Statistics about the progress of the Gospel in the modern world

On the same portal that I have shared before, I found other statistics that help us realize the progress of the Gospel nowadays.

The Gospel hasn’t yet been preached to the ends of the world

When the disciples asked Jesus what the sign of his coming was going to be and when would come the end of the age, He told them:

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. (The Gospel of Matthew 24:14)(NASB)

We live in a century of the most advanced technologies, where news spread very quickly. During some hours most inhabitants of the Earth found out about the tragedy that happened on the 11th of September in USA. The Gospel has been preached for almost 2000 years and here is what the statistics say:

• Of the 5.8 billion people in our world, 1.2 billion (around 20%) have yet to hear the Gospel.

• 6 000 people groups are broadly Christian, another 3 000 have some Christian witness and the other 3000 are “unreached” with about 1000 having no known Christians and no outreach.

• Of 370 megalanguages (spoken by more than a million people) 201 remain without any Christian broadcasts.

• 97% of the unevangelised live in the “10-40 Window” (see the map)

You could dedicate your life to bring the Gospel to one of this people. This means to go to them, to live with them, to learn their language, to translate the Bible in their language, to make disciples and workers that will share the news of salvation with their nation.

The Gospel is spread very quickly

Even if we live times of apathy, when materialism and indiference towards your neighbour seized many of those who call themselves Christians, the Gospel is spread with a great power, because the Gospel of Christ “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes”. Here is what statistics say about the way how the Gospel was spread during centuries:

• In AD 100 there was one Christian to every 360.
• Now it is almost 1 Christian to every 5 non-Christians.
• 70% of evangelicals live in third world countries.

What is your personal contribution to spread the message of the Gospel? How many people have heard and understood the message of the Gospel from your testomony? How many people have been motivated by your exemple and became disciples of the Lord Jesus? Whom did you tell about Jesus Christ today and the previous week?

Let us go where Jesus is not known

In the Epistle of Romans, Paul wrote to Christians from Rome about his future plans:

In the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as ⁾far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; but as it is written, ”THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.” For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain–for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while… (Romans 15:19–24)(NASB)

Here is what statistics say about the Christian mission ministry today:

• Of 332 000 missionaries in the world, 328 000 work with evangelised people and 4 000 with the unreached.

• 1 missionary to every 400 000 unreached people. 

Why is it so? There can be many reasons, but the main one is fear to die and to be persecuted. May God give us the same courage that missionaries have when they share the Gospel with the unreached people and the one that Apostle Paul had when he said:

For to me to live is Christ and to die is a gain. (Philippians 1:21)(NASB)

God has always protected courageous people who trusted in His power and He carried them from victory to victory. You can become one of these people and in this way live a fulfilled life.

How much money have you invested for the salvation of other people?

The spreading of the Gospel needs material and financial resources. God urges us for many times in the Holy Scriptures to share the resources He has blessed us with, to contribute to the salvation of those who haven’t yet heard about Christ. But not all Christians show the same passion and open-handedness for others’ salvation. The same happened in the times of the New Testament. Here is what Apostle Paul says in the same Epistle to Philippians when he thanked them for the help they had sent him for the mission he was doing:

You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. (Philippians 4:15–17)(NASB)

What Christians give for the spreading of the Gospel is a profit which increased to their account and it is a treasure that lasts in heavens. But… statistics are very sad at this chapter and here is what they say:

• Out of every thousand pounds, 999 is spent by the Church on the Christian world, 90p is spent on the non-Christian world and 10p on people groups with no means of hearing the Gospel.

• In the US, 60 times as much money is spent on alcohol as spent on missions, and 18 times as much money is spent on pets as spent on missionary work.

Last numbers are statistics for the country that in our modern world has sent and supports most missionaries. Can we imagine what is the situation in this domain in other countries? We don’t have any statistics concerning this in Moldova, but we are aware that is can be worse than the above numbers.

How much money have you given and do you personally give for the mission ministry? What can you do more for the spreading of the Gospel?

May God bless us with good hearts, ready to take part in the Gospel since the very first day of our repentance until the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Translated by Felicia Djugostran