Read: Acts 1:8
At the start of this year’s football season, the White House rolled out a new campaign dubbed “1 is 2 Many.” Far from a divisive political issue, the initiative focused on the horrors of domestic abuse and what must be done to make it stop. The primary commercial for the campaign featured a group of superstar athletes and celebrities (ranging from Tim Tebow to Joe Torre to President Obama himself) delivering this non-partisan message:
“Hey everybody listen up… No one should ever hit a woman – not their wife, not their girlfriend, not their date. No woman should have to fear violence, especially not from someone they know and trust. But that’s the reality for too many women. We have to change it. It’s up to each of us because even one is too many. The worst abuse of power is when a man raises his hand to hurt a woman. We all have to take responsibility. So, if you see someone threatening a woman step up, speak out, and get help… End the violence because it’s wrong. Because one, one is too many.”
Now, I think we can all agree that’s a great message. I love the concept of “1 is 2 Many,” even if it is grammatically incorrect. What’s more, I think it was a brilliant move to launch the campaign as the NFL season got started. You know men are going to be watching the opening games, so you deliver the message while you’ve got a captive audience. After all, domestic abuse is unacceptable. We should do everything within our power to make it stop. As the campaign said, one woman being abused really is too many (sorry, I just had to correct the grammar…).
The more I’ve thought about that slogan, however, the more I realized it would be a really good slogan for the church. That’s because our mission to reach all nations and all peoples won’t be completed until everyone has heard the good news. Jesus called us to go to “the ends of the earth,” blanketing the globe with the Gospel message. In my mind, that means we have to reach everyone. We can’t stop until all have heard. We can’t rest until we’ve taken God’s Word out into every corner of this creation. Every single person on the face of this planet needs to hear about the salvation only available through Jesus Christ.
Though we so often think of our mission in terms of church size or cultural impact, the fact of the matter is that the task we have been given is a global one. As Cornerstone, it’s not enough for us to change Belleville or Shiloh. Neither should we be content with merely impacting the Metro East. These are certainly good places to start, but they are not the finish line. Our goal is to impact the world for Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter if someone lives in our neighborhood, our community or halfway around the world, we should want to see them come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Our job is to reach everyone everywhere.
Even one person who doesn’t know Jesus – regardless of where they live – is too many. No matter how many are “found,” our greatest concern should still be for those who are “lost.” Jesus told us as much in Luke’s gospel:
Luke 15:4-7: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
No matter what – no matter how big we get or how many people we reach for Christ – we should always maintain focus on those who are still lost. We can’t get complacent with where we’re at, nor can we sit around and think we’ve done enough. Our job – both personally and corporately – is to continue to reach the lost no matter where they may be found.
In The Purpose Drive Life, Rick Warren told the story of his father, a man who lived (and died) with this singular purpose in mind:
“In 1999, my father died of cancer. In the final week of his life the disease kept him awake in a semi-conscious state nearly twenty-four hours a day. As he dreamed, he’s talk out loud about what he was dreaming. Sitting by his bedside, I learned a lot about my dad by just listening to his dreams… One night near the end, while my wife, my niece, and I were by his side, Dad suddenly became very active and tried to get out of bed. Of course, he was too weak, and my wife insisted he lay back down. But he persisted in trying to get out of bed, so my wife finally asked, ‘Jimmy, what are you trying to do?’ He replied, ‘Got to save one more for Jesus! Got to save one more for Jesus! Got to save one more for Jesus!’ He began to repeat that phrase over and over. During the next hour, he said the phrase probably a hundred times. ‘Got to save one more for Jesus!’ …I intend for that to be the theme of the rest of my life.”
“Got to save one more for Jesus!” May those words be the cry of our hearts as well. Our hearts, our minds, our very lives – all we are ought to be set on finding just one more person to bring to our King. We are not finished until everyone has heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our work is not complete until all people from all nations have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior.
Because even one person who doesn’t know Christ is too many.
Questions to Consider:
- “Got to save one more for Jesus!” How can you adopt this attitude?
- Read Acts 17:30-31. What does God want all people to do? Why?