WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?

Have you ever considered the importance of a number? I mean, “give or take” we say, as if it’s not really that important. Of course, it depends on what we’re talking about.

Birthdays, for example. I hear 40 is the “new 30,” while 50 is the “new 40.” Funny, though, I don’t see any of my friends clamoring to flip that 9 to a 0, do you? What about all of you sports fans out there? One point in a basketball game drawn from a 3 point basket may be easily overcome in a high scoring game, but if you’re pitching for the Mets, one point ahead, with two men out at the bottom of the ninth, that number matters!

We teach our children how to do math the “old way” – long division and so forth, even though we realize, in a matter of time, they will be just as dependent on a calculator as we are. Why do we do this? Because, in our world, numbers are important. Consider Social Security numbers, UPC codes, and sku numbers. Have you taken a gander at a URL lately or some HTML code. Custom color codes shown as digits, instead of “Cornflower Blue” straight from a box of 64 crayons. Do you remember when the 64 box came out? Or the 96! Wow!

This week, I had the opportunity to speak with Pastor Bernard about the impact the Evangelical Churches are having after suffering through persecution to acceptance and, now, exacting change. A remarkable movement towards forgiveness, since the Evangelical churches only represent 10% of Bosnia’s total population. It is awe inspiring to potentially be on the edge of finding a watching world stand in witness as our family of believers begin to move the needle in this broken land, out of darkness and into the light, with hearts afire for Jesus! At this, Bernard corrected me and said the number of evangelicals, or protestants, in this predominantly Muslim country, actually represents only .0002 (1,000 out of a 3.5 million)! I paused. I must have done the calculation three times on my calculator. Have I misquoted this figure for the last two years? A feeling of doubt began to sweep over me. Ten percent stood a running chance, but .0002? Maybe not! There are too few! The scars run too deep, the hatred and un-forgiveness coursing through vains more greatly outnumber those who now worship a risen Lord than before estimated.

How quickly we must unlearn the ways of our world. Almost immediately, a number of Bible stories came flooding to my mind. In Genesis, Chapter 18: Abraham posing question after question to God – What if 50 righteous people remain? What about 10? The number didn’t matter to God. All would be spared. In Matthew Chapter 15: How will we feed the 4,000? (Forget that Jesus had just blessed 5 loaves and two fishes in Chapter 14 to feed 5,000!) The number was not a stumbling block for God. 2 Chronicles Chapter 20: Jehoshaphat’s victory over combined armies, numerically an egregious advantage to the other side - a seemingly no win situation, yet he reigned victorious as the Lord promised.

For the split second of my waffling, I was like the disciples who forgot about Chapter 14. I forgot the Lord’s words to Jehoshaphat, “the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:15b

And, this is what it is in Bosnia, a battle for souls. Souls in need of forgiveness. A forgiveness to be experienced by each other and in the arms of a Savior just waiting to meet them. God doesn’t care about the numbers. No number is too big to save, and no number is too small to use as a conduit for the One relationship which will lead to salvation - for all people, regardless of religion, ethnicity, what they have done in the past. Jesus is available to all of them, and it is happening through the .0002 of evangelicals, give or take, witnessing the love of Jesus in cities like Capljina, Bosnia!

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

By His Grace,
Kathy