By Shane Bennett
Want to know something funny and a little embarrassing? I will probably check Mailchimp a gazillion times the day this article drops to see how many opens it has had and how many links were clicked. I’m neither proud of this, nor apparently sufficiently disciplined to stop doing it. Turns out my checking makes no difference in the numbers.
Other numbers are a little more important to count. I’d better mind the minutes until the kids’ bus arrives or I risk leaving them stranded on the road. And I count the minutes until my wife gets home because her return makes me happy.
There’s a whole realm of health numbers getting counted in these early days of the New Year: How many calories did you consume? (Too many.) How many ounces of water did you drink? (Too few.) How many steps did you take? (You’re averaging fewer steps this week than last!) Ack!
In Psalm 90, Moses asks God to “teach us to number our days, that we may present to you a heart of wisdom.” I like that a lot, especially this time of year. I want to be thoughtful about the days of life remaining to me. I want to number them well so that the relationships and results of my life comprise a wise and acceptable offering to God.
Here are some of the numbers I’m puzzling, grieving, and rejoicing over as 2022 gets rolling.
1. Only 50% of people have returned to church.
It depends on whose stats you get behind, but it looks like up to half the people who were attending church before COVID started haven’t come back. Granted, Omicron is wreaking havoc and some are wisely staying home to guard their weakened immune system or the people they live with.
But is there more at play? When I look up at the camera that streams my church’s services and greet the people who are attending via Facebook, I sometimes wonder, “Have you just found it more comfortable to stay at home?”
I also wonder how many people found, in COVID, the opportunity they’d been waiting for to hit the road. It’s like when the person you were dating went away for the summer and you found that absence didn’t make your heart grow fonder, but rather made your determination stronger; you finally admitted it was over.
What does this decline mean for missions? Have offerings dropped a similar 30-50%? Will support need to be cut for overseas workers? For domestic missions? And what is God up to in the midst of this?
Maybe God is using COVID to prune the Church. Maybe some of those who’ve opted not to drop their bums back in Sunday morning seats will lead the way to new forms of church. I cherish the way God redeems things that seem lost to me. I just sure hope he does so soon because this next number is also weighing heavily on me.
2. More than 400 Muslim people groups are unreached and unengaged.
Research of growing validity shows that 422 Muslim people groups have no one on the ground in their midst who speaks their language and is working their tail off to catalyze a movement of reproducing disciples. In this way, they are unengaged. Further research says that non-Muslim unengaged groups (Hindu, Buddhist, others) number 1,180.
Unengaged peoples are certainly not the only thing God has on his heart. But I hope he’s planting Pauline ambition in many intrepid souls to, preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. And may that passion, conviction, and focus burn so brightly and deeply that like Paul, they are “hindered” from doing anything less.
The Bozo people of Mali are on that list of 422 and they’re recently on my heart. They live as nomadic fishermen. I wonder what it will take to take them off the list. Who can embody Christ in their midst? Who can find a way to live like they live and speak as they speak? Who can demonstrate and teach the good news in such a way that it is irresistibly good to the Bozo?
I don’t know.
But I believe that list of 1,602 unengaged groups will drop to zero. There’s growing, though still slight, momentum. A website focused on the unengaged is nearing beta testing. God’s people are praying, seeking, studying, and collaborating. It’s going to happen. (Ping me if that makes your heart race a little!)
3. 60, 17, 9, and 8,000 people.
You’ve probably heard about the fire in a Bronx apartment building on Sunday. Sixty people were injured, and of the 17 who died, nine were children. What I didn’t know until last night was that most of the dead were Gambians, some of the 8,000 or so Gambians who live in the US. Most of them are Muslim. I know little about Africa, but I’ve had wonderful interactions with Gambians. Please join me in praying for those suffering as a result of this fire—Gambians and others as well.
4. Muslim Connect is five!
This week I’ll send the 260th edition of a short weekly email I write to help us think about Muslims the way God does and love them as Jesus does. It’s called Muslim Connect and, aside from brushing my teeth, is the most consistent thing I’ve ever done. I thank God for the health to do this and for the people who read it. If you don’t get Muslim Connect, please give it a try. At 300 words, it will only debit your week a couple of minutes. In the process of doing so, it might provide a timely bit of encouragement, a practical tool, or even a wry chuckle. Check it out and sign up here. (If you do so soon, you’ll be on board in time for the Five-Year Celebration Giveaway!)
5. Got 2022 book goals?
Are you going for one a week? One a month? One? Even though I know leaders are readers, I fall short in this area. I often find myself reading for thrill rather than skill. I’m not sure Jesus is super impressed that I made my way through the entire Joe Pickett canon in the past 18 months.
This year I hope to read more books that will edify rather than simply excite. My pastor, our elder board chairman, and I are currently making our way through Tod Bolsinger’s book on adaptive leadership, Canoeing the Mountains. I recommend both the book and the practice of reading books with good buds. It multiplies the impact.
This morning I ordered Atomic Habits by James Clear. Eugene Peterson’s biography, A Burning in My Bones, is on the list, as well as Loving Your Muslim Neighbor: Stories of God Using an Unlikely Couple to Love Muslim People . . . and How He Might Use You to Do the Same.
I also hope to drop in a couple of novels written by non-Western people of color. Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie helped me deal with my prejudice against Nigerians. I could use a lot more of that.
What are you planning to read? What would you recommend to me and other Prac Mob readers? Take a second and drop us your thoughts.
We’ve no idea what this year will bring, but we know the one who has our backs. May God bless you with health, perseverance, and absolutely astounding kingdom success and joy in this new year.
