What 3.6 Billion People Don’t Care About

In a round-table discussion in a recent missionary meeting the discussion turned to an odd topic. “When was the church established, before or after Pentecost?” I wasn’t there, but I was told the debate became quite heated.

There are approximately 3.6 billion people who live in North Africa, Middle East, South Asia and Asia Pacific. 86% of that population has never met a Christian. They could care less about when the church started. Here are other issues that 3.6 billion people don’t care about:

Which version of the Bible people use. You may like the KJV, NKJV, ASV, NIV, NET, NLT or the other 100 versions, but guess what, 3.6 billion people need to hear any version of God’s Word. They don’t care about which translation is better, closer to the original or which version we deem to be inspired.

When Jesus will return: pre-millennial or post-millennial? Why would 3.6 billion people care about a second coming when they have yet to hear about His first coming 2,000 years ago? And what is “millennial” anyway?

Which church or denomination is doctrinally more sound? I know this will come as a shock to my Baptist, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, Orthodox friends, but 3.6 billion people have no idea, thankfully, about the division of the Body through denominational and doctrinal disagreements. My guess is that some of each group will make it heaven, so before God takes you on to glory, share your faith with the 3.6 billion who have not yet heard His Name.

Who has the authority to preach, teach or baptize? It doesn’t make any difference to 3.6 billion people if the message is presented through one who has or has not been ordained, whether they are literate or illiterate. God is sovereign; He can even use a woman!

I think you get the point. I understand all of these issues, and a thousand more topics Christians argue about, are important to the church. Our theological, and often narrow, “cart” is before the “horse” of 3.6 billion people who are left standing without a witness of Christ’s salvation. 3.6 people could care less about many things the church is obsessed with and I honestly wonder if God cares.