Evangelising the world by 2033 is not a biblical deadline. And it may do more harm than good

Declarations about “reaching every person with the Gospel by 2033” have been endorsed by prominent Western church leaders including Nicky Gumbel and Rick Warren. Evangelising the world before the 2,000 year anniversary of Christ’s resurrection may sound visionary, but Joseph D’Souza says the target sends the wrong message to the watching world. He’s urging the West to stop putting metrics ahead of mission 

When high-profile, Western-led ministries announce goals like “reaching every person on earth” by 2033 — the 2,000-year anniversary of the resurrection and pentecost — it sounds bold and visionary in conference halls throughout America.

But for our Christian brothers and sisters who are already a tiny minority in their nations, and who often face tremendous persecution, these public declarations are a recipe for trouble. 

Deadline-driven missions

Every time a slogan like this goes viral, local churches face a new wave of attacks, from negative press and harassment to police raids and even dubious anti-conversion laws. We saw it in the late 1990s with the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement and the Joshua Project. 

In the Indian Parliament, the Joshua Project database was used as “proof” of a foreign conspiracy to convert India by the year 2000. Politicians who feel threatened by the gospel, and even those who don’t hold a strong opinion about it, were handed ammunition on a platter. 

These date-specific, target-driven campaigns come straight out of a Manhattan-style management playbook — featuring SMART goals, KPIs, dashboards, and countdown clocks.

They are backed by the economic muscle of a few Christian-majority nations and networks. Evangelical Christians in relatively safe…