Let's Take to the Field

By Geoff Hammond

People from nearly every nation are now our neighbors, and we are facing the challenge of a rapidly increasing population. With more than 300 million people in the U.S., the projection is that the nation's population will grow to 440 million by 2050. Canada's population is now more than 30 million, and more than 250,000 immigrants are admitted each year.

If we are truly going to reach this continent, this mission field, with the gospel, we are going to have to work together more than ever before, talk to more people than ever before, and do things differently than we've ever done before. We do this not just because it's new and innovative, but also because North America's population is vastly different than it was even 10 years ago. Our society is more secular and pluralistic than ever. While the population numbers seem daunting, for each number, there is a face and a name—a person whom God loves and who needs to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And, it is up to us to reach them so that the population of the kingdom of God will also grow!

The sheer size of the lost population in North America makes it the fourth largest mission field in the world. To understand the magnitude of the challenge before us, imagine a farmer whom God has blessed with enough land to plant 100 rows of corn—200 rows total—but for some reason, the farmer continues to plant corn in only the original 60 rows.

Several more years pass.

The farmer is blessed with abundant harvests from the 60 rows that he does plant, so what keeps him from realizing that all the additional land will give him a much larger harvest? Inexplicably, the farmer continues to plant corn in only 60 rows of his field. He could plant in 300 rows, but he settles for that with which he is familiar and comfortable tending. When the farmer eventually dies and goes to heaven, the Lord asks him, "Why did you only plant 60 rows every year? Didn't you see the 300 rows I gave you?" The farmer has no answer for his behavior. He knows the land was wasted, and he hangs his head in shame.

Many Christians in North America are just like that farmer. No longer can we ignore the growing mission field all around us. Doing what we've always done will not create a new result. We are familiar with what's worked in the past, but now it's time to urgently sow down the gospel among all the peoples of North America. God has given you and me the land. He has provided the resources. Let us take to the field!