ONE LIFE AT A TIME

I'm taking a class these days about evangelism. In studying for the class I have learned some overwhelming statistics about the number of people in the USA who don't know Jesus Christ.

What I've learned is that even though as many as 90% of Americans claim to believe in God, between 150 and 180 million Americans say they don't have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. They may believe in God, but they don't know Him.
With a "faith" apparently similar in nature to that of hell's demons, who "also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19), these 150 to 180 million don't follow God, serve Him or worship Him. From what we can tell, their so-called faith hasn't made one bit of difference in their lives, and it won't change their eternal destiny.

I don't know about you, but information like that can be depressing if you ponder it for long in its full statistical enormity. Let's break it down into a more manageable hunk.

The good news about the Good News is that you don't have to share It with everyone. The 150 to 180 million unsaved people are not all your own personal responsibility.

But some of them are.

Who do you know that you could share Jesus with? Is there a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor, or a family member you could talk with about what Jesus means to you? Is there anyone at all you could invite to your church, or to a Bible study? Surely there's someone you know and care about whose soul you could pray for and whom you could take with you to church.

Surely, there's someone.

Some one.

One life at a time: that's all you need be concerned about. Leave the masses to someone else. All God asks most Christians to do is attend to the one someone right there in front of you, that one who doesn't know the Lord.

At the close of his book, "The Unchurched Next Door," Dr. Thom Rainer relates the following true story shared by Emily N. about her acquaintance Celeste.

"I knew Celeste was different. In fact, I knew she had that peace that I didn't have. We had known each other for just three weeks when Celeste started telling me about her faith. She invited me to church. No, she came by my house and picked me up. Two months later, I accepted Christ.

"You need to understand that I went from totally unchurched, no church background, no knowledge of church to becoming a Christian in just a matter of weeks."

Celeste wasn't focusing on the 150 to 180 million. She was intent upon that one person she knew who didn't know Christ: her friend Emily.

Emily concluded her story this way: "What I'm still trying to figure out, with the millions of Christians in American, is how come it took forty-three years for someone to share about Christ with me. Where are all the other Christians?"

Good question, Emily.