What is your role in the Great Commission? It is a question many Christians have never seriously sat with. We hear about God’s heart for the nations, we feel the weight of it for a moment, and then we go back to our normal lives, quietly assuming that reaching the unreached is someone else’s job.
Romans 10:14-15 does not give us that option, “How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?” (NIV)
So, how do we reach the unreached? This requires two things: people to go to the unreached and people to send them. Both are a genuine, necessary answer to God’s call. The question is not whether you have a role… The question is, which one? There are goers, there are senders, and there is a third option we will get to shortly. Spoiler: throw that one out entirely.
The Story That Changed Everything
I want to tell you about my friend Hamid.
Hamid is a Middle Eastern man who is having a powerful impact on the world today: mobilizing people, launching disciples, and engaging unreached tribes across multiple regions. He leads Bible studies and points people to Christ from all sorts of nations and backgrounds. He was not always this way. Hamid found himself evading God’s mission for many years.
“You know, Charlie,” he told me, “I was not a true follower of Jesus until four years ago. Until then, I was only a believer. I had trusted in Jesus before, but I did not really obey what He commands us.”
“What changed that for you, Hamid?”
“I had coffee with another believer, and what he shared with me changed my life.”
Hamid had always felt he did not have what it takes to reach the unreached. He was too shy, too ordinary, not an up-front person. Kingdom impact, he assumed, was left to the pastors, evangelists, and leaders—the professional Christians.
The man he met for coffee said something simple: “Jesus does not only want pastors, evangelists, or leaders. He wants you, Hamid. He wants the everyday, common person to join Him in His mission. Acts 4:13 shows us that Peter and John were ordinary and uneducated men, yet they had an immense impact because they had been with Jesus. That’s it. The same can be a reality for you, brother.”
Those words shattered Hamid’s deepest doubts and set him free. It reoriented his life toward helping reach the unreached. He started inviting people into his home and opening God’s Word with them. And many times, those people decided to follow Jesus as a result.
When Hamid shared this with me, I thought of Matthew 9:37: “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.“ Jesus did not say He needed more pastors, leaders, or evangelists, as great as they are. Jesus said the greatest need in the world is more laborers—common people found in everyday places who He loves to employ. People just like Hamid. People just like you.
Goers, Senders, and the One Option to Throw Out
Romans 10 makes it clear: there are three types of Christians when it comes to answering God’s call to the nations. There are goers, senders, and disobeyers.
We hope you are a goer, a sender, or some combination of both. Just throw away the entire option of disobeyer.
Ask yourself honestly right now: Which one am I? How is God inviting me to reach the unreached?
What It Means to Be a Sender
You may not be called to move overseas, but you are called to send. The diversity of ways to do that is actually amazing.
Pray. I have a friend named Marie. She has a disease that causes her bones to be so weak that her muscles literally crush them. She can barely move. She will never be a goer, but she is one of the most powerful senders I know. I am continually telling her what God is doing on the frontlines of the mission field, and she is always coming alongside in prayer, offering wisdom and encouragement. God has taken this faithful praying woman and partnered her up with goers to see His mission advance in places she will never physically visit. Prayer is not a consolation prize for those who cannot go; it is how the mission moves.
Give. Giving is an amazing way to see God’s Kingdom advance. You do not have to be extremely wealthy. You can invest $1, $2, $5—whatever you have—and God will use even the smallest amount to bring about huge Kingdom impact. That is what He is able to do. Jesus Himself and His twelve disciples were funded for their itinerant mission journeys. Luke 8:1-3 gives us a glimpse of those senders: women who “provided for them out of their means.” Remember the boy who brought five loaves and two fish to Jesus? He fed 5,000 people with that small offering. Some gifts are not money—you might have stock, real estate, or other “gifts in kind” that could make a huge difference for the Kingdom. Could you house missionaries, either where they are sent, or back home during visits? Do you own a business like a printing company that could print newsletters to keep partners updated? Something else?
Encourage. Going can be a really difficult and daunting call. Those on the frontlines of spiritual darkness need to know they are not forgotten. Send a text, an email, or even a care package. You never know how God can use a small word of encouragement to fuel someone who is weary.
Use your gifts. Are you in business? You could consider planting your business in another country, creating a platform for goers. Are you a tech expert? Secure communication systems, covert Bibles, and innovative digital tools are desperately needed in restricted nations. Are you a photographer, videographer, or storyteller? You could creatively tell the story of what God is doing on the frontlines to spread the word and fuel the movement. The possibilities are endless. It is all about looking at how God has wired you and asking: How can this serve His mission?
What It Means to Be a Goer
Maybe as you have been reading, something has been stirring. A sense that God might actually be calling you to go to reach the unreached on the front lines.
Do not count yourself out.
(Not sure if you’re called to go? 5 Signs You’re Called to Be a Missionary)
I remember the first time I stepped out of a truck on a short-term trip and was told to go share Jesus with the people nearby. I was full of fear. God, who am I? I am not experienced. I do not know what to say. I have never done this before. But I stepped out in faith anyway. I shared simply what I knew about Jesus: His life, death, and resurrection, and how He had changed my life. When I invited those people to follow Him, they did.
I was amazed. Lord, You can even use me to do this.
He can use you too.
If God is prompting you, here are some practical next steps. Take a short-term trip to a place where there are unreached people, call an organization, check with your church, or if nothing is available, buy a plane ticket and go explore a region of the world where the need is great. Begin researching at JoshuaProject.net and PeopleGroups.org. Pull up the interactive maps and look at the red dots: the least reached people and places on earth. Pray over them. Ask God if He is calling you to any of them.
If you are called to international missions, click here for even more practical next steps!
And if the darkness of some of those places feels intimidating—good. Jesus was not afraid of dark places. In Matthew 16, He deliberately took His disciples to Caesarea Philippi, a well-known center of idol worship packed with pagan temples, and a place where unspeakable acts were performed as forms of worship. The local people called the opening in the cliff there “the Gates of Hades.” And it was there, of all places, that Jesus declared: “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18, KJV)
Jesus did not avoid the dark places. He proclaimed the Kingdom right in the middle of them. And He is still doing it today—through ordinary people willing to go.
Your Role Is Waiting
The needs are staggering. The resources exist. What is missing is people: goers and senders, willing to step up and answer the call.
Throw out the third option. Decide today which one you are and then take one step.
The unreached world is waiting. God’s heart burns for every tribe and every people. And He has chosen you—ordinary, imperfect, fully capable you—to be part of how we reached the unreached.
So what are you waiting for?
Multiplying Movements is Forge’s 12-part discipleship resource designed to equip ordinary people to live on mission—wherever they are and wherever God sends them. Explore Multiplying Movements here.
