Three Reasons to Adopt an UUPG

Recently, I was asked by another pastor to pray about and consider going on a short-term mission trip to India. The purpose of the trip is to locate and adopt an unengaged, unreached people group (UUPG). This is a group of people who have no access to the gospel and currently there are no efforts being made to reach them with the good news of Jesus.

After praying and discussing the opportunity with my wife and another couple in our church, we believed this was an endeavor the Lord wanted us to undertake. On December 14, we will be asking our church body to formally join us in this effort to reach an UUPG of India.

Below are three reasons why we should be involved in this effort.

1. The Glory of God
God is worthy of worship. To him belong all glory, honor and adoration. But unfortunately, many people in India do not know about this God who is worthy of their worship, love, and allegiance. To their detriment, they worship and glorify things that are infinitely less significant than the Lord.

One reason we should adopt an UUPG is because the glory of God demands it. As John Piper has put it so well:

“Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more” 

Our prayer and goal is that in this life and throughout eternity members of this UUPG would worship our great and glorious God together with us.

2. Obedience to Christ
There is another reason for taking on this endeavor. The church is obligated to do what our Lord Jesus has commanded: “Go make disciples of all nations.” This is not a suggestion, nor is it merely a good idea. It is a command from King Jesus that we are obliged to follow.

The famous Baptist missionary, Lottie Moon, wrote about this obligation to obey our Lord: 

“How many there are...who imagine that because Jesus paid it all, they need pay nothing, forgetting that the prime object of their salvation was that they should follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in bringing back a lost world to God.” 

Those of us who are Christians have experienced forgiveness because someone else was obedient to Christ. We want to obey our King by embracing this UUPG.

3. The Fate of the Lost
Hell is real. Jesus spoke significantly more about the reality of hell than any other person in the New Testament. He describes hell as a place of “outer darkness”, “eternal punishment”, “unquenchable fire”, and where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”. In hell, there will never be relief. It is a place of conscience eternal torment for unforgiven sinners. The imagery used to convey the horrors of hell is unfathomable. And the people group we want to adopt has no one to warn them about the danger and reality of hell, nor about the One who died so they could escape this fate.

Charles Spurgeon commented on the Christian’s response to the reality of hell. He wrote, 

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.” 

We should adopt an UUPG in order to pray for and warn them about the fate for which they are headed.