Prior to meeting the brothers and sisters who are a part of the NPL network, I never gave much thought to the numbers of people around me who didn’t know or claim to have lives of faith. I knew about the “Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20),” but still thought that it was primarily for other people — those “called” to go to the nations, those with special gifts, those with special training and experience. Only recently have I come to the realization that Jesus’ last words were meant not for only the disciples/apostles, but all His followers . . . For all time, including today! That means I AM responsible to at the very least share the Good News with those in my sphere of influence.
Now, let’s look at the situation realistically. In Southern California alone, there are roughly 23 million people. Of those, Barna Research says only about 4% have a Biblical worldview, that influences the way they live. If that’s true, 96% of the people in our neighborhoods are living in a way that places them far from God! The numbers say that of the nearly 23 million people, over 22 million of them are far from God! The numbers are staggering, and I can’t begin to get my head around the enormity of the problem. It’s discouraging. No wonder people push aside the Great Commission, recognizing that as individuals, we could never begin to have an impact. In my own city (Huntington Beach), there’s a population of about 173,000. If 96% of them are far from God, that means more than 166,000 are far from Him! If I could reach 1 of them every single day, it would take nearly 500 years for me to reach my little city. If I could reach 100 a week, it would still take me over 31 years! Check my math!
But that isn’t the end of the story. The answer is multiplication. It only requires each of us to reach and disciple 3 people per year, and each of them reach and disciple 3 more. If the multiplication line continued, the entire world’s population of 7.9 BILLION people would be reached in 11.5 years! So for Southern CA, following the multiplication process, and starting with just 1 disciplemaker, it would take just over 8 years to reach all 23 million! To reach the entire United States, it would only take 10 years! How can you and I NOT be THE ONE in our State/City/neighborhoods/workplace?
According to these charts, my entire city can be reached in about 6 1/2 years! Will you join me?