Where Are All the Christians?

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, somewhere around 150 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. These 150 million don't follow Him, serve Him or worship Him. From what we can tell, their so-called faith hasn't made one bit of difference in their lives.

I don't know about you, but to me information like that can be depressing if I ponder it for long in its full statistical enormity. I prefer to break it down into more manageable hunks, smaller pieces I can wrap my brain around -- or, more importantly, my heart. When I do that, with God's help, then I can remember that part of the good news about the Good News is that I don't have to share It with everyone. The 150 million unsaved people are not all my own personal responsibility, or yours either.

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, and you just attend to one there in front of you who doesn't know the Lord.

At the close of his book called "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 150 million people. She was concerned about one person she knew who didn't know Christ: her friend Emily. Celeste was just one person, and she made an eternal difference in the life of one other person, 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.