I have heard people pray and ask God to send Jesus back to earth as soon as possible.
Hearing this prayer has always grabbed my attention. The idea of Jesus coming back to finally establish God’s new kingdom is what all of us with the knowledge of the truth, the way and the life looks forward to. We know that the day Jesus comes back will be the day that every tongue will confess and every knee shall bow. There will be no more tears, no more pain and no more suffering. It will be a glorious day. But, somehow this prayer bothered me. Is this a prayer born out of love for God, or maybe... selfishness.
Nowhere do I see Jesus or any of his disciples pray this same prayer. Jesus told his disciples: “The harvest is vast, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37,38)
In John 17:20,21 He asks the Father: “ I ask not only on behalf of these men, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their message so that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.
The first believers were anxious to see the second coming and seemed to have become somewhat despondent about it, such that Peter had to talk to them about this, “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some people understand slowness, but is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to repent." (2 Peter 3:9)
God’s aim is still what He stated right up front: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his unique Son so that everyone who believes in him might not be lost but have eternal life. Because God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16,17)
His focus is on reaching people, getting more people to realise how much He loves them, adding them to His flock. When we ask God to send His Son back quickly, our focus is to rid ourselves of the problems of this world. Our focus should be His focus.
The following are statistics about the Christian faith:
Christianity is ranked the largest religion in the world today. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, in 2010 there were 2.18 billion Christians around the world, nearly a third of the global population. (Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (2010)) given the world currently has more than 7 billion people, this would render 5 billion without the knowledge of God’s grace. Of the 2.18 billion there would also be a big number that is Christian by tradition and not through true knowledge of the love of Christ.
Statistics on missions:
• In the unevangelized world, there are 20,500 full-time Christian workers and 10,200 foreign missionaries.
• In the evangelized non-Christian world, there are 1.31 million full-time Christian workers.
• In the Christian world, there are 306,000 foreign missionaries to other Christian lands. Also, 4.19 million full-time Christian workers (95%) work within the Christian world. (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2001))
It seems we should rather ask in our prayers as Jesus directed us in Matthew 9. On top of that we should ask Him to give us a burden for the same things that He has a burden for... lost people. The task is massive, 5 billion people and counting!