There is a myth that people in our communities have already been reached.
Among the strongest myths that discourage church planting is the flawed understanding that the United States has already been evangelized. Certainly North American Christians have access to abundant resources of information. Evangelicals listen to Davey Ramsey for financial information, read James Dobson for advice on raising kids, sing along with Third Day or Mercy Me and purchase “Christian” fiction novels. But unchurched persons in the U.S. remain generally untouched because the Christian subculture is not providing a culturally relevant gospel witness.
About ten years ago I had the chance to share the “good news” with a neighbor that was dying of cancer. A week before visiting with him, I decided to visit the small church that was within a mile of his home (our home). The night I visited the pastor gave a stirring message about the need to share the gospel with our neighbors. After the service JJ and I had several people stop us to talk, since we were the new young couple visiting the church. When I shared with one guy about my burden for this neighbor, whom most seemed to know, he said, “I’m sure he knows the gospel.” But I wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Even if he did, shouldn’t we make sure?
I was very nervous and scared to talk with him, because of his usually harsh demeanor. He and I had developed a good relationship and I often would sit with him and watch TV. He affectionately referred to me as, “My little preacher boy”. So I finally got up the courage to ask him where he was in his relationship with Christ and he just looked at me. I shared the message of grace and love with him and that it was Christ sacrifice, not his own efforts that paid the price for his Soul. Because of the look on his face, I asked him had he ever heard that story and his reply,………… “No.” Here was a 60 year old man living within a mile of the church who had never heard the message. He placed his faith in Christ and within a week he saw his savior face to face.
So here is the take away. People don’t know they message. In the South, we have developed a Moralist Deism that recognizes the existence of God and demands that we be good little boys and girls to earn his Love. This is a false Gospel. So remember share the message with others, they may have never heard it.
