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Pastor David Platt stirs passion for the Great Commission, calls ignoring the unreached ‘not tolerable’

McLean Bible Church Lead Pastor David Platt asked the Liberty University student body during Wednesday morning’s Convocation to be a part of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Platt’s visit was part of Liberty’s annual Global Focus Week. On Friday, Liberty will welcome Conrad Mbewe, pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia and the founding Chancellor of the African Christian University, to Convocation.

Platt is the former director of the International Missions Board and is the founder and chairman of Radical, an organization that equips Christians for the mission field.

Following a time of praise and worship led by worship duo Shane & Shane, Platt gave students a clear challenge to reach the world for the Gospel “no matter what it costs.” He presented a map showing unreached areas, where he said about 3.2 billion people have no access to the Gospel.

McLean Bible Church Lead Pastor David Platt (Photos by Chase Gyles)

“I actually believe we can reach them,” he said. “Not any one of us individually but all of us together. … Think about the world we live in today — globalization, urbanization, ease of travel, new technologies — we have more opportunities to spread the Gospel around the world than we’ve ever had before in history. The church in the first century could have only dreamed about the opportunities we have to reach the nations.”

“We’ve got to do something,” he said. “And not just a few of us here or there. But all of us. We’ve all got to do something, we’ve got to pull our resources together and go and send, get behind brothers and sisters who are already in those (unreached) areas.”

“This is not tolerable,” he continued. “Are we passionate about justice? If so, is there any greater injustice than 3 billion people going to hell while all the people who know how to go to Heaven sit back and do little to nothing about that?”

Platt then delivered a hard truth from Romans, where Paul shares that the outcome of those who die without hearing about Jesus will spend eternity apart from Him. Platt once again emphasized that disciples of Christ can deliver a message of hope.

Worship duo Shane & Shane led worship for Wednesday’s Convocation. They were also scheduled to do a live recording of their new album, “Songs, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs,” after Campus Community Wednesday night.

“Do you want justice? Then give your life to whatever it takes to alleviate eternal suffering, eternal poverty, eternal slavery to sin for billions of people,” he said. “That’s the invitation to you — no matter who you are, whatever gifts or skills you might have, regardless of your degree, your wiring, whatever you bring to the table — for you to put a stake in the ground today and say, ‘God I’ll do whatever You call me to do. no matter what the cost, to get the Gospel to people who have never heard it.”

At the close of Convocation, Joshua Rutledge, Liberty’s Vice President of Spiritual Development, said Global Focus Week is at the heart of the university: “What makes this university truly distinct is that the greatest measure of success here never will be a light that just shines back on this place and lifts it up as being great. The greatest measure of success will be the transformed lives of people who live here and shine a bigger light on a much bigger name to the furthest reaches of the world. And that name is Jesus.”

Platt continued his involvement in Global Focus Week on Wednesday afternoon when he and Andre Mann, an entrepreneur and investor who is also a member of the Board of Directors at Hope International, informed students how they can use their professional career to fulfill the Great Commission during a special “Take Your Career to the Nations” session. This evening, Platt and Shane & Shane will be the featured guests at Campus Community at 7 p.m. in the Vines Center. Afterward, students will have the opportunity to respond in worship as Shane & Shane do a live video recording of their new album, “Songs, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs.”

Representatives from over 40 organizations are on campus this week to meet with students interested in mission work.

Throughout Global Focus Week, over 100 representatives from over 40 organizations are on campus to meet with students. The organizations include Compassion International, Samaritan’s Purse, Africa Freedom Mission, International Mission Board, Greater Europe Mission, Operation Blessing, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and Send International, among many others. Representatives are also speaking in classes and on the residence halls after Campus Community.

The week concludes Friday from 9-11 p.m. on the Academic Lawn with “Taste of Nations,” where traditional food from over 20 nations will be served with the assistance of Liberty’s international students and the International Student Center.

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