A Christian? Really?

If Our World Had Only 100 people…
Where we live:
11 would be Europeans
14 would live in North
South America
13 would be Africans
62 would be Asians

Who we are:
51 would be female
49 would be male
70 would be people of color
30 would be white

What we have:
7 would possess 59% of the world’s wealth, and all 7 would live in the US
80 would live in substandard housing
67 would not be able to read
60 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would have a college education

What we believe:
10 would be Christians who would care about the last words Christ gave us.
20 might call themselves Christians, but their obedience to Jesus would be doubtful 40 would have some access to the gospel, but they would not yet have responded
30 would have little or no access to the gospel

Dave Ferguson in The Big Idea writes:

“ 1. if you’ve been calling yourself a Christian, you should stop. Maybe not what you are expecting? It is exactly what you and the church need—forget ever being a Christian again.
2. If you have ever encouraged someone to become a Christian, you should never do it again. Seriously, I hope you will never ask a friend, family member, coworker, or neighbor to become a Christian.
Why? Because the last thing the mission of Jesus Christ needs is more Christians.
Here is the brutal fact: 85% of the people in the United States call themselves Christians. Now, let’s pause long enough to realize that’s a whole lot of people—247 million people to be exact. But how are those 85% doing when it comes to accomplishing Jesus’ mission? Here is what research tells us about people in North America who call themselves Christians:

• Those who call themselves Christians are no more likely to give assistance to a homeless person on the street than non-Christians.
• Those who call themselves Christians are no more likely than non-Christians to correct the mistake when a cashier gives them too mush change.
• A Christian is just as likely to have an elective abortion as a non-Christian.
• Christians divorce at the same rate as those who consider themselves non- Christains.
• Even though there are more big churches than ever before filled with people who proudly wear the title Christian, 50% of Christian churches didn’t help one single person find salvation.
  

In fact, when the Barna Research Group did a survey involving 152 separate items comparing the general population with those who called themselves Christians, they found virtually no difference between the two groups. They found no difference in the attitudes of Christians and non-Christians, and they found no difference in the actions of Christians and non-Christians. If the contemporary concept of a Christian is someone who is no different than the rest of the world, is Christian really the word you want to use to describe your willingness to sacrifice everything you have to see God’s dream fulfilled.”

Contrast Ferguson’s words and the following story from the International mission Board:

Never the Same
I saw the most hideous face I had ever seen,” said Southern Baptist volunteer
Jack Hinton on a missions trip to the Caribbean island of Tobago. He was
leading music for a worship service at a leper colony.

Rather than selecting hymns himself, the pastor from New Bern, N.C., asked the
lepers to request their favorite songs. When the time came for one last song, a
woman who had been sitting with her back toward the pulpit turned around.
The woman’s nose and ears were entirely gone. Her lips had almost rotted away.
“She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, ‘Can we sing Count Your
Many Blessings?’”

Overcome with emotion, Hinton had to leave the service. Another volunteer followed him out to console him. “Jack,” he said, “I guess you’ll never be able to sing that song again, will you?” “Oh yes I will,” Hinton responded.
“But I’ll never sing it the same way again.”

Let’s consider again Jesus’ words and pray that we will become cross bearers and kingdom builders: Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?