A recent Christianity Today article reveals that 20 percent of North Americans do not know any Christians — that’s according to new research by Gordon-Conwell’s Center for the Study of Global Christianity. The article headline called this, “The Craziest Statistic You’ll Read about North American Missions.”

Personally, I don’t get what’s so crazy about it. I actually would expect the statistic to be higher, given the disconnect I have seen between many North American churches and the surrounding world. Aside from the occasional foray to feed the homeless or host a church-wide garage sale, many seem to have a hard time relating to unbelievers.  

Studies show that the vast majority of North American Christ-followers don’t share their faith, invite non-believers into their homes, or even get to know them. Only 20 percent unengaged? I’m surprised it’s not twice that.

The other reason I find this “crazy statistic” rather “un-crazy” is because compared to the rest of the world, 20 percent unengaged is nothing! A whopping 80-90 percent of the non-Western world has absolutely no connection with a Christian. Certainly this does not mean that we should forget about the 20 percent here and get after the 90 percent there, but it does mean that there are a lot more shocking things than what’s going on in our own backyard.

Oswald J. Smith, the founder of the People’s Church in Toronto, once famously declared, “No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once.” That was in 1928, when the world’s population stood at 2 billion. Today, there are an estimated 2.7 billion people on the planet who have still never heard of Jesus one single time! Now that is a crazy statistic that merits our attention.