For many Christians, myself included, the Great Commission can feel like that one item on our to-do list that we have been meaning to get around to doing, but never find the time. Hearing another call to action just heaps an additional load of guilt on an increasing pile of good intentions. Sermons from our missionaries home from the field for furlough sting for a bit, but the conviction dissipates with time. 

What if we weren’t meant to read the Great Commission as an isolated text at the end of Jesus’ ministry? What if it was infused with gospel power to encourage us to fulfill our calling? 

Jesus’ final words to His disciples were short and concise, but they drew on the entirety of what He had been demonstrating and teaching them from the past three years. They are recorded in the Gospel of Matthew for us, and for anyone who would read it for themselves, on what it truly means to be a follower of Christ. 

All Authority…

Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus demonstrated His power and authority over all creation. He healed the sick, cast out demons, calmed the storms, opposed the religious leaders, and stood up to the governing authorities. There was nothing that prevented Him from accomplishing the mission that God, the Father, had laid out for Him. 

Likewise, Jesus gave this power and authority to the church. Based on the confession of the Apostles and all true believers, we are granted access to the very throne room of heaven so that “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). This does not mean that we can manipulate the will of God, but that our work to advance the Kingdom of Heaven cannot, and will not be opposed by the gates of hell. 

Thus, we must be careful to guard the deposit of the gospel which Christ has entrusted to us. We must purge sin from our own hearts and our corporate bodies. We cannot allow the gospel of the kingdom to be twisted into a works based, Pharisaical religion. The faith that we pass down to our children must demonstrate our need for repentance and the righteousness of Christ that covers our sins. 

Go...and Make Disciples…

Our mission then is to recruit others as we go into all of the world and proclaim that we have been redeemed. We are no longer our own, we have been purchased by the precious blood of Christ, therefore we belong to God through the work of His Son on the cross. 

To make disciples, we must first be disciples. We have to understand that we were once slaves to sin and now we are slaves of God. Despite the negative connotations that word has in our western culture, it cannot be defined in any other way. We are not the master of our own life. We either serve God or the ruler of darkness. 

Our heavenly Father is a good master and He treats His servants as His children, with all the rights and privileges of His one and only Son. He cares for us and provides for our every need. Even when we are like sheep, prone to wander, He leaves the ninety-nine and rescues us from the traps of this world. 

Christ has entrusted to us the mission of advancing His kingdom while He is away. Like the parable of the slaves who were given gold to invest, we need to be proactive in our stewardship. We must be a city that is set on a hill, salt in a decaying world, and a light in the midst of the darkness. As Christ was sent into the world to save us, we are sent out into the world to bring this salvation to all who are lost. 

Teaching...All I Have Commanded…

The mission of the church is not simply to make converts. The Pharisees did that and made their proselytes twice as much children of hell (Matthew 23:15). No, our mission is to make disciples of Christ. Jesus said that anyone who would come after Him must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). 

The Great Commission gets its bearings from the Great Commandment. We are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. This is followed by loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). The golden rule does not simply mean that we should treat others the way that we want to be treated in return. It is not concerned with equity. Jesus teaches us that we should treat others the way we want God to treat us. 

Jesus demonstrated what that love looks like when He humbled Himself and took on the form of a servant. He became last so that we could be first. He bore our punishment so that we could be forgiven. We who have experienced the mercy of God ought to be gracious to others. Once we have done the heavy lifting of removing the beam in our own eyes, then we will see clearly the enormity of love required to help our neighbors with the speck in their eyes (Matthew 7:5). 

Ultimately, Jesus calls us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). In putting the priorities of God before our earthly needs, we have to learn to trust that He will give us our daily bread. This requires the obedience of faith. We must step out of the boat and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We cannot allow the comforts of this world to supersede our calling. 

I Am With You Always…

The Great Commission is not just a call to action. It is our reassurance of hope. God has not abandoned us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. The Great Commission is first and foremost His mission. He has invited us into His work so that we can also share in the rewards. 

There is a fear that coincides with our mission. The world crucified Christ. What will they do with us? We are living in perilous times. There is a battle going on over the hearts and minds of all humanity. At this moment, it would appear that evil is winning. But Jesus faced the darkest moment in human history and arose victorious. 

Although Christ completed the work of salvation on the cross, the work of advancing the Kingdom of God is still before us. Jesus warned His disciples that they would face persecution. He prepared them for the perilous times at the end of the age. Yet, we can be assured that Christ will be with us until the end. 

Having received all power and authority through His obedience to the Father’s will, Jesus invites us to take His yoke upon us. We are tethered to Him to do the work of advancing the kingdom. And because He has already borne the greater weight of our sin on the cross, we can be assured that, with Him, our burden will be light (Matthew 11:29-30).