The Injustice of Being Unreached
“No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once.”
- Oswald J. Smith
With so many other justice issues grabbing our attention, it is easy for Christ followers to forget that 40% of the world lives among people groups which have no access to the gospel. Two thousand years after Christ gave the Great Commission it is extremely unjust that so many people should still be unreached. Allowing 40% of the people on the planet to live without having an opportunity to know Christ—who Himself embodies justice—is extremely wrong.
To make matters worse, this injustice is uniquely perpetrated by the only people who can make things right: the Church. Today’s church has amazing technology, travel ability, and immense resources at its disposal. Yet billions of people still remain in environments with no access to the gospel. How can the church sit back and continue to permit such injustice?
Jesus paid the ultimate price, His life, so that every unreached people group would have an opportunity to experience the life that only He can give. Jesus’ last words highlight His heart that not one person be unreached—He commanded His followers to go into all the world and make disciples of every nation. Yet over 7,000 people groups around the world still remain unreached.
This is not fair! Not having access to Jesus is not just!
Yes, it is wrong for someone to be enslaved in poverty, to suffer with AIDs, or to go without clean water, but it is even more wrong for believers to allow millions to live and die without ever having a chance to follow Christ. Christ followers must wake up. We must cry out for those who have never had an opportunity to know HIM who is the ultimate answer to every justice issue.
The Bread of Life is needed in every hungry child’s home. Jehovah Jireh is essential in every struggling economy. Unreached nations oppressed by pornography, trafficking, and prostitution need to encounter a holy and loving God who wants to set them free. Members of every unreached people group need to experience the purpose for which their Creator fashioned them. The unreached must be given an opportunity to know Jesus.