Staggering Lostness

I just finished reading an article in a religious newspaper that proved to be very sobering. It was reported that out of 340 million people in North America there are 258 million people without a saving relationship in Jesus Christ. Let that number sink in. 258 million! In some of the western states it is reported as many as 82% of the 92 million people are not Christians. In nine different northeastern states with a population of 55 million people 83% of those residents are not Christians. If you expand this research beyond the boundaries of North America there are 5,845 people groups who have no access to the gospel. That translates into 90% of the world’s population are non-Christians.

As all of that really sinks in I am even more burdened when I find out that the population of the United States has doubled since 1950 and the Southern Baptist Convention has more than 17,000 more churches than were in existence in 1950. Tragically these same churches baptized nearly 34,000 less in 2008 than in 1950. We have more technology, more cutting edge programs, more money and yet we have less evangelistic effectiveness. How could this be.

Strategies and programs have not stemmed the tide of lostness in this nation. I hear a great deal from the experts about this being a post-modern society. When I read Acts 2 I see God at work powerfully saving pagans by the droves. Somewhere we have lost the power of God on our lives and ministries and thought we could do it without Him. Prayer meetings have all but become extinct. The two that I regularly attend seldom ever could boast a dozen people in attendance at either and on many occasions collectively. In Acts people were being saved daily and people were praying daily. [Acts 2:46]

I hear so much about how society has changed and methods being relevant or irrelevant. I don’t hear near as much about God being mighty to save. Right here in Seminole the Community Prayer Room gathers every Thursday for two hours inviting intercessors to cry out to God on behalf of the city, the state, the nation, and beyond. Few come and few seem to have God’s heart for spiritual awakening and revival. Is God big enough to turn the hearts of hard hearted pagans to Jesus the Savior? Is God strong enough to motivate callused hearted Christians to really engage their communities in evangelism? Can the Lord turn cowardly believers into bold warriors in the effort to evangelize? If He is not we are wasting our time. We have no hope.

I have hope because God chooses to hear and answer prayers and God wills to save lost people. [II Pet 3:9] Does His church will this as well? If we could see the church come together one time a week for fervent prayers would we not see a difference. It might take years or just a few days. That is God’s sovereign choice but I believe that if the churches came together to seek God for the souls of their communities we would see a difference. Our excuses about being busy are not excuses. Our flimsy prayer meetings during mid-week services seldom include prayer for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Where is the remnant of God’s people who believe He is still mighty to save? With all my breath, my writing, and my preaching, I want to call people back to God and back to prayer accompanied with old fashioned evangelism. We have far too long trusted in ourselves and our wisdom to grow the church. We have learned how to assemble crowds but we still cannot transform people’s hearts. That is only something God can do and therefore I must pound Heaven for more power and more conviction to fall. God is going to save people. It is His will. Is God less willing to save people today than He was in 1950? I find that hard to grasp.

I also hear a good deal about evangelism strategies. There are dozens of them. Churches are constantly tempted to reinvent themselves to adopt these different strategies. I think it is as simple as building relationships with people, praying for God to soften their hearts and open their eyes and presenting the gospel to them. Then we persevere in prayer until God saves them. I once heard that 9:10 Christians have never talked to anyone about how a person can be saved. This will not do. I will just go ahead and say it; this is cowardly. It is way past time to pray and to share the gospel.

I have seen some of the most shy and timid people you have ever met share their faith boldly empowered by the Holy Spirit. The truth is that the gospel seldom leaves the walls of our churches. We preach in the house of the Lord and then leave tight-lipped and fearful of offending anyone with our religious point of view. I cannot imagine Paul adopting that mentality as he walked the streets of Corinth, Phillipi, Galatia, or Thessanolica. He was bold and saw it as his mission in life to present the gospel to those without a relationship with Christ. [Acts 20:24] What about you and me? When was the last time you presented the gospel to someone outside the walls of your church? I am pretty confident that this would be a big part of the reason why more people were baptized in 1950 in 17,000 fewer churches than in 2008. I bet there were more people praying and more people actively sharing their faith.

Lord, please stagger us with the lostness engulfing this nation and the world. I ask you for your burden and for you to call out new laborers to go into the harvest. I ask you to penetrate hard hearts with the gospel and make them open to the hope of the gospel. I plead with you to weigh the lostness of our communities deep on our hearts. Please make us uncomfortable and motivate us to get involved in your will to save people by praying, loving, and sharing the gospel. Please open our eyes to see the ones you are working on. May we never be satisfied to sit on the sidelines hoping someone else is doing the work when you are looking for more laborers to go into the harvest. [Matt 9:37-38] I pray we would cry out like Isaiah and say, “Here am I. Send me.” [Is 6:8]