Are They Lost or Unreached?

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:18

Let’s talk a minute about the difference between the lost and the unreached. We are surrounded by lost people, are we not? Some are family members, some are co-workers, neighbors, friends, customers, etc. We care about their lostness. The Bible makes it clear that unless they come to Christ their destiny is eternity in hell. This is such a horrible reality.

But it is not that our friends and neighbors don’t have a choice. If someone in North or South America is seeking God, they can find him quite easily. There are Christians, churches, Bibles, TV and radio programs, and websites everywhere. If someone does not choose to seek God they are lost.

But there are 3 billion people in the world who do not have that choice. In their countries or people groups there are no Christians, churches, Bibles, or media available to them. So they surely are lost, without Christ, but worse than that they are unreached. No followers of Christ have taken the gospel to them. So they have never even heard about Jesus and his offer of forgiveness for sin.

So what is the bottom-line difference between the lost and the unreached? In one word it is access. Many lost people have access to the gospel but have chosen to reject it. Unreached people have not yet heard of the offer, so they do not even have an opportunity to accept or reject it. I suggest these are the ones with whom we should be expending the majority of our time, money, and energy.

Jesus told his followers 2000 years ago to make disciples of all nations. Many have been involved in this task over the years. Many “nations” of the world have been reached and churches established. But there are still around 7000 cultures, or people groups, who have been neglected. The people in these groups are lost, and they have no access to the gospel. The task for you and me is to go there and share the good news that in Jesus, forgiveness for sin is available. Hope for a glorious future can be theirs.
We have some reaching to do!

Here is a link to a video dealing with this subject: https://pioneers.org/2019/07/12/lost-versus-unreached

This is number 4 in the series on missions, by David Shaw.