The Great Imbalance

A Mobilizer's Motivation

You may or may not have heard the phrase… ‘The Great Imbalance’. I encourage you to google the phrase to learn more. So, what does it refer to and why do I care as a mobilizer? If you have followed me on social media or read my blogs, this post may be a review, either way… I trust you’ll find it helpful and informative!

The Great Imbalance refers to the ways in which the global church spends her financial and human resources in relation to gospel access around the world. In case you haven’t heard, 42% of the worlds population live in places with limited or no access to the life-saving, transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ! Yes, you read correctly, 42%! This is over 3 BILLION people worldwide.

These people live among people groups (a group of people with its own language, culture, and customs) who do not have sufficient numbers of believers to sustain the gospel without outside help and intervention. If less than 2% of a people group know Jesus, they are considered to be ‘unreached’. We call these Unreached People Groups or UPG’s. If a people group has no gospel presence at all; meaning they have no Bible’s, no Christians, and no churches we refer to them as an unreached and unengaged people group or UUPG’s.

The global church earns approximately $53 TRILLION dollars annually. …Unfortunately they give only 1.7% of that annual income to Christian causes.

You may believe the global church has prioritized these UPG’s in the way we spend our resources? Unfortunately this would NOT be an accurate assessment. The global church earns approximately $53 TRILLION dollars annually. Yes, you read that correctly. That is A LOT of money! Unfortunately they give only 1.7% of that annual income to Christian causes. This is not just tithing to a local church, but to ALL CHRISTIAN causes including missions, local food banks, pregnancy centers, etc.. This number equals $896 Billion dollars annually. That sounds like a lot of money but keep in mind it is only 1.7 % of the churches total annual income.

Currently for every 100 missionaries in the world, only 2.7% serve among UPG’s. …only 3.7 out of every 1000 Christian workers currently serves among unreached people groups!

So you are probably thinking, at least we are sending thousands of missionaries to serve and evangelize around the world, right? Yes, the 20th Century has seen amazing progress for the gospel. You would be partially correct. In Matthew 16 Jesus made it clear that He will build His church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Great strides have been made in the last 200 years towards reaching the world for Jesus and hundreds of thousands of men and women have given their lives to this cause! That is GREAT news. Unfortunately, there is still much work to be done. Currently for every 100 missionaries in the world, only 2.7% serve among UPG’s. Even worse, only .37% of all Christian workers worldwide are serving among UPG’s. This means that only 3.7 out of every 1000 Christian workers currently serves among unreached people groups!

Let’s take a closer look at that $896 Billion dollars mentioned above. How much of the 1.7 % believers give each year is used to reach the 42% of the worlds people living among UPG’s? Eighty-two percent of this money is spent on ‘home ministries’ (this equals $734 Billion dollars annually). Twelve percent is spent on ‘home evangelism’, or $107.5 Billion. This sounds encouraging. We are spending over $100 Billion each year on evangelism… not bad, right? Six percent, or $52 Billion of the $896 Billion is spent on missions. YAY… that seems like a lot of money spent on missions each year.

Unfortunately only 1.7 percent of the six percent actually goes to reach those without access to the gospel (the 42%). This means that of the $52 Trillion (with a ‘T’), followers of Jesus earn worldwide, only $880 Million (with an ‘m’) finds it’s way to reaching UPG’s.

Americans will spend more money next month on Halloween costumes for their pets than the entire Church worldwide will spend on reaching people without access to the gospel.

For some perspective, this means that for every $100,000 Christians earn, $1.70 is spent on reaching the 3 billion+ with limited or no access to the gospel! Americans will spend more money next month on Halloween costumes for their pets than the entire Church worldwide will spend on reaching people without access to the gospel. If you know me, you know I love sports as much as anyone, but the top 8 highest paid athletes in 2023 will earn a combined total of $908 million! This is $28 million more than the entire global Christian church will spend to reach the 42 percent.

I pray God uses these statistics to stir your heart for people groups all around the world without access to the Gospel! If this information is alarming to you or caused you to think in new ways, please share this post with your circle. We are all a part of the body and only together can we, the body of Christ fulfill our HIGH calling!