With the same invitation God gave at the dawn of existence, “Let there be light,” He invites us to join with Him in the purpose of creation
I love my mom. Because I love her, I know how she feels appreciated. She likes acts of service and every once in a while I try to surprise her by doing something nice. While I’m visiting them on vacation I might do a few chores around the house without being asked. I won’t even make a big deal about it. I just want my mom to feel appreciated when she comes home to a clean house. There’s a beautiful sense of satisfaction in doing something nice for someone you love. She feels appreciated and I get to honor my mother.
However, while I was growing up, when my mom would tell me to do my chores, I was not nearly as excited to serve. There were even a few times
when I had attempted to wash the dishes before my mom could notice, only to barely set foot on the kitchen tile before hearing my mom cry out from across the house, “Adam! Can you wash the dishes?” In an instant, my reward of personal satisfaction and her surprise of appreciation was gone. I still would do the dishes, but I’d see it as a duty rather than as an act of love.
In some ways, when we think about how we respond to the commands of Scripture, we can be robbed of our joy in service. This makes it difficult to stay motivated to do what we have been called to do when we see our relationship with God as an obligation to follow a set of rules. When it comes to evangelism, it doesn’t always seem like a privilege, but a responsibility.
Go!
The Great Commission is justifiably the go-to text for any series on witnessing and evangelism. Every missionary worth their salt has a well-polished sermon on Matthew 28:16-20 to share while on leave with their supporting churches. Anyone who has ever been to a missions conference has felt the strong conviction to do more for world evangelism. However, after spending an entire year on the subject of witnessing here at Songtime, we haven’t once addressed Jesus’ final words to His disciples in the Gospel of Matthew.
But we haven’t overlooked this clear command in Scripture. It has been the foundation of everything we have done up until this point. Jesus spent His entire ministry on earth preparing His disciples to go out on their own, and just before He ascended into heaven He left this mandate.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
It is our obligation, as followers of Christ, to carry out the ministry of Jesus as we continue to proclaim the gospel. There is no wavering here. We are commanded to go. How will the lost hear if no one tells them? How will they hear unless someone goes to them?
Yet, the command to go is not our motivation. We do not go simply because we have been told to do so. We go because our lives have been transformed by Christ.
This principle is often lost in our evangelism training. We can spend a great deal of time playing to people’s convictions to share their faith, while neglecting the very thing that fills our hearts with love and compassion for the lost. There is a distinct difference between someone who is doing community service versus someone who is passionate about their charitable work. The prophet Jonah might have had remarkable success with his preaching in Nineveh, but it wasn’t a result of his demeanor or presentation. He had failed to capture the significance of the grace of God in his own life, and therefore missed the proper motivation in his ministry.
We can overplay our hand as ministers by telling people to go and make disciples while forgetting how disciples are made. A disciple is not a servant, tasked with doing the chores we ourselves are unwilling to do. Instead, we invite others into our lives to join with us on our mission. Jesus final words in Matthew are, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” While we are going, Christ is with us. In fact, we are the closest to Him when we are doing His work.
The Great Commission is the natural product of the Great Commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind...And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” Matthew 22:37-39. We go, because we love God and because we love others as Christ has loved us.
Let’s Go!
The Bible is filled with the invitation to join with God in His mission to glorify His own name. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” “Let Your light shine before men.” With the same invitation God gave at the dawn of existence, “Let there be light,” He invites us to join with Him in the purpose of creation by glorifying God through our gospel witness.
The great commission is not an order, but an opportunity to fulfill our purpose in life. When we were saved, we were invited into the Kingdom of God. Not as servants, but as joint heirs. We are shareholders and our stock is not diluted when we give it away. We now serve God, not because we have been purchased, but because we have been bought by the precious blood of Christ. It is the gospel that motivates us to love and devotion.
This is the motivation over obligation principle. If you are simply serving God out of duty, fear, or anger, you will lose your motivation as your feelings inevitably change. But if you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and are reminded of the gospel on a daily basis, then you will have eyes to see the mercies that are new every morning, the hope of the resurrection in a world that is progressively getting worse and worse, and the joy that surpasses all of our understanding. The invitation of the gospel will keep you motivated despite all of the obstacles and objections you will face in life.
What compels you to share your faith? I am convinced that the primary thing that is keeping people from witnessing is that they have lost their perspective on the gift they have been given in the atonement of Christ. What captures our heart the most is when we are reminded of the gospel. When we remember what Christ has done for us, when our hearts are overwhelmed by His love, then what is at the forefront of our mind and what is bursting from our hearts will be fresh on our lips as we declare that we have been redeemed.
In the same way that we have been drawn in to this saving faith, we extend the invitation to let others see our good works and join with us in giving glory to our father in heaven. The gospel is the fuel of our faith. The testimony of the saints is what fans the fire to brightness. We are not on this mission alone. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses pressing us on to love and good works. They encourage us through the difficulties that our joy is set before us.
Our motivation is Jesus Christ--remembering His matchless love for us. So keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and meditate on the gospel daily. Join with us in giving thanks to God for His goodness and steadfast love. Then, let the redeemed of the Lord say so!
This is an invitation to fulfill your purpose and find greater joy and meaning in life.
Let’s go, together with Christ, and make disciples.