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The Apostle Paul poured tremendous energy into developing congregations of authentic Christ followers. A related passion shines clearly throughout his writings, including 2 Corinthians 10:16. That passion is Paul's desire to have the Good News proclaimed in places yet untouched by the gospel.
That hope captured the imagination of California pastor Paul Welsh. Recently, Welsh blogged that while Paul longed for his fellow Jews to hear the gospel, his greater focus was to get it to "the regions beyond you."1 Welsh emphasized, "He couldn't get his mind off those who had never heard of God's love . . . those in the regions beyond."
The image of "[preaching] the gospel in the regions beyond" has been used regularly by missions mobilizers. Think about A.B. Simpson, for example. Best known for founding Nyack College and the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Simpson and his wife Margaret also composed gospel songs on missionary themes. A hundred years ago, lyrics by the Simpsons had believers singing these words:
To the regions beyond, I must go; I must go
Where the story has never been told.
To the millions that never have heard of His love,
I must tell the sweet story of old.
Refrain
To the regions beyond, I must go; I must go
Till the world, all the world,
His salvation shall know.
There are other "lost sheep" that the Master must bring,
And to them must the message be told;
He sends me to gather them out of all lands,
And welcome them back to His fold.
— http://www.hymnary.org/text/to_the_regions_beyond_i_must_go
The words "regions beyond" have also been used in the names of missionary-sending organizations. The largest of those was the Regions Beyond Missionary Union, founded in Britain by Henry Guinness at the end of the 19th century. In the mid-20th century, RBMU (the acronym by which it was often known) sent Don and Carol Richardson to the unreached Sawi people of Papua New Guinea.
Peace Child (both a book and a film) recounts Don and Carol's struggle to communicate the gospel to the Sawi and the eventual breakthrough ("Celebrating 50 Years Since Peace Child"). Don's experiences with the Sawi "in the regions beyond" led him to urge missionaries to seek "redemptive analogies" within the cultures of unreached people groups.
Bill Welsh reads 2 Corinthians 10:16 in light of Jesus' Great Commission: "[Paul] would say, 'Follow me as I follow Christ.' . . . Jesus said, 'Go to the regions beyond. . . . Cover the world. Leave no one out.' . . . The world may not be waiting to welcome us, but those in the regions beyond must hear. So we must go."
If we want our churches to be communities of authentic Christ followers, we must affirm Bill Welsh's heart as he cries, "May our heart and vision as a church never slip from doing all we can to reach those in the regions beyond."
— Howard Culbertson
1Note: "The regions beyond" is used in many English translations. Other phrases include "people and lands beyond" (The Voice), "other places far beyond" (New Living Translation), "countries on the other side" (New Life Version), and "other cities that are far beyond" (Living Bible).
This blog post on a world missions Bible passage is one of more than three dozen articles in the "Heart of God" series published in Engage, a monthly online magazine. That series looks at what the Bible says about world missions.
For early Christians, especially those familiar with Paul's missionary journeys and his letters, "the regions beyond" in 2 Corinthians 10:16 referred to areas that had not yet been evangelized or where the message of Christ had not been widely proclaimed. The phrase expresses Paul's desire to continue spreading the gospel ever farther from where Christ was crucified, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. These words echo what he wrote in Romans, expressing his hope to travel to Spain after visiting the church in Rome. It’s as if Paul were thinking things like, “The sky is the limit,” “No boundaries,” and “Dream big.”
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