The Great Omission

Sadly, the great commission that Jesus gave to all believers before His ascension has become the great omission of the Christian life. But I think that some of that may come from a slight misunderstanding of Matthew 28:19-20, where Jesus says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Most of us think that the command from this scripture is the "Go". We focus a lot of energy on the "go". Most of us will fail at the "go". I wonder if you and I were to fully understand Jesus' words here that we might have new energy in sharing our faith.

The command of the great commission is "make disciples". You and I are called to help convert nonbelievers into fully-devoted life-long followers of Jesus. But how? Jesus gives us the model here:

1) Go- Most of us get off the mission here because we don't really understand what Jesus is saying to us here. We think that "go" means go to a foreign country. Go around the world. Go to a different people group. And it does mean those things. But when you study the original language closely and understand the context in which Jesus is speaking these words to the disciples, then you understand what Jesus means by "go". A better translation for us might be "as you go along your way". As you go to work...make disciples. As you go to school...make disciples. As you go to the grocery store, to your kid's soccer game, to a friend's house...make disciples. What if Christians actually did the "go" part of Jesus command this way? Wow! Significant impact and you didn't even have to go to Mongolia to fulfill what Jesus asks.

2) Baptize them- Step 2 is baptism. This is a part of the command that points to true conversion and placing faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. I've never met anyone who is truly converting who does not want to be obedient to Christ's command for baptism here. In the book of Acts and the rest of the new testament, we see over and over people putting their faith in Jesus and being baptized. I know that there are many brothers in the Lord that want to minimize baptism, but I think it's important because Jesus commands it, models it, and the apostles practiced it. Make disciples, Jesus tells us. How? As you go along your way baptize them.

3) Teach them to obey- Step 3 is something that we are weak at in many churches. Sometimes we are good at going and baptizing but not "teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you". Many times people put there faith in Jesus and are baptized and then their told to read their Bible and pray and that's it. But Jesus tells us to "teach them to obey everything"! Wow! That's quite a job! But that's our calling none the less. Teach them to read the Bible and understand it. Teach them to pray. Teach them to share. Teach them to take communion in a worthy manner. Teach them how to grow and mature. You wonder why the church today has so many immature baby Christians that have known Jesus for 40 years? Because no one ever took the time to teach them to obey everything that Jesus told us.

The good news about this task is that Jesus ends the commission with "as you're doing this, I'm going to be right there with you" (my translation, the EIV- Eric International Version). Jesus is telling us that the supernatural part of this, the Holy Spirit part of go, baptize, and teach...He's in charge of all of that. We are just called to trust and obey. You'll be simply amazed at what Jesus can do with simple obedience. (Check out many of the old testament greats!)

And when more Christians do this it will turn the world upside down. As you go along your way today, this week, and this year...make disciples.