74% Of Christians Don't Know...

Apr 14, 2025 3 min read

Despite its foundational role in Christian doctrine, the Great Commission remains unfamiliar to the majority of believers, raising concerns about missionary engagement.

Erik D Scott, Matt Scott

"The Great Commission" has been a foundational pillar of mission work since Jesus first gave us the command almost 2000 years ago:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 18:19-20, NIV)

But in their 2022 report titled, The Great Disconnect, Barna Group and Mission India found that a surprising 74% of “Practicing Christians” could not tell them what the Great Commission is or recall its exact meaning.

Meanwhile, only 26% of “Practicing Christians” knew what the Great Commission was and could identify its meaning.

These results are sobering.

From the Pulpit

The Great Disconnect Report also noted that 85% of pastors believe that missions is a mandate for all Christians, while only 42% of practicing Christians felt the same way.

The Disconnect

Somehow, what Jesus commanded, and what the majority of pastors say about mission work is not taking root in the hearts of the average Christian.

A direct result of this disconnect: Only 1 of every 174,463 Christians will become a missionary to the Unreached. (The Traveling Team, 2024)

Combine this low "going" rate with the fact that 6.5% of missionaries LEAVE the field every year - or over 50% every decade - and it becomes easy to see why missions is facing an ongoing manpower shortage. (OMF 2024).

The Problem

At One Village Group, we believe the average churchgoer's lack of understanding of the Great Commission, the low rate of "going", and the high turnover rate among missionaries in the field are all deeply connected.

We further believe these problems cannot be solved from the pulpit.

We believe the biggest parts of these problems have to be solved FROM THE MISSION FIELD ITSELF.

Communications

Common sense says:

⛔ No one will support what they don’t believe in.

⛔ No one will believe in something they don’t understand.

⛔ No one can understand something they barely know exists.

There are over 450,000 Christian missionaries around the globe doing AMAZING work and yet for all intents and purposes, the majority of these workers are invisible to the average churchgoer (See: The Invisible Missionary).

And remember: No one is going to support something they barely even know exists.

Our Takeaway: Most of today’s mission crises stem from a lack of clear, compelling communication from the mission field.

This persistent lack of clear communication (if communication exists at all) leads to low interest and engagement rates from Christians as a whole, which results in isolated and unsupported missionaries in the field, which leads to short mission's lifecycles by the majority of missionaries.

The Good News?

The good news is, churches and missionaries are starting to figure this out.

Their use of social platforms, websites, and blogs to connect their missions directly to individual church members is on the rise.

Our missionaries are learning how to make themselves Visible where people are today - digitally and online.

And when Christians start to see the work being done and understand the compelling stories of our missionaries in the field, EVERYTHING changes!

🏆 What You Can Do

✅ GET CONNECTED Go online and find out who your church is supporting in the mission field and SUBSCRIBE to follow them.

✅ GET INFORMED! Read the communications from your missionaries, learn what they are doing.

✅ PUSH FOR CHANGE! If your church’s missionaries aren’t online, and/or aren't providing clear communication from the field, ask your missions director WHY! Because if they aren't online, actively engaging with their supporters, statistics say they may not be in the field too much longer.

✅ GET ENGAGED Don't just read communications from your missionaries, provide feedback when they communicate with you. This encourages them to communicate MORE!