WILLS POINT, TX – Progress cannot be measured without data and evaluation. Imagine how surprised some students are when they enter the working world where they think they won’t have to worry about bringing home a report card. They soon find that report cards are not something they have left in their past. Instead, report cards have morphed into project progress reports, monthly performance reports, and periodic employee evaluations. They pinpoint current status, progress, and potential.
Every endeavor, including Christian ministries, needs to be measured from time to time. At a minimum, Christian ministries should be measured with data that indicates where we are compared to where we should be in reaching our vision statement and with a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) to determine how we can do better.
The Joshua Project is one of several entities that attempt to measure how well Christians are doing in reaching the world for Christ. We have listed some of their findings below. Imagine that you are responsible for giving a simple pass or fail grade. How would you score our progress as Christ-followers? (Pin the global population at 7.6 billion.)
| Concern | Pass/Fail |
| 10.0% of the global population (0.76 billion) are Christ-followers | |
| 21.8% of the global languages have a New Testament available | |
| 9.6% of the global language have an entire Bible available | |
| Of the 3.1 billion unreached affinity groups, 41.5% are unreached | |
| 4 of the 5 countries with the most unreached groups are in South Asia | |
| 91% of the groups in South Asia remain unreached | |
| Christianity is growing at 1.2%; Islam at 1.9% | |
| 90% of cross-cultural missionaries work primarily among the reached | |
| 81% of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists do not know a Christ-follower | |
| 47 of the top 50 unreached groups with more than 10 million people are in restricted countries and have no indigenous church to reach them. | |
| 1.0% of every dollar given by Christ-followers for any cause goes to world missions. |
What do you think? Are Christians passing or failing in reaching the nations and introducing them to Jesus?
What do we all need to do to be more effective in winning people to Christ? What do you need to do? And, I ask myself, “What do I need to do?”
Our own answers may be different but if the question is “When do we start?” the answer must be “Now.”
To read more news on the World Missions on Missions Box, go here.
Sources:
- World Christian Database, Updates
- The Joshua Project, Status of World Evangelization 2019
- Operation World, The definitive prayer guide to every nation
Image Source:
- Gospel for Asia, Photo of the Day
