Four Dangers of Research
Last week, I released a large study of the least-reached locations in the United States. If you missed it, the link HERE will take you to the data, infographics, and an important interactive map. Now would be a great time to subscribe below, so as not to miss another post.
In view of this study, it is important to begin this series of reflective posts with a caution.
I think Dayton and Fraser (Planning Strategies for World Evangelization, Eerdmans, 1980) warned us of the potential problems with research. Here are four things to keep in mind in the days to come.
Least-Reached Metro Areas
Least-Reached Counties
Research Can Lead to the Belief that Something has been Accomplished. The only thing that has been accomplished with my report is that our team has shown the ground-level realities when it comes to evangelical presence in an area. Just because we find ourselves amazed at the lostness in the US does not mean people have come to faith in Christ. The Kingdom has not grown because our perspectives have been changed.
Research Can Lead to the Belief that Someone Will Respond to the Need. The temptation is to think that since the need has been revealed, someone somewhere will do something about it. What if each of us believed the other one was going to do something in response to this report? We need to ask ourselves, “What am I going to do to help advance the gospel in these areas?”
Research Can Lead to the Belief that Social Science Will Solve Our Problems. This issue misleads us to think the Kingdom only needs better research to solve the problem. While the Lord graciously provides tools to understand contexts, it is by His Spirit that wisdom and power come for Kingdom advancement. May we not trust in chariots, horses, or social science to solve the challenges of our day (Psalm 20:7).
Research Can Lead to Self-Sufficiency. Along with the ability to understand our contexts and develop church multiplication strategies, is the temptation to forget about God. No research, planning, strategizing, or laboring for the Kingdom is to be done apart from the leading of the Holy Spirit.
The five billion remain.