Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 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.” Matthew 28:16-20
In the first of these three articles on understanding the Great Commission, I started with the fact that just about all of us have heard the term, “THE GREAT COMMISSION.” It has to do with a direct commandment from Jesus to “go and make disciples.” Clearly, Jesus had something in mind when He spoke these words, and clearly His disciples knew what He meant by them. The question is, “Do we understand what He meant?” and perhaps even more importantly, “Can we do again what the early church did?”
When we look at the early church, we see boldness, clarity, and power. We see a dynamic faith that impacts individuals, communities, and nations. We see a Gospel that transforms, and we long for that same power and presence in and through our churches today. They were dealing with a lost pre-Christian culture where the Gospel was unknown. We are dealing with a lost post-Christian culture where the Gospel is often unknown.
So, what did the early church do, and how did they understand the Great Commission? As we look at the biblical account, we can quickly identify four major components:
1. DISCIPLESHIP
2. EVANGELISM
3. HEALING
4. CASTING OUT THE DEMONIC
In the landscape of the Church today, we face a very real crisis. In essence we have largely lost the ability to actually “DO” the Great Commission. This article series will look at each of the four major components above for us to recapture what living out the Great Commission looks like.
Today, we’ll look at evangelism.
The Gospel has four basic parts:
- In God’s infinite love He made us for Himself (GOD LOVES US).
- We fell into sin and became subject to evil and death.
- God sent His only begotten Son to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to God by stretching out His arms on the hard wood of the cross that all could come to salvation.
- Each of us must decide individually to believe this and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
That first part is essential to start with. For many who have turned away from the Gospel, it was because the preaching they heard always started with the second part, the Fall. Too many only heard how bad they are, leaving them with a sense that God is only mad at them and wants to punish them. God didn’t seem much like a god anyone would want to be in relationship with. Starting the explanation of the Gospel with the fact that God created each person to be loved by Him forever changes the whole dynamic.
The second part is just as true and essential. A person must understand and believe that they have an incurable sin problem. The Bible describes people as being “dead,” “lost,” “separated,” “alienated,” “under the dominion of darkness,” “hostile toward God,” “slaves to sin,” “enemies of God,” and in need of the Savior.
Having grown up in the Episcopal Church, I never learned about this part. I was led to believe that I was basically a good person, and I just had to work on doing good things and not doing bad things. The problem was that I was really good at doing bad things and not very good at doing good things! I consistently felt guilty. Trying harder to be better wasn’t working. My solution was to leave the Church and lean into my tendency to do the wrong things (and stop feeling guilty about it!). Thankfully, just a few months after quitting church I heard the rest of the Gospel and was saved!
Just as happened to me, once someone believes God created them to love them, that they are separated from God due to their sin, and that they can’t do anything on their own to fix it, they can ask for and receive forgiveness of their sins by grace through faith. That’s great news! And St. Paul describes this so beautifully in Ephesians 2:1-10:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
As both individual believers and local congregations, we must be convinced that those without Jesus are lost.
As both individual believers and local congregations, we must be convinced that Jesus is the only way.
As both individual believers and local congregations, we must be trained and equipped to do the work of evangelism together.
As both individual believers and local congregations, we must bring the clarity and boldness of the Gospel to bear on fallen humanity’s sinful and rebellious nature, inviting people to respond.
Doing evangelism can’t simply be just a good idea, with the hope that someone somewhere will start doing it. We must be committed to it for the sake of the lost around us. Not all of us are going to be street preachers or into passing out tracts! Some of us are quieter in their approach to reaching out. Some are definitely more vocal in expressing the Gospel; some would prefer to invite neighbors over for fellowship or serve people in need; some feel passionately that they should intercede for those who are doing the preaching but are themselves on the more reserved side. Whatever gifts and dispositions people have, the point is that evangelism isn’t just an individual work but a team effort. The church does it individually and together!
Will you commit to playing a part in fulfilling the Great Commission in 2025 and beyond through your local congregation?
If you’d like help both individually and as a local church, consider using the Rediscovering Evangelism Study for Lent this year. If you’ve already planned your Lenten program, you can use this free AAC resource during the Easter season. This series delves into the ways evangelism can happen whatever your gifting, personality, or disposition. Evangelism isn’t a one-size-fits-all work that we do. It’s the work of God reaching out through His people in a variety of different ways. You can access the videos here.
