EMQ » April–June 2019 » Volume 55 Issue 3
By Marvin J. Newell
Ever since Jesus gave the Great Commission mandate to the Church, geography has been an integral part of accomplishing that task. Right at the start Jesus told his disciples to “go into all the world” (Mark 16:15); to “make disciples of all nations” (Mat. 28:19); “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47); and more specifically to witnesses “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The geographic aspect of the mandate has not diminished in importance. After all, that is where mankind is found – clustered in people and affinity groups all over the earth. If we are to reach individuals with the gospel, we need to penetrate their ethnic group. To enter these groups, we need to go to where they are located. The core aspect of “going” in missions is still the same.
This is actually quite intuitive. As Christ’s ambassadors move across geographic boundaries, they enter regions and countries where they encounter ethnic groups and cultures, which in turn permit encounters with individuals so that these might hear the message. The “least reached,” or “frontier peoples,” are just that – still on the frontiers of gospel awareness and located in places other than where the Church already is.
That is one reason why David Platt recently wrote on the topic. In his thought-provoking article, “Rethinking Unreached Peoples: Why Place Still Matters in Global Missions,”[i] he proposes a refined definition of unreached. As you read the definition, notice the insertion of “place:” Unreached peoples and places are those among whom Christ is largely unknown and the church is relatively insufficient to make Christ known in its broader population without outside help. The thrust of Platt’s article is to bring us back to the importance of “places” in missions.
Even in today’s environment of advanced technology, international migration, and missions “from everywhere to everyone,” geography and place still matter. That is why we have devoted this edition of EMQ to it. Each article relates to an issue within a specific country or geographic location. Each “nation” has its unique challenge to the gospel. The writers have grappled with those challenges and bring to light what it takes for the gospel to enter and become established within those national or geographic confines.
And don’t skip over the unique missiographic that helps one visualize the geographical aspect of missions in proportion to population sizes.
Marvin J. Newell
General Editor
[i] Platt, David. “Rethinking Unreached Peoples: Why Place Still Matters in Global Missions.” https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/rethinking-unreached-peoples
