The Cart Before the Horse (Access)
We in the United States of America are spoiled. Not really a shocking revelation, I know, but I’m not known to be the most edgy guy. I appreciate Nathan’s extensive engagement with the topic of the Bible, and the way that the Scripture is used and misused by many in the post-modern intellectual realms of the West. “Little O” orthodox Christianity was built upon the revelation contained within the Holy Word we have handed down to us, and the same mistake, repeated over the centuries within the Church, attempts to knock that foundation out from under the Faith. So we cannot neglect the truths that Nathan pointed out to us over the past 6 weeks.
However, I want to propose a concept that most evangelistic Christians — the portion who actually wants to share their faith in order that the “rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners” (Westminster Confession, Chapter XI) — forget simply because we in the West don’t have to think much about it: We have to be able to get the person the gospel before they can respond. Profound, I know. So really, the biggest obstacle most Western Christians have ever faced in sharing their faith is the motivation/desire to do so or the ability to overcome their fear/anxiety. But for much of the world, even being able to get the gospel is a first problem.
If you haven’t thought of this before, spend a few minutes considering the idea. If I’m living in the jungles of Congo, my first concern may not be whether the Bible in authoritative. If I live in the mountain valleys of Tajikistan, the answers to post-modern reader-response arguments can be dealt with in a couple years. If my whole life has been immersed in Tibetan Buddhism in Sikkim, I have never considered the imputation of Jesus’ righteousness into my life, because I have never had access to the gospel. It’s not that I or my parents or my grandparents rejected the gospel. It’s that we never had the ability to respond to the gospel; because we never had the access.
Although primarily to guard against the ideas of “friendship evangelism” — winning the lost with your Christian behavior and attitude, but never actually sharing the gospel with them — and Inclusivism — that maybe other religions’ pathways also may lead their adherents to salvation, one agency has given its evangelists the following statement: “People must hear (or read, or have signed to them) the gospel message and believe it in order to be reconciled to God and saved from hell. There is no other way to be saved.”
Considering the topic of Access is the first step to getting the gospel to those who would respond. Christians do not convert individuals. No person can “force” another person to believe. But just as we have to reveal the gospel to our children, with whom we spend each day in our houses, we have to find a way to reveal the gospel to those in the Congo or the mountains of Central Asia. And we have a responsibility to those in Birmingham, or Nashville, or London, or Mexico City, who — though living in historically “Christian” cities — have slipped through the cracks and never heard the gospel.
No one can be saved apart from receiving. So let’s make sure they receive.
The Elephant In The Room
Extreme geographic isolation plays a part in some Unengaged, Unreached People Groups having never heard the gospel. But the primary reason most of those who have never heard have in fact never heard is that somebody doesn’t want them to hear. And this is not a nice way of saying “some Christian in Tupelo is too selfish and won’t get off his couch to take the gospel to the other side of the world.” Rather, I mean governments won’t allow foreign Christians into the country if their primary expressed purpose is sharing the gospel or even just supporting an existing national church. And on a more local level, community leaders won’t allow biblical Christian ideas to be widely and freely disseminated.
So evangelism will not happen in most of the unreached places and peoples in the world without effort and creativity. “Reaching the most unreached” is going to be more expensive than just buying and handing out some Christian literature. And it’s going to be more time-consuming than most American employees have days off per year. If you’re going to be personally involved, there are going to be a lot of hand-wringing, gut-wrenching moments waiting on Visa Approvals, standing in front of Immigration Officials, and sweating through awkwardly silent pauses in conversations with village elders.
Every believer plays a part in Accessing the Most Unreached. The Frontliners need your prayers and your financial gifts. But you may be able to do something with your business connections, your ideas, and your unique skills that the Frontliner could never do.
