Commissioned

Everyday Christianity: First Things (4)

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28.18-20

Dumbed-down
It is said that familiarity breeds contempt. And here I’m thinking that Oxford’s second definition of “contempt” is probably what was intended: “disregard for something that should be considered.” I don’t think any Christian would say that the Great Commission is “worthless” or “beneath consideration”. No real Christian would attend a church that took such a position.

Nevertheless, that the Great Commission is in a state of “disregard” by many Christians and churches is beyond dispute. Or at best, the mandate to make disciples of all nations has been redefined to fit whatever we’re doing in our churches. Holding classes, conducting programs, meeting in small groups, sponsoring outreach events, tweaking our service of worship, and whatever else we do, we are doing under the umbrella of the Great Commission. We don’t have to think about it anymore because we’re so busy fulfilling it.

But the question remains: Where are the disciples? If what we’re doing is the Great Commission, and what’s coming out the pipe at the end of all this activity are disciples, then why is it that we in our day don’t look the same as Paul or Peter or John or those multitudes whose lives together evidenced the grace of God throughout the Roman world for the first 250 years of the Church’s birth? Where are the disciples who are turning our world rightside-up for Jesus? Where are the courageous pastors who, rather than kiss up to power, stand squarely in its face saying, “This is what the LORD says”? Where are the towering thinkers like Justin, Tertullian, Origen, and Irenaeus whose writings emboldened early disciples and bound the Christian churches into one like-minded world-changing movement? And where are the everyday disciples who stand unashamedly on the solid rock of Jesus, embodying Him, testifying of Him, urging others to flee to Him, and refusing to remain silent about Him even to the point of death?

We have dumbed-down discipleship to make it fit our comfortable Christian lifestyles. And we no longer take the time to regard the Great Commission as Jesus intended it should be understood and pursued.

Make disciples
Jesus called the first disciples to make disciples of all nations. Their obedience is why, before Constantine took the throne early in the fourth century, the Gospel had already spread from India to Spain and Britain, all across southern Europe and northern Africa, and even into the court of the Roman emperors. The disciples did what Jesus taught, and they taught those who succeeded them to do the same—precisely as Jesus taught them.

The object was to make disciples—learners devoted to learning Jesus (Eph. 4.17-20) so that, like Jesus, they would be agents of grace, heralds of a new Kingdom, martyrs (“witnesses”) for the faith, contributors to building strong churches, and disciple-makers as they were going about their everyday Christian lives. They did not define discipleship by church membership or leadership or participation. Discipleship and making disciples was their way of life, what they thought of first thing in the morning and last thing before they retired. How else to explain the explosive growth of the Christian movement?

And that Great Commission to make disciples has come to us, to you and me, into our everyday walk with and work for the Lord. As we are going about our duties, tasks, errands, chores, and various other responsibilities and activities, one overarching commission should guide us: make disciples.

Regarding “commission”
For we have been commissioned to this great task. Officers in the military receive a “commission”, an assignment that involves a raft of duties and obligations which direct everything they do. We, too, have received such a commission, such an “assignment”, and, as we have already seen, the Lord Who commissioned us to the work of making disciples tests us every moment of the day to direct and encourage us into that work to which we have been appointed.

As we put our feet on the ground, rising from the gift of sleep to the work of the day, one overarching and commanding thought should resume: make disciples. Those who are already disciples of the Lord, we are called to encourage and edify. Any who may come across our path in the day ahead we must engage with a view to showing them Jesus, telling them about Jesus, and encouraging them to join us in our journey to the very Presence of King Jesus (Ps.84; 1 Jn. 3.1-3).

We have been commissioned. Officers in the military who disregard their commission are dismissed from the service, or worse. Our everyday Christian lives can be used of God to spread His grace to more and more people, so that Jesus is exalted and God is thanked. But we must understand what it means for us to be disciples day by day and to make disciple as we are going all day long.

Is this a hard commission? It is, indeed. But Jesus has given His Spirit to equip and empower us for this work, and He has appointed to each of us a calling, an arena of disciple-making, in which the Spirit can make us willing and able to know the pleasure of God in being and making disciples (Phil. 2.12, 13). Can’t imagine such a way of life? Try doing so, for God is able to do exceeding and abundantly more than you or I could ever ask or think (Eph. 3.20). But we must be in motion in the direction of His mandate within our own sphere of life to engage that power for making disciples.

For reflection or discussion
1. What will you be doing today to carry out your part of the Great Commission?

2. Would you say that you are growing as a disciple of Jesus? In what ways?

3. When have you taken time to meditate on the Great Commission—to “regard” it afresh—for what it requires of and promises for you?

Next Steps—Preparation: Write down all the disciple-making opportunities you had yesterday, then evaluate them. How might you have improved your work of making disciples? Pray for the opportunities you will have today.

T. M. Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

For more guidance in true worship, order a copy of our book The Highest Thing, either in book form or as a free PDF download.

This week: Our Read Moore podcast begins readings from the book, Patrick: A Devotional History. In our Crosfigell teaching letter, we are studying examples of the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. And in the daily Scriptorium column we are working our way through the Gospel of Matthew. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you. 

And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451. Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.