Monday, June 06, 2005

the Great Commission

Mattsson-Boze
I hope there isn't a tendency to make the Great Commission say, "Stay at home and invite your neighbor to church."
Jesus said we should make disciples of all nations. It is too easy to think in terms of our immediate local needs when the calling is to reach the entire world. Reaching out to others is good at a local level, but the reaching is done with a 4 foot pole in your own county. We need a 25 foot pole to reach far beyond the people that merely benefit us locally.
Last year, I was given grace to pray with over 150 people who publicly confessed Jesus as Lord. The people we taught prayed with many more than that, probably numbering well up in the thousands. For example, a pastor started a church in Sudan that has 120 baptized believers. Another opened up a new village in India, and has 40 believers. Most of the people we taught don't speak English and don't know how to use the internet to inform us. But they are constantly praying with people for salvation, and are constantly teaching them so that they grow in faith.
The Great Commission says that going, we should make disciples of all nations. Let's not limit that to making disciples of people who are just like us. The challenge is much bigger.