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Archive for May 23rd, 2007

THE INSULAR GOSPEL GHETTO

Posted by straight shooter on May 23, 2007 under Religion, Theological Concerns

According to the International Programs Center, U.S. Bureau of the Census, as of May 15, 2007, the total population of the world is 6,595,336,785.

Over two billion of them are Christians.

That’s one out of every three persons on the planet.

But according to the latest research from Todd M. Johnson, Research Fellow and Director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, most non-Christians have never met one.

The vast majority of the world’s non-Christians have relatively little contact with Christians. In fact, over 86% of all Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims do not even know a Christian. Globally, over 80% of all non-Christians do not personally know a Christian.

Read that again, slowly: Over 80% of all non-Christians do not personally know a Christian.

This exposes the heart of our cultural crisis. We have confused the command to not be of the world with not being in it. Western Christians in particular are isolated from the very people we say we long to reach. We have retreated into a subculture of our own making. We populate churches that cater exclusively to the already convinced so that we can be “fed” and “ministered to!”

As a result, we live in a gospel ghetto. We have become insular in not only our thinking, but our very lives. There is even a less-than-subtle hostility toward those who are not Christians among many who claim the Great Commission as their marching orders.

This was not the model of Jesus.

He went into the world; He spent time with those who were far apart from God. He reached out relationally, built friendships, went into their homes, attended their parties, broke bread at their tables.

He was called a friend of sinners.

And the world needs more friends just like Him.

But as a first-century apologist once wrote, “…how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?”