Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
Matthew 28:19-20 NLT
Are Christians distracted from this given mission?
At times, it feels like the body of Christ has forgotten the mission given to them as outlined above in Matthew 28. What has been historically referred to as the Great Commission seems to have become less great over the years and has been surpassed by other commissions that have consumed many believers. Have we become ‘Marthas’, who are “anxious and troubled about many things” and distracted from this great work we are called to be engaged in?
Spreading the Gospel
When Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He didn’t tell them to stay forever huddled together and keep their experiences with Him among themselves. Jesus instructed them to go and share what they had seen and heard while He was with them. They would eventually do just that as they moved throughout the region, inviting others to be reconciled to the Father through Jesus Christ and experience full life with the help of the Holy Spirit. The extension of this invitation to non-believers continues to remain a responsibility of today’s Christians. The invite is not limited to a select few but is to be offered to all regardless of differences such as language, nationality or race. Going to others to share with them the Good News, is part 1 of this great work we are called to.
Making Disciples
The 2nd part of the commission indicates a process that does not happen overnight but one that takes time. Whereas sharing the Gospel can happen in a moment, making disciples is a longer and intentional process. We are even given instructions on how to go about that in verse 20: Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. Teaching takes time. Teaching others requires the use of resources. Sacrifice and commitment become necessary as we have to say no to some things (including good things) in order to say yes to helping disciple others in their Christian faith.
It is also essential to note what it says to teach these new disciples: to obey all the commands I have given you. It is not about obeying what a denomination deems important. Nor is it about obeying what the political parties or certain groups of evangelicals deem important. It is teaching them to obey the commands Jesus gave the disciples. When we lose sight of this second part of the directive, we provide the opportunity for people to be made into disciples of other people or some other false god. If Jesus is not the center, something or someone else will be.
What is not in the Great Commission
As stated in the beginning, Christians can be “anxious and troubled about many things.” Some are important issues for the Body of Christ to be involved in. But are we taking these issues and giving them precedence over what is stated in the Great Commission? Have we unconsciously overridden what Jesus has mandated for us to do and created our own commissions around issues such as: abortion rights, pro-life movements, marriage and gender issues, political ideology movements, nationalistic agendas, wealth and prosperity, protection of various rights, etc.
Do we realize that as we exert our time, energy and resources to focus more on these matters, we are distracted from our given mission to invite people to know Jesus personally? For some believers their mission seems to be about changing the thoughts and behaviors of non-believers. Just this week, Focus on the Family put forth the following quote that we as Christians would do well to be mindful of as we live in this world:
“Don’t expect a non-Christian to place any value in your way of thinking. Without the power and influence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, none of us seek to obey God.”
(Focus on the Family)Christians have not been given the tasks of fixing or converting people nor the role of criticizing and demeaning them for their life choices. Our given mission is to go and make disciples, teaching them the commands from Jesus after they invite Him to be Lord and Saviour of their life. Some of these issues mentioned above exist because there are some in the Body of Christ who do not know Jesus’ commands themselves. Or they do know the commands and choose not to submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit to help obey them.
Would Jesus say to us today what He said to Peter in Matthew 16:23: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Considerations 