Ministry Reports 100 Million Salvations Milestone: Results Matter to God and They Should Matter to Us Too
ANALYSIS
Currently, there are more than 7.5 billion people in the world, and every day, more than 150,000 of those precious souls breathe their last breath. Unfortunately, many of them have not accepted the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some have never even heard it.
There are many things we can do to help people around the world, but the most important thing is to introduce them to Jesus Christ and secure their place in Heaven.
If something is worth doing — and what is worth doing more than the Great Commission given to us by Christ? — then we should track whether it's being achieved. Tracking results matters to God because every "number" represents a soul created by Him.
Consider these three reasons why results should matter to us, too:
Choosing to count something is an indicator of its value.
Right now, there are certain numbers that you know very well. You know how many children you have, how much money you have, and if you're a sports enthusiast, you may have record-breaking batting averages tucked away in your mind as well. We count the things that are important to us.
God loves numbers. Throughout the Bible, we find Him counting and measuring all sorts of things. He counted the one lost son among two, and the one lost coin among ten. He counted the one lost sheep among 100, and He counts the number of hairs on each of our heads!
In fact, God likes numbers so much that He makes some things uncountable by human means. The stars cannot be numbered, nor can we count the grains of sand in the sea, the blades of grass on our lawns, or all the drops of water in the oceans of the world. But God knows. tells us, "He counts the number of the stars; He names all of them." He not only counts them but names them all! Every number has significance to God.
We measure what matters.
If you're not measuring your progress, it's easy to get distracted by things that don't matter or are not essential. Many of Jesus' parables—the mustard seed, the sower, the great banquet, the talents—have quantitative, measurable, or growth-oriented messages. This continues in the Book of Acts, where there are several references to the numerical growth of the church.
In the gospel of Luke when Christ sent the disciples out on their mission, they later reported back and told Him all they had done. Accountability of this kind helps us maintain a focus on the important work of reaching souls for Christ.
At Reaching Souls International, because of our desire to honor the Lord and be accountable to our supporters, we faithfully report the salvation decisions that the Lord allows us to see. Recently, we celebrated the fruits of the global harvest, reporting 100 million salvation decisions since the organization's founding in 1986. One by one, people are placing their faith in Christ as Lord and Savior.
We give God the glory for all of it because behind every number there is a person who is precious to God. That person deserves to be counted. When you think of 100 million, it sounds like a lot of zeroes, but to God, it's a lot of ones. Each one matters to Him.
Every soul matters to God – that's why every soul must matter to us.
The value of a person's soul is measured by God's concern for saving them and the price paid for their redemption. God sees each soul as the most valuable thing in the world — so valuable that He sent His only Son to the cross to suffer and die so that we would be saved.
In a world where worth is often measured in terms of status and productivity, the unconditional love of God for everyone is beyond our comprehension. But God sees every person as His creation, a child whom He deeply loves.
Jesus commissioned us to take the Gospel, not just to our own communities and cities, but to every nation and to the ends of the earth. The Bible is clear that faith comes from hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God saves the lost, but He uses His people to share the message. If believers do not tell the story, it will not be told.
As we observe nations rising up against other nations and an increased acceptance of godlessness across the world, our hearts yearn for the Lord's quick return. But until that day comes, we must work strategically and swiftly to reach the maximum number of people for Christ as quickly as possible. Results matter because every soul matters to God.
Dustin K. Manis is the president and chief executive officer of Reaching Souls International, which exists to reach the maximum number of people for Christ in the least amount of time in the most efficient way. Reaching Souls works to make the name of Jesus and His Gospel known all around the world.
