Jesus Christ says:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
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! Amen.

Matthew 28:18b-20 (Emphasis by the page operator)

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How do we define all nations and how far have we come so far?

Sometimes you hear the remark: “Surely almost everyone has heard of Jesus by now. Surely missionaries have been sent to every country. Haven’t we almost fulfilled the Great Commission?” Although the spread of the Christian faith is almost supernatural, there are still large parts of the world’s population who have never heard the name of Jesus, let alone a clear presentation of the message of salvation.

Does “all nations” mean countries or nations?

The gospel has indeed reached every political country in the world, but when Jesus commanded his followers in Matthew 28:18-20 to “make disciples of all nations,” he was not referring to political nations like Canada, Kenya, Russia, etc. Many of them, like the United States, did not even exist when Jesus gave this command. The word used in the original Greek text for nations is “ethne,” from which the English word “ethnic” is derived. “Ethne” refers to non-Jews or a collection of individuals with a common identity.

In the Great Commission, Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of all ethnic groups. This makes a dramatic difference in the scope of the Great Commission.

What is a people group?

For the purposes of evangelization, a people group is the largest group within which the gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.

Quote from the Lausanne Committee meeting in Chicago, 1982

In most parts of the world, the language barrier is the main obstacle to the spread of the gospel. Therefore, it is appropriate to define people groups primarily by language, while keeping the possibility open to make subdivisions based on dialects or cultural variations. Such a list can be referred to as an ethno-linguistic list of peoples.
However, there are also areas in the world, especially in parts of South Asia, where communication is not the biggest obstacle, but the willingness to accept the gospel. In these regions, caste affiliation, religious traditions, location, or even identity-forming stories and legends can serve as the primary delineation of individual people groups. Language can be used as a secondary distinguishing feature.

What distinguishes one people group from another?

Ideally, “people group” is always defined in such a way that (a) all individuals in the group can understand each other reasonably well and (b) the cultural/relational barriers are not so high that the transmission of the gospel is seriously hindered.

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