The Great Commission

Have we missed the point of the Great Commission?

“Go into all the world and preach the Gospel;” that is what we all know (and have heard preached often). We’ll send a missionary and we’ll fund some missions. There: done, because our church has funded others to carry out the ‘great commission. ‘Lord be praised!

But is this what Jesus instructed us to do in this final commission and grand conclusion to the Gospel of Matthew?

[ctt title=”‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” tweet=”Matthew 28:19″ coverup=”8nBX8″]

Go and make followers of all peoples (not just the Jews, or Samaritans or Europeans or Asians or Africans, all nations); therefore we send missionaries.

The King James Version states: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.”  We have been pretty faithful in this in centuries past.

“Baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit, as we say now).”

We are quick to baptize new Christians, sometimes even as infants. Let’s check them off on our list of souls won to heaven. Yet keep in mind that “baptize” must include repentance and a permanent change of heart to bow down humbly to the will of God the Father. Through the ongoing guidance by the Holy Spirit, this commission of our Lord Jesus Christ implies a great personal responsibility for the believer – new believer and those accepted into the Kingdom long ago.

A Command to the Church

Jesus follows with the command most neglected by the church – your church, my church and nearly every church where the Great Commission has been preached:

Matthew 28:20 NLT Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.

Do we do that?

Jesus tells his disciples – those who believe – to go and make disciples. How? Preach the Gospel, Good News that Christ Jesus has come to all who believe, no matter what you may have done in your terrible, sinful past.

Okay. I repented. I’m changed by my relationship with Christ and I’ve received the baptism – the permanent change that I want to do what God wants me to do (though by my sinful nature I continue to sin).

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ – a Christian.

Now what is that ‘great commission’ thing again? Send out a missionary?

No. In fact, I am the missionary wherever any see the change Christ has made in me by his grace and love. I am changed. I must obey Christ as my LORD, not just read what He said as just more good advice. Jesus IS my Lord!

He has commissioned me to do what?

Since I obey Him, I must teach ALL that Jesus has commanded.

Do we teach new believers ALL that Jesus has commanded, even in our own local congregations? Yet it is this overlooked part of the Great Commission to which we are all called. We are called to obey Jesus as our Lord within the body of the church, before we dare claim to know His mission to others.

Set aside postcards from overseas missionaries momentarily and look to the souls of those who surround you within the walls of worship of your own church building.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Are our own children doing this? Are they in church with us? Do they hear God’s word with us. Do they continue to worship the Lord after we have raised them up as teens in a distracted culture and young adults in an increasingly carnal group of worldly friends opposed to Christ?

Are you, dear fellow disciple, teaching them to observe all that Jesus Christ has commanded you? (It’s no so easy as just sending a couple of bucks to a missionary somewhere, is it?)

How do the  Sunday School classes and Bible studies look at your church?

Are you making great progress on the great commission in your own community and in our own households?

Teach them to observe all I have commanded you, Jesus tells us. The struggles of the church now and the struggles of the early church challenge us to obey Jesus and teach the Gospel. Continue to teach the Gospel to new believers and to some of us. Do we get it? (and teach the gospel…) We barely listen and learn within the walls of our own churches; yet listen to the writer of Hebrews dealing with the same issue:

Hebrews 5: 11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.

12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.

Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

Returning to the great commission of our Lord:

How can we go out and make disciples of others, when our pulpits nurse Gospel milk to grown infant christians, never grown into a Bible study?

Teach others to observe all that Jesus has commanded? How, when WE do not take time or effort to grow in the permanence of the promise of our baptism?

In consideration of our growth in scripture and prayerful consideration, we must set aside quiet time with the Lord.

God willing, I pray to continue in living these commands of Christ Jesus, who by our baptism and profession of faith we call, Lord. Beloved believer, I invite you to also obey the great commission of Christ Jesus. Go!

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Due to continued devotion to my book on Christian growth, posts to this site will be limited. [2014 note]

Your posts and comments on any posts are encouraged. May the Lord bless you this day and this week. 

– Roger Harned, Author & Site Administrator