Secret Church

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UPGs and Persecution: At the Root of it All (2/3) Posted: 10 Dec 2013 01:00 AM PST This is the second of three posts examining the relationship between unreached people groups and persecution, represented respectively in the maps above. Be sure to catch the first one, and keep your eyes peeled for the final post soon. Rather than trying to figure out whether unreached people groups cause persecution or persecution causes unreached people groups, let us look to more foundational causes, examining each issue independently. Let’s start with unreached people groups (UPGs). People groups are the largest group through which the gospel can flow without encountering significant barriers of understanding and acceptance. UPGs, then, are people groups in which less than 2% of the population are Evangelical Christians. There are about 6,400 UPGs in the world today. On a fundamental level, why are people unreached? The simplistic answer is that they haven’t yet heard the gospel. At this point, we could delve into any one of the practically innumerable factors that contribute to their not having heard – geographic isolation, hostility, the church’s inaction, etc. Yet whatever the immediate cause, we can trace its root back to the Fall. Because of the Fall, people are born sinners, and everyone needs salvation from their sin and the punishment it merits. So, “Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim 1:15), and everyone needs to be “reached” with this joyous news. However, until it is proclaimed to a group of people, they remain in their default, “unreached” state. Now for persecution. Open Doors defines Christian persecution as “any hostility, experienced from the world, as a result of one's identification with Christ.” Why does it occur? Jesus told his followers, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you,” (Jn 15:18) and, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (Jn 15:20). Clearly, persecution is an inevitable byproduct of hatred for God. People act on this sinful hatred by rejecting God and persecuting those who identify with him. This hostile repulsion is often even more evident when a Christian tries to tell unbelievers that they are sinners in need of a Savior. So at the root of both UPGs and persecution, we find sin. UPGs exist because “unreached” is the default state into which people are born in sin, and persecution exists because of people’s sinful hatred for their Creator. There’s the link. Because of their common origin, in areas where one phenomenon is intense, we can be sure that the other is as well.

Let the Replacements Flood the World Posted: 09 Dec 2013 09:58 AM PST Ronnie Smith was recently shot and killed at the hands of a gunman in Benghazi, Libya. World has the full story here. This American teacher was a follower of Christ, and he was influenced by John Piper's ministry. Here is Piper's reflection on Ronnie's death: Ronnie is not the first person who has died doing what I have encouraged them to do. He won't be the last. If I thought death were the worst thing that can happen to a person, I would be overwhelmed with regret. But the whole point of Ronnie's life is that there is something worse than death. So he was willing to risk his own life to rescue others from something far worse. And he could risk his own life because he knew his own risking and dying would "work for him an eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17). And he knew God was able to meet every need of his wife and son (Philippians 4:19). We are not playing games. When I preach that risk is right, I know what I am doing. When I say, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him — especially in suffering," I know what suffering may mean. When I say, "Fear not, you can only be killed" (Matthew 10:28), I take seriously the words of Jesus: "Some of you they will put to death. . . . But not a hair of your head will perish" (Luke 21:16). Finally, I call thousands of you to take Ronnie's place. They will not kill us fast enough. Let the replacements flood the world. We do not seek death. We seek the everlasting joy of the world — including our enemies. If they kill us while we love them, we are in good company. Jesus did not call us to ease or safety. He called us to love for the sake of his name. Everywhere. Among all peoples. Read the entire post here. Photo credit

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