Shocking Imbalance Revealed | Now What?

In the late 1800s, economist and avid gardener Vilfredo Pareto established that 80 percent of the land in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population. While gardening he later observed that 20 percent of the pea pods in his garden yielded 80 percent of the peas harvested.

The “Pareto Principle” became commonly known as the “80/20 rule,” has stood the test of time and scrutiny. Many would agree that the 80/20 imbalance can be found in almost every aspect of modern life.

Upon examination, you may notice that 80 percent of your accomplishments come from 20 percent of your daily to-do list or that 80 percent of the money tithed at your church is given by 20 percent of the people. The actual calculation may be 67/33 or 83/17 or some similar ratio, but the larger the sampling of data the closer to 80/20 the result will be.

How does the 80/20 rule apply to the Great Commission?

It’s estimated that 80 percent of new believers worldwide are younger than 15 years, yet fewer than 20 percent of the resources donated to global missions go to children.

Shocking? Yes. So, the next logical question is, “now what?”

According to the response protocol developed specifically to invert an 80/20 imbalance, very few things really matter. In essence, start putting the resources where they are most productive.

The secret is not to do less of everything, but to do fewer of the things that don’t bear fruit and more of the things that accomplish what we want, or more accurately, what the Lord has asked of us.

In Matthew18, Jesus asks us to look after children, yet historically, ministry to children has received disproportionately less funding than ministry involving adults. We’d like to believe this is simply an oversight, but the facts are difficult to ignore.

We believe in generously and joyfully supporting the Lord’s work in all areas of ministry. We also remember what Jesus taught about one-person planting and the other harvesting. By ignoring our children, generation after generation has missed the opportunity to change our world.

Dr. Wess Stafford, president of Compassion International says, “If we could see what’s going on and the priorities through the eyes of Jesus, children would go from the end of the line to the front of the line and it would make sense on every front. It simply has to change for the Kingdom to be advanced.”

There may be more questions than answers but, as Winston Churchill said, “Never worry about action, only inaction.” By passively allowing the 80/20 rule relevance to Christian ministry, are we actively participating in the “Great Omission?”

A heartfelt confession from D.L. Moody in his later years provides an apt answer: “If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God.”