Over the last couple days I’ve been noticing some various twitter spurts about “only 650 people groups left to reach” and “all of the people groups will be reached by 2025.” I’m not sure of the precise source of these quotes; I’ve twittered back but haven’t received a response. However, I think it’s important to modify these thoughts. I’m pretty sure where the figures come from, and I’m pretty sure they’re being misinterpreted.
650 people groups left?
This statistic is undoubtedly based on the numbers from Finishing the Task, which uses a list of 639 or so people groups. However, what it really is: 650 people groups with a population of more than 100,000 each. This represents a huge percentage of the remaining unreached peoples, but there are still several thousand (how many thousand depend on which list you use) that are under 100,000 in population. So when those 650 are engaged, it will be a huge step forward–but it doesn’t mean that all of the remaining unreached people groups are then engaged.
The task complete by 2025?
I’m not at all sure where this is coming from, but at a guess I’d say it’s probably either (a) the 650 will (probably) be engaged by 2025, or (b) it’s coming from Wycliffe’s Vision 2025. In either case, the key is that the groups will probably be engaged by 2025–but that doesn’t mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that they will be reached or that the job will be finished.
To be reached means that the indigenous church has the resources (physical, spiritual, etc) to reach the whole of its own people group without outside cross-cultural assistance. To be evangelized means that the majority (if not all) have heard the Gospel in a way that they can understand it. Both of these definitions imply both significant work and response. Once engaged, I would estimate that many groups might need 10, 20 or even 30 years of work before they could be considered “reached” let alone “evangelized.”
It’s great to be excited; I’m very excited and optimistic about what could happen in the next 25 to 50 years. But let’s not let our excitement and passion fog our view!
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