What Does It Mean To Be Unreached?

Practically speaking, what does it mean to be unreached?

All these numbers of unreached and unengaged groups can feel distant. That’s the way numbers and statistics work. So put yourself in the shoes of one of these two billion people in the world who are unreached.

Imagine it’s just you, your family, or your kids. Don’t think about two billion people, but focus on one or two or three or four of you. If you are unreached, that means that you do not currently have access to the gospel. In other words, you likely don’t even know it exists. Either you have never even heard the name of Jesus, or if you have, you know as much about Him as you know about, say, Confucius. You know he taught on personal and governmental philosophy, and that he had influence on Eastern thinking, but that’s about all you know. And you don’t know any Christians—not even one. You’ve never met anyone who knows the truth about Christ.

If you’re unreached, it means you don’t have access to Christians, to truth about what Christ has done, and unless something changes, you will likely be born, live, and die without ever hearing the gospel. That’s what it means to be unreached.