"As a follower of Jesus, it matters to me that over 8.2 billion people live today," shares David. "It also matters to me that over two billion have little or no access to the good news and are unlikely to come to faith in Jesus unless something changes."
David Greenlee has served with OM since late 1977, and since 1998 in a role involving missiology and research. As part of OM’s Knowledge Stewardship Team, David helps OM keep track of progress toward our shared vision, not just counting but learning together. David earned a PhD in Intercultural Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1996 and is the author or editor of several missions-related books and articles.
Counting people matters because people matter. How many children will turn school age in my district over the next five years? How many have access to primary health resources in your community? What is the projected growth of our city, and the implications that increase in population has on water systems, streets, and housing?
For the UN, everyone should count so that poverty in all its forms is eradicated and no one is left behind, no one excluded or subject to discrimination. Their approaches and end goals may not be identical to ours as followers of Jesus, but certainly those words are part of the fulness of the good news!
As a follower of Jesus, it matters to me that over 8.2 billion people live today. It also matters to me that over two billion have little or no access to the good news and are unlikely to come to faith in Jesus unless something changes. Numbers like that matter, but they are too huge for most of us to really grasp. There is a danger that we use those figures as a cudgel, trying to motivate Christians into action through a sense of guilt, rather than love. I fear I did that too often many years ago as a young advocate for those with little access to the gospel: passionate but a bit insensitive.
Perhaps it helps us to relate to numbers and needs, and to respond in love, if we think about smaller regions: the number of villages in a district of our country; the number of immigrants to our community from places where there are few Jesus followers; the number of teens in a city who might be interested in a programme combining sports and learning about Jesus. Those are the kind of figures I myself can relate to and, together with others, respond to in a difference-making way.
As we respond, we also observe the response. From what we can perceive, from what we can count, are we making a difference? At times, we emphasise the kind of fruitfulness we can count: people baptised, vibrant communities of Jesus followers multiplying. But fruitfulness needs to be coupled with faithfulness. I asked a dear friend what he thought about being in a place where virtually no one was known to have turned to Jesus. He replied, ‘But isn’t that just the kind of place we are supposed to be?’
And so, as we as Jesus followers monitor our response and count what can be counted, and with specific settings in mind where OM teams are at work:
- We rejoice with those who are faithful even in hard places with no apparent fruit.
- We rejoice when we hear of a single person, or a couple of people, who have come to faith.
- We rejoice when a group of believers comes together, the beginning of a new church.
- We rejoice when there are several churches meeting, growing in faith, and impacting their community.
We rejoice when we see vibrant communities of Jesus followers multiplying, even to the third, fourth or more generations.
I agree, then, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres: “To leave no one behind, count everyone.” I am glad that a few people do an excellent job at that task. The population figures and trends they publish help us put into perspective our local communities and regional settings. They are part of the knowledge we need as together we discern God’s intentions and what He wants us to do – at home, or by connecting with a community far away.
We count everyone – because everyone matters, everyone counts.