The Great Imbalance: Re-aligning Our Hearts to God’s Mission

Ministering to the DMI missional community at Third Gate, T'boli, South Cotabato.

There’s a growing awareness stirring across the global body of Christ—a realization that something isn’t right. While we talk passionately about the Great Commission, while we sing and pray for the nations, the reality tells a different story.

Less than 3% of all missionaries today are serving among unreached people groups—those with little to no access to the Gospel. (Source: Lausanne Movement, 2024)

That means entire tribes, families, and nations are living and dying without ever hearing that Jesus came for them. This isn’t just a number on a chart—it’s a heartbreaking imbalance in how we steward God’s mission.

The Great Imbalance Isn’t Just Statistical—It’s Spiritual

The Lausanne Movement calls this the “Great Imbalance”—a deep gap in where we direct our resources, manpower, and prayers.

According to missional data, around 72% of global mission efforts are focused on the 29% of the world that already has access to the Gospel, while only 3% of missionaries are serving among the unreached—the ones with no Bible, no church, and often no Christian nearby. (Source: Lausanne Movement; Missions Prayer; Joshua Project)

This isn’t just a matter of poor planning—it’s a matter of justice and obedience.

When we choose the comfortable and the familiar, we unconsciously declare that some souls are more “reachable” or more “worth the effort” than others. But the Gospel never makes that distinction. Jesus left heaven for those who were farthest away.

How This Imbalance Shows Up in Us

We don’t have to look far to see how this imbalance plays out locally. It’s in how many churches invest heavily in their own programs, buildings, and comfort—but give little to the cause of reaching the unreached.

It’s in how we pray—fervently for our personal needs, but rarely for those who’ve never heard the name of Jesus. And it’s in how easily we assume that someone else will go… someone else will give… someone else will care. But maybe—just maybe—God is inviting us to be that “someone.”

Walking on a muddy road under rainy skies to reach the missional community at Third Gate.

The Weight of the Need

Let’s look at the reality:

• There are over 7,600 unreached people groups in the world today.

• That’s about 43% of all people groups on earth.

• More than 3.5 billion people—that’s nearly half the world’s population—still have little or no access to the Gospel. (Sources: Joshua Project; Global Frontier Missions)

This isn’t a distant problem. It’s the unfinished task of the Church. And until the imbalance is addressed, the Great Commission remains incomplete.

What Can We Do?

The good news is—we can do something today. Rebalancing begins when the people of God realign their priorities with the heart of God.

Here’s how:

• Pray with awareness. Make space in your prayers for the unreached. Mention them in your gatherings, devotions, and quiet moments.

• Redirect your giving. Commit even a small percentage of your mission fund or personal budget toward frontier work.

• Send and support. Stand with those who go to the hardest and least-reached places.

• Mobilize your church. Educate others about the imbalance. Help awaken a vision for the nations in your local body.

A Call to Recenter

The imbalance won’t change overnight—but it can change through you. Let’s return to the center—to the mission that burns in God’s heart. The Great Commission is not a suggestion. It’s a calling that demands our response.

Will you help correct the imbalance? Will you stand for those who have never heard? Because until the whole world hears, our mission is not done.

Sources:

• Lausanne Movement, The Great Imbalance Report (2024)

• Joshua Project, Global Unreached People Groups Data (2024)

• Missions Prayer & Global Frontier Missions (2024)