I have been thinking about the relationship between eschatology, history, and unreached people groups. And I want to share a thought with you–one that I’m not hearing elsewhere (However, I’m sure someone out there has been thinking this as well.).
We know that representatives of all peoples will be around the throne (Rev 7:9-10). However, today’s estimate is that 3100 people groups in the world are unengaged and unreached. While it is obviously right and good to engage these peoples, I want to ask an important first question:
Are we able to identify which–if any–of these 3100 people groups have had disciples among them over the last 2000 years?
If the historical materials exist, and we identify such believers, then I would suggest that priority be given to those unengaged-unreached people groups known to have never had Christ followers.
We wrongly make the assumption that if a people received the gospel years ago, then there should be some known believers and churches around in 2015. Such is not always the case. Just because the gospel and churches existed yesteryear is no guarantee that a future generation from that people will be walking with the Lord.
The world is a big place with 7 billion people. We have limited resources and must be faithful Kingdom citizens with what is entrusted to our care (which includes historical records). As we look at the contemporary numbers on lostness, let’s also look at the historic records. Unless the Spirit leads in a different direction, God may provide strategic clarity through our findings. If we discover that representatives from an unreached people group came into the Kingdom 800 years ago, then such knowledge may help us serve as better stewards in 2015.
While I recognize there are many challenges to such research, we must start somewhere. Eschatology shapes missiology and guides strategy. As we look at the 3100 groups, we should ask if the Spirit did any regenerative work among them over the last 2000 years.
My guess is that the number of groups we should give priority to is much less than 3100.
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Last week, Travis Kerns was my guest on Strike the Match. Listen to our conversation on Mormonism Today. iTunes | Android | RSS