How "Great" Is the Great Comission?
Introduction
When considering the priorities in your life, what principles and priorities take the cake? For the various roles and goals that you have been sovereignly led to pursue and function in, through what lens do you decide what to give attention to and what to not give time to?
I propose that the lack of focus, attention, time, and energy that we give to Christ’s commission leaves the Church making a fatal and great omission. As former missionary Steve Saint has said, “We left most of the combatants out of the conflict.” (1) Far too few Christians see the biblical claim that the Great Commission makes on their lives. We run the risk of pigeon-holing the Great Commission to the missionaries or the extroverted evangelists amongst us. Has the Great Commission truly lost its “greatness” among all of Christ’s followers?
What is the Great Commission?
The Great Commission was given by Jesus as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20 (2) where Jesus told his disciples at the Mount of Olives,
“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, the Son, and the Holy Spirit teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always unto the end of the age.”
—Matthew 28:18–20
This was Jesus’ final marching orders to his disciples following His bodily resurrection before he ascended into Heaven.
Former missionary Brad Buser always spoke about his retired-military father telling him to “act on his final command”. Likewise, we should consider the vital importance and priority of these marching orders as Jesus’ final instructions to those who loved Him.
Jesus could have left His followers with the command to “go and love your neighbor as yourself” or to “go to serve the weak and needy”. But rather he takes his final opportunity to give the commission to go and disciple the nations. I am convinced that all of Jesus’ other commands given throughout his earthly ministry find their culmination in these marching orders found in Matthew 28:18-20. We love our neighbors and our city well by giving focus to obeying the Great Commission. We love our children and grandchildren well when we actively model for them how a faithful Christian seeks to witness to Christ’s life, death, and resurrection in all of life.
What makes the Great Commission great?
When answering the question in the heading above we need to grasp the fullness of the import of the Great Commission. The greatness of the Great Commission lies in the optimism that it instills and the holistic effect it seeks to produce.
The greatness of the Great Commission lies in the optimism that Christ’s claims of authority and the promise of His presence instill in us. He has all authority over heaven and earth. He has promised that he would be with us always until the end of the age when this commission would then be complete. The fact that the Great Commission is sandwiched between both this claim and this promise should instill great confidence in every believer even in the midst of trials, suffering, and persecution.
The holistic nature of salvation that obedience to the Great Commission seeks to produce must begin with our understanding of what Christ meant when he commanded us to disciple all the “nations”. Author and Pastor Kenneth Gentry (3) says,
“The Greek word translated “nations” here is ethne (the plural of ethnos)... it is widely agreed among etymologists that it was derived from another Greek word, ethos, which means “mass’ or host’ or multitude’ bound by the same manners, customs, and other distinctive features”... Therefore, ethos contemplates “a body of people living according to one custom and rule.”... Consequently, the word ethnos speaks not so much of stray individuals as such, but of collected masses of individuals united together by a common bond, as in a culture, society, or nation.”
Precision is important when we seek to understand such an important command as Jesus’ final command was. Gentry goes on to flesh out the importance that Jesus’ use of ethnos was saying,
He does not merely say “disciple all men” (although this lesser point is true also). In that case he would have chosen the Greek word anthropos, which would allow the reference to indicate men as individual humans… Neither does He call for the discipling of “all kingdoms” (basileia), as if He laid claim only to political authority. Rather, He calls for the discipling of “all the nations” (ethnos), involving men as individuals united together in all their socio-cultural labors and relations.
The work of discipling the nations then given in the Great Commission has a comprehensive nature as Christ exercises his authority over men through spiritual conversion. It is never a “top down” approach of legislating belief or demanding it. Rather, we proclaim Christ and Him crucified and watch God provide the growth as hearts are changed and lives are transformed.
Gentry therefore concludes,
As the numbers of converts increase, this providentially leads to the subsuming under the authority of Christ whole institutions, cultures, societies, and governments.
While he does save individuals and an individual does personally experience their heart of stone being replaced with a heart of flesh, He is also declared to be the Savior of the world.
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” —John 1:29
“The Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” —1 John 4:14
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believed in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him.” —John 3:16-17
“He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” —1 John 2:2
“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” —2 Corinthians 5:19
Gentry observes,
In the New Testament the word kosmos (world) spoke of the sum of all created being, including both the animate and the inanimate creation. Acts 17:24 speaks of God creating the “world and all that is in it.” God created an orderly creation, as is evident from Genesis 1. Hence, He created a kosmos.
God is truly working a cosmic salvation.
Living Out the Greatness of the Great Commission
Like the disciples at the mountain, we too are meant to hear and obey Christ’s words given in the Great Commission. We pray honestly and confidently, “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Our faith must be exhibited in works and our prayers must be undergirded by labor. Therefore, how do we labor to obey the Great Commission? We do so by an “all hands on deck approach”, seeking to glorify and honor Christ in this world.
Obeying the Great Commission necessitates our proclamation of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are to follow up our proclamation with baptizing new converts and in discipling them to obey everything that Christ has commanded. The Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith highlights this in its section on The Purpose and Mission of the Church saying,
As the Father sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus has sent his people into the world in the power of the Spirit. The church’s mission is to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded. We do this by proclaiming the gospel, planting churches, and adorning the proclamation of the gospel with love and good works.
—Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith, The Purpose and Mission of the Church
With such a great command, how do we practically seek to obey this where God has planted us for this season in Sioux Falls? As the people of Emmaus Road Church, our mission statement seeks to give this clarity declaring, “We exist to make and multiply disciples by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in Sioux Falls and to the ends of the earth.” The pattern we see in the Bible is that disciples make disciples who make disciples. Those disciples gather in churches that plant churches. Mature disciples multiply disciples, and this will continue until the whole world is filled with worshipers.
Obedience to the Great Commission requires all of us to take the initiative to go out into the world, whether near or far, to make disciples and to teach the joy and fruit that is found in obedience to Christ’s commands. May we all get to experience the joy of hearing Christ say to us with pleasure, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
Conclusion
So yes, the scope and promise of the Great Commission really is great! It is far greater than we can actually wrap our minds around. Somehow by the mystery of God’s providence he is equipping you and me to play a pivotal role in seeing all the nations stream to Christ who is the hope of all the world.
Footnotes:
(1) – The Great Omission: Fulfilling Christ’s Commission Completely, Steve Saint, pg. 20
(2) – Also other Great Commission like texts in Mark 13:10, 14:9; Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:8
(3) – I lean heavily once again on Kenneth Gentry in his book “The Greatness of the Great Commission” in this section. It is worth the read!