10 Great Commission Thoughts to Challenge You Today

Five times in the New Testament, Jesus gave us a command about taking the gospel to the world (Matt 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:45-47, John 20:21, Acts 1:8). Think about Jesus’ words and the thoughts below today, and pray about your role in this task. 

1. Many of us have more Bibles in our home than we have human beings. Meanwhile, only about 550 languages of the world’s 7000 languages have the whole Bible in that language. About 1800 languages still have none of the Bible translated.
2. A single 30-minute sermon is more time in the Word than 3 billion+ people in the world have had engaging the Word in their entire lifetime. We who have access to the Word through preaching, study, books, the Internet, etc., have great reason not to take these gifts for granted.
3. Studies show that many North American believers do not share with others the gospel of Jesus Christ. That means we’re not doing the Great Commission at its most basic level – sharing Christ with our family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors.
4. By some estimates, no more than 2% of church contributions go to international missions. Yet, more than 3 billion people in the world are in unreached people groups, and millions in “reached” groups don’t know Jesus.
5. In America, the ratio of Southern Baptist churches (my denomination) to the population is 1 church for every 6,194 persons. In Canada, that ratio is 1 church:115,040 people. In the Northeastern United States – where 17 percent of the U.S. population lives on 2 percent of the country’s land mass – the ratio is 1:37,788. Needless to say, we need more God-focused, evangelical congregations in North America.
6. In New York City, more than 800 languages are spoken in homes. God is bringing the world to the United States, and we must be willing to go where unreached people are – even on this continent, and even across the street.   
7. More than 150,000 people around the world die each day. Based on the lostness of the world, we can assume that most of these people do not know Jesus. This fact should break us and move us.
8. More missionaries are sent to the United States than any other country. Christianity Today reported in 2013 that the U.S. sent out and received more missionaries than any other country. In some ways, other believers around the world recognize our lostness more than we do.
9. As many as 100,000 churches in America are facing “accelerated decline” in 2016. Thom Rainer argues that more and more church members are not willing to be a part of ineffective churches. This decline must have some effect on Great Commission work.
10. Somebody brought the gospel to you. It may have been parents, grandparents, a friend, a pastor, or someone else. Even before that, somebody brought the message to them. All of us are recipients of somebody else’s Great Commission obedience. How can we not do the same for others?