What is the Great Commission? Make Disciples!

Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV)
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Over the next few posts I want to take some time to look at the great commission of Jesus, and what that does, or should mean in our lives.

(This is part 3 of our multi-part series on The Great Commission)

Special Forces Christianity. Get in, get the job done with the minimum of casualties, and get out.

We idolize our commando’s, our SWAT teams, our special forces. They get in, do a dangerous job, and get out with as little fuss as possible. They usually avoid the spotlight, preferring to work in the dark and just get the job done. When we meet them in person they are commanding, yet humble figures. They don’t brag about their achievements, but quietly and efficiently get the job done.

Sound a little like Christianity? I mean, they are humble, they are efficient, they follow their leader to to the death if required.

I know not all missions and outreach programs are like this, but many are, and others appear to be so. Get in, get the gospel preached, get conversions and ‘decisions for Jesus’, maybe fill out a few discipleship cards to send them our mailout and get  back home and resume normal life.

Decisions for Jesus becomes our missional mantra. We desperately want to show numbers, we want to show that our preaching has been powerful and effective, our worship powerful and cutting to the heart. We have become special forces Christians.

But this is not what Jesus called us to do is it? The command wasn’t ‘get decisions for me’, or ‘see how many people come forward at an altar call’, but ‘Make Disciples‘.

Making disciples is hard work. I know, not from making them, but from being made one. I am still being made one, and until I am freed from this body of sin I will continue being made one. I have been hard work I know, because my faults have been many.

And praise God that someone didn’t stop with a ‘decision’ and say ‘God Bless, go in peace now you are a brother’, but many people over the years have taken the time to input into my life, to teach me, to guide me, to instruct me, and even to rebuke and admonish me. These people took on Jesus’ command to make disciples, rather than accepting I am ‘in the club’ now and leaving me to fall back to my old life.

So what does it mean to make disciples? It is a lifelong investment in teaching and practicing the Christian life. It is reminding people all that Jesus said, and teaching them to obey His words, just as we do. It is not just being a special forces Christian and getting a ‘conversion’ to feel good, but investing yourself into the lives of others that we all might grow closer to Jesus.

So, when you go, make a decision beforehand to follow what Jesus commanded and make disciples, not just converts.

What is the Great Commission? All Authority!

Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV)
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Over the next few posts I want to take some time to look at the great commission of Jesus, and what that does, or should mean in our lives.

(This is part 2 of our multi-part series on The Great Commission)

Often, when people quote Jesus’ words here, they start with, ‘Go therefore’.  They no doubt start there because that is a direct command that requires action on our part – Go!

Go!

But if we are to jump off the starting blocks from that command, we miss what I believe is the key part of this message.

All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me

Before we are told to go, we are told something more important – the power by which we are commanded. Jesus doesn’t command us, ‘Go, and I hope it works out for you’. He isn’t saying, ‘Go, and if you do it right, we might just get this done together’. 

He says ‘All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me‘. All authority.

When we go – we know we go with the power of an all powerful, all knowing God behind us. We aren’t supported by our own strength, or even the strength of those around us who support us in their own way. We aren’t driven by the wind where it will blow – but we go with a purpose and with a power that declares that all authority is given to it.

So before we get to ‘Go!’, don’t forget how you go – you go by the command of one who holds all authority, and will bring about His purpose for His glory. All we need to do is be obedient to that call.

What is the Great Commission? Part 1

Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV)
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Over the next few posts I want to take some time to look at the great commission of Jesus, and what that does, or should mean in our lives.

(This is part 1 of our multi-part series on The Great Commission)

It is something I have been thinking about recently – what are we actually doing here? Why has God called us to where we are today? What is God calling us to next? No doubt, some of this is because of personal circumstances – my wife and I are waiting for the ‘next thing’ that God is calling us to. We know that it will become clear as soon as it is meant to – but we are learning patience and endurance until then…

So, what is this about going into all the nations, teaching and baptizing?

First, there is something that is easy to overlook – certainly something I did until it was shown to me. This is one of the only recorded times that Jesus specified a date and place that He was to meet with the disciples. We know that at least the disciples came – there is the possibility that this is the same event as mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians where over 500 people saw Jesus, but we don’t really know.

What we do know, is that the disciples were obedient to the call. Jesus called them to be somewhere – at a certain time – and they were there, ready for Him.

And what was the first thing they did? They worshipped Him.

We are in a new age now. No longer do we have to wait for a specified time and place to meet with God. We don’t have to wait until Sunday to meet God at the altar, or wait until a specified feast, or our annual journey to the great temple in Jerusalem.

Since Pentecost, all Christians have had the Holy Spirit. God is with us always, everywhere we go. Everything we do is done with God right there. No longer do we need to wait until a specified time and place to meet with our Lord, but we can meet Him now – wherever we are, whatever we are doing. And we can worship Him as God.

So join me over the next few days as we reflect on what the Great Commission means to us now, almost 2000 years after Jesus commanded us to Go.

Pride cometh before the fall – Romans 11:19-23

Romans 11:19-23 (ESV)
Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.

What is the cure to pride?

Fear.

In our natural, sinful selves, most of us have a tendency to become proud. It may not be pride as you often think of it either, but something more insidious and subtle.

Obvious pride is someone who walks around with their head held high, willing to promote to any and all their high station in life, be that learning, or wealth, or good looks, or many other things. Pride can even be the monk who walks down the street in 15 year old tattered robes, proud he is living a ‘holy life’ above all the ‘common rabble’. Pride comes in many forms.

But there is a more subtle pride, the pride of salvation.

Walking down the street you might see a guy with a cigarette in one hand, bottle of cheap wine in the other, drunk and swearing at a lamp post – and you think to yourself, thank God I am not like that man.

Driving to church you see a guy shoot past you on the freeway in his expensive European convertible, hair blowing in the wind so all the world can see him and his car and his riches, and you say thank God I am saved, not like that sinner.

After church you talk with friends and hear the latest gossip about an elder caught doing wrong, and you say to your friends thank God I am a true Christian, and don’t do those things.

Do you see it? Subtle, insidious pride sneaking into our lives. We become proud that we are saved, and therefore we are ‘better’ than everyone else because of it. Yes, maybe we do have higher moral standards – but what are they really? Yes, we do honor God (or at least think we do), but why do we do it?

We do it because we were saved by Jesus Christ, when there was nothing that we could have done to save ourselves. We were, and some of us still are, dirty, rotten sinners. There was nothing at all that God would want from us, because there was no value left in us at all. It was only at His work, at His call that a way was made for us to become the people we are today. And yet, there is a path back to that life of sin and condemnation – spiritual pride.

So remember, it was not you who saved yourself – but Jesus. And it is not you who maintains and guides your life – it is Jesus. It was not you that made you a ‘good person’ – it is only by the blood of Jesus that we have been freed from our sins, and it is through the blood of Jesus that the rest of the world can be freed as well.

Lord God, help us not to be proud of our salvation, as if it was something we achieved through our own strength and will. Teach us what it truly means to be humble, and direct all glory to you, in Jesus Name, Amen.

Who supports who? Romans 11:17-18

Romans 11:17-18 (ESV)
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.

An interesting question to ask yourself is – am I essential to the Kingdom of God?

The answer, which comes quickly, should be ‘no’.

You are not essential. Wanted? Yes. Loved? Yes. More important than the other members?

Not so much.

God loves you, and God has called you to do something for Him, for His glory. To do that, He has also empowered you, and gifted you. He supports you continually, that you can do what you are called to do.

But do you see the key there? He supports you. He gifted you. He empowers you. Some of us, especially those of us who might stand up in front of a congregation and preach or teach, might be tempted to think of ourselves as more important than others. Maybe you are the worship leader, or you are an elder, a member of the board. These are things that God has gifted to you to do for His glory.

The moment it becomes your glory rather than His, you are no longer doing it for God – you are doing it for yourself. The moment you think of yourself more highly than others, any others at all, you have exalted yourself higher than you truly are. Even worse, you are claiming what God has given you as your own, and therefore setting yourself higher than God!

Romans 12:3-5 (ESV)
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

God has called you and gifted you for something – so do that something in all humility, knowing that it is for God’s glory, not your own. For the moment you exalt yourself, God can empower, gift and equip someone else for that work that you do. You are but a branch, and it is still the root that supports you.

Heavenly father, help us to all be humble, trusting in you always. Teach us not to be proud of the things that we do, falsely thinking we have done them in our own strength, with our own wisdom and our own power, but remind us constantly that it is through You that our strength comes, it is through you that our talents come, it is through you that we are daily empowered to do what You have called. Help us to direct all glory to you as is fitting, rather than try and steal it for ourselves. Help us to be humble, and not to think more highly of ourselves than we should. Convict us that we might be right before you, rather than trying to be exalted before others. In Jesus Name. Amen.