By David Greenlee, OM Global Research & Missiology
David Greenlee has served with OM since late 1977. Since 1998, he’s focused on research and missiology—helping OM understand where we are, where we’re going and how we’re doing in reaching the world with the gospel. He’s part of OM’s Knowledge Stewardship Team, which helps us not just count numbers, but learn from them. David holds a PhD in Intercultural Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and has written and edited several books and articles on missions.
“To leave no one behind, count everyone.”
This article headline caught my eye. As I read on, I was struck by the statement: “The most marginalized communities remain underrepresented in data, profoundly affecting their lives and well-being.” That’s a theme I’ve emphasized in my own research and writing. But surprisingly, these compelling words weren’t from a Christian organization or missiologist—they came from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in his remarks for today’s (July 11) World Population Day.
How many children will start school in your district in the next five years? How many families in your community lack access to basic healthcare? What’s the projected growth of your city, and how will that affect housing, roads and water systems?
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 fullness 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 by thinking smaller. More local. More personal.
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 emphasize the kind of fruitfulness we can count: people baptized, 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 monitor our response and count what can be counted, and with specific settings in mind where OM teams are at work:
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.
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