Commission Verbs
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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." [NIV]There are a lot more verbs in The Great Commission than I have ever noticed. We tend to concentrate on the first one, the big one: GO! Jesus tells us to go to them, not to wait for them to come to us. Doesn't that throw a huge wrench in our consumer church machinery?
But most translators will tell you that the actual verb used there means "while you are going." In other words, this job that Jesus has for us is to be a part of our everyday lives. We are to take the good news to all those we come in contact with as we are going. We do it with our invitations, with our words of prayer and encouragement, and hopefully with the example of our lives.
And our duty doesn't stop there. According to Jesus' words, we are to go, to make disciples, to baptize, and to teach. That's a whole lot more than we usually admit. I so often fall short of the first assignment that I rarely even think of the other three.
To make disciples of others, I have to become part of their lives. I have to live a life that they can exemplify. I have to be ready to encourage and willing to correct. I have to know the extent of what is involved in being a disciple of Jesus Christ and share that knowledge with those I bring along.
To baptize others, I have to show them why that is something they would want. I am not one who believes that heaven is reserved only for those who got wet. I think that there are plenty of people who did nothing MORE than get wet and plenty more who never followed that example who God will call sons and daughters. But I've also never understood the reluctance to be baptized. Is it pride? Defiance? Disobedience? Ignorance? Why would Jesus call us to be baptized if it wasn't what he wanted for us? And why would he do so himself if it wasn't very important? My call through his commission is to share my high priority on baptism with others and show them the benefits of giving yourself completely through this act.
To teach others to obey Jesus' commands, I have to know those commands myself. To teach I must study. I must prepare. And I must be willing to share what the Spirit has given me. "Easy for you to say," I hear you murmur, "you're a teacher." True. And I have a great love for teaching. But I can't find anywhere in the Great Commission where Jesus categorizes who is to do what. Some of those present were still even doubters. Yet he addressed them all alike. He didn't say, "Go, you evangelizers! Make disciples, you ministry leaders! Baptize, you preachers! Teach, you teachers!"
He simply said, "Go." And that is what we must do...secure in the knowledge that he is with us always, everywhere and everywhen.
posted by Thurman8er @ 10:40 AM
3 Comments:
Your post reminds me of a title of a book Ivan Stewart put out in the 80’s on evangelism. It was entitled, “Go Ye” Means “Go Me.” As always, good thought my math brother.
Excellent post.
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God bless you and keep up the great blogging.
When people learn about Jesus for the first time, and learn to love him, then baptism seems to follow somewhat naturally, if the sharer brings up what it is to be a new creation in Christ, and what it means to be baptized into his death…
When people already "know" about Jesus, and even know him, they are often reluctant to be baptized. I do not do the "five step" plan as Greg mentions, but there is resistance to believer baptism out there in the Christian world.
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