Brazilian author and songwriter Paulo Coelho wrote, “You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.” (Ovi repeats this quote in Extraction 1, by the way.) This quote gives me (Doug) pause. While working as a lifeguard at a church camp in high school, I had to pull several campers out of our muddy lake. They weren’t choosing to stay submerged. They just didn’t know how to swim yet. Similarly, today, many assume that every person on earth has heard the Gospel. But, as you already know, that’s just not the case. Some people (around 3 billion) are still non-Christians by circumstance, rather than by choice. Just like a 9-year-old deserves a chance at learning to swim, let’s at least give unreached people a viable opportunity to hear about Jesus, the cross, and His raising power. Thanks for helping make that happen.
7) Was Ovi Right? (“You Drown Not…”)
Like many half-truths where the surface statement is true, the realities of context may be more complicated. Doug’s comment is spot-on as we consider the unreached.