Answering the Great Commission (Part 3)
His Plan for Missions
Perhaps the part of the Great Commission most associated with the term “missions” is the word “Go.” Jesus’ command to His disciples, and vicariously to all believers, is for us to go to where the lost are, and make of them disciples. This going involves crossing geographic, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic barriers as we carry the Gospel to the furthest corners of the globe.
John Piper points out that "Israel was not yet sent on a ‘Great Commission’ to gather the nations; rather, she was glorified so that the nations would see her greatness and come to her.’ (Let the Nations Be Glad, 3rd Edition). However, in speaking about the church, he writes,
With the coming of Christ all of this changed. There is no geographic center for Christianity (John 4:20-24); Jesus has replaced the temple, the priests, and the sacrifices (John 2:19; Heb. 9:25-26); there is no Christian political regime because
Christ's kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36); and we do not fight earthly battles with chariots and horses or bombs and bullets, but spiritual ones with the word and the Spirit (Eph. 6:12-18; 2 Cor. 10:3-5). . . . All of this supports the great
change in mission. The New Testament does not present a come-see religion, but a go-tell religion.
While the primary means of God’s glory being seen in this world is still through the lives and lips of His people, His program for how that is to happen has changed significantly.
We are still to bear His image as a community of believers demonstrating what it looks like to live as God’s people, but we are to carry this message out into the surrounding world, calling all people to join in the worship of our great God.
It can be tempting to continue to live as insular fellowships, hoping that the watching world will simply come to us and ask us for the hope that is in us. Certainly, this can and does happen. In John 17:20-26, Jesus makes it clear that the unity of the body of Christ convinces the lost that God really did send Jesus. Christ also tells His disciples that people will know they are His disciples by their love for one another (John 13:35). We must cultivate healthy churches united around the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we can be certain that this will be a powerful, enticing testimony to the lost. However, we cannot forget that we are called to “Go and make disciples.” We must be actively evangelizing those in our communities, those in our county, state, and nation, and even working to bring the Gospel to the lost in the great cities, dark jungles, and cold mountain villages of the world.
What does it mean to “make disciples”? Often Scripture paints pictures with history and stories rather than clear-cut, concise definitions. Looking at how the book of Acts unfolds shows us how the Apostles responded to Christ’s call to make disciples. They collectively engaged in prayer and fellowship with one another and proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ to the lost. They carried the Gospel to their neighbors, to their leaders, to the public square, to the countryside, to neighboring cities and villages, and into far-off lands. They invited all people, of every class, nationality, and lifestyle to come and be washed in the blood of Christ.
Often these proclamations were made publicly, to large crowds, such as at Pentecost (Acts 2), but at others, the Gospel was shared with individuals, such as Philip sharing with the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8). Those that received the message were frequently described as being “added to their number.” Although someone like the Ethiopian Eunuch was
baptized and then continued on his way, presumably carrying the Gospel back to his homeland, most of them were being baptized into the local fellowship of believers. As we see not only Acts unfold, but continue to read through the Epistles, we see that these believers grow into local churches within cities scattered across the known world.
It’s important to recognize that the fulfillment of the Great Commission is the work of the church. Not only is it the local church that sends out missionaries (3 John; Acts 13), but it is the mission of those missionaries to establish local churches. This can be seen in the pattern of Paul establishing church after church on his missionary journeys. It is not enough for us to simply lead the lost to Christ, at home or abroad, we must strive to bring them into the fellowship of local churches. They too must be added to the number of believers in their city.
A powerful example of what this looks like is seen in Acts 11. While those centered in Jerusalem had the Apostles there to teach them, the Gospel was spreading farther and farther away, where there was a lack of local leaders to train up those coming to Christ. When word of a revival in the city of Antioch reached Jerusalem, the church sent Barnabas.
After Barnabas arrived, realizing how many people were coming to Christ, he brought Saul from Tarsus to aid him in teaching the new believers, and “For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people” (Acts 11:26). It wasn’t enough to just lead people to Christ, they also needed to fulfill His call to “[teach] them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). Under the faithful care of Barnabas’ and Saul’s teaching, Antioch didn’t just have more Christians in it, it had a local church that would soon send out missionaries of its own.
Around the same time that Saul and Barnabas were teaching the church at Antioch, word came of a famine that would spread across the whole world (Acts 11:27-30). Recognizing the need that this created, the disciples determined to send relief to those living in Judea. Later, in describing to the Corinthian church what a similar sharing of resources means for them, Paul says:
For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.
2 Cor. 8:13-14 ESV
While Paul was speaking of the sharing of material resources with the church at Jerusalem, I believe that this model is really what the Lord has in mind for missions in general.
Supporting missions is very costly, and I don’t just mean financially. Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch, because he was one of their best. Antioch sent their own leaders, Paul and Barnabas, out as missionaries. Whether we support missions financially, or by sending members of our own congregations, we are partnering in the work of making disciples of all nations (3 John 5-8).
We need to be reminded here, that this is God’s work that He is doing in and through the local church by His power and authority, using resources that He Himself has provided. We are all collectively part of Christ’s Bride, the Church, and consequently, we are collectively His instrument for gathering a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language to worship Him.
There are places in this world, like Tokyo, where I currently live and minister, where 99% of the population do not know Christ. Those churches that have been given more abundant resources need to consider how they can join with these brothers and sisters in Christ to build up the body of Christ and reach the lost. Very often, this will look like Jerusalem sending Barnabas to Antioch, or Antioch sending Paul and Barnabas to the unreached cities of their region. It always looks like local churches and individuals praying for God to grow these needy churches and bless their Gospel proclamation with fruit. My hope, and I think the hope of every missionary in an unreached place, is that the darkest
corners of the world will soon not only be filled with light, but that they too, like Antioch, will be sending their own missionaries to the nations. As Paul said concerning the gift from Corinth to Jerusalem “your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness” (2 Cor. 8:13-14).
Pray for God to use you and your church to fulfill His call to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:18).
