“Go and Make Disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:16-20.
We all do what we believe is right in our church. We have inherited activities and programs others started because that is what was in place when we walked in the door. We volunteer, get involved, and participate as best we can with our time. We find aspects of the church ministries that we can serve in, and there are ministries that we benefit from by participating. All this is well and good.
Sometimes, the problem is not what we are doing but what we are not doing. There is always the problem: we all default to what we are comfortable with, and we tend to avoid those responsibilities when we are more uncomfortable. Our reasoning concludes that we have the Body of Christ: because I can’t do everything, and others can do those things that I cannot do. In many ways, this makes sense. We are all limited in gifts, values, priorities, and opportunities. Our dilemma is to discern what we are genuinely unable to do from what we are unwilling to do.
Sometimes we have the wrong picture in our mind about what the church is supposed to be and do. Take the Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20: “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.”
Many churches have a “functional Great Commission” that limits their view of the Great Commission. The “functional Great Commission” in many churches reads a little differently: “Go therefore and make Sunday morning worship attenders, baptizing them into small groups, and teaching them to volunteer a few hours a month.”
The problem is not that we do not want to attract people to our worship service, involve them in small groups, or encourage them to volunteer their time to serve the Lord by serving others. Unfortunately, this is what success looks like in many churches. Creating programs and structures to look after ourselves is not the complete picture of the Great Commission. It is good but not sufficient.
The heart of the Great Commission was Jesus calling disciples to go make disciples. This is not based on your giftedness, personality type, how much money you make, whether you have all the answers, or how much theology you understand. If you have received Christ as your Savior, you are His “witness” to share what Christ has done for you with others.
The text tells us that Jesus called His disciples to accomplish this mission. He did not say missionaries, those with the gift of evangelism, or only those with a certain level of education or public speaking experience. He called anyone who claimed to be a follower of Jesus to go make disciples.
If you claim to be a follower of Jesus, a Christian who is a disciple, He calls you to make disciples. This does not mean you need to join a church where “they” are doing this. We need to move the finish line in our own hearts from just what we do inside our buildings to seeing a more excellent vision of Christ to understand His call on our lives and allow others to equip us so we can step into the world for the sake of the gospel.
Do you embrace His vision for your life?
Brad Little
