Muslims claimed 200 million followers, about 12.3
percent of the world population at the time. In 2000, the Islam faith claimed
19.6 percent, a sizable jump.
In like fashion, there were 3 million non-religious persons
in the world in 1900. In the year 2000, a total of 768 million persons identified
themselves as non-religious – 12.7 percent of all the people in the world.
How did Christianity do?
In 1900, the Christian faith claimed 555 million followers.
While that number had exploded by the year 2000, the portion of the world population
claiming Christianity had fallen from 32.2 percent to 31 percent.
Simply put – the Great Commission challenge lost ground
in the 20th century.
Missions leaders realize this. They understand business as
usual is not going to get the job done. They are intent on doing things differently
– and one can be assured some of their efforts will work and some will
not.
However, all will be employed to answer a simple question –
why?
Why – if Christianity is the true faith as its followers
believe – is it not being embraced on a larger scale?
Why did the Muslim population quadruple in America in the last
30 years?
There are various reasons, of course.
Access is one. Some people simply have not had the opportunity
to hear the gospel.
Culture is another. Some people must defy family, friends and
society to believe.
“Isms” are yet another reason. Who can deny materialism,
commercialism, communism, New Ageism and the such have not seduced their fair
share of persons?
And one must not forget human nature, which resists the idea
of any surrender.
However, perhaps there is a greater reason as well, a deeper,
more troubling one. Perhaps part of the reason lies in the misunderstanding
of the gospel charge.
As Jesus delivered it, the commission was not necessarily to
go with the express intent of sharing the gospel – although that certainly
is needed these days.
But it seems that Jesus intent was for Christians –
as they go – naturally to pass along the message of good news, naturally
to draw others to him, naturally to let them know there was something different
about them, something deeper, truer, kinder, stronger, more loving.
Love.
There is a key – perhaps the key.
Check the Scripture. How many passages talk about the love
of Christ that is to be passed on, passed along, passed around, passed to one
another, passed from God to follower to fellow traveler – and so on and
so on?
“All men will know you are my disciples if you love one
another,” Jesus said.
So, the question comes – in a world where Christianity
is losing ground to other faiths, where so many people have not heard or believed
or been convinced – does the world know Christians by their love?
Does the world know Christians by the way they go, the way
they pass along what they have found in their lives?
Does it?
Here is the truth – programs come and go, even programs
like Bold Mission Thrust.
Movements flourish and die – even church planting movements
like those currently being reported by Southern Baptist missions leaders around
the world.
That is the truth.
Here is the truth as well – the Great Commission is not
a task to be completed.
It is a lifestyle to be embraced.
It is the lifestyle of one person passing on something to another,
who passes it on to another, who passes it on to another, who passes it on …
and on … and on … and …
That is how the world will be reached.
That is how planet earth will be saved.
That is how Jesus intended it to be.
The Great Commission? That was just his way of saying –
now, go do it.
The answer? Well, that is up to each one who claims this worlds
“most extensive and universal religion.”
Is it not?