How Do We Do the Great Commission?

​Pearson Johnson, Director of Student Care

I have read my Bible today, fellowshipped with God, and interceded for others in prayer—and checked social media for updates on people for which I am praying. I sat through two great in-service meetings at work. Oh… and I have been about the business of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Right before Jesus left the earth, He told us what our life’s focus should be. We call it the “Great Commission.” It’s not the “Relevant Application” or the “Tangential Consideration.” I think it could better be termed by nature of its timing, its source, and its intended impact, “The All-Consuming Commission.” Mark and Neal built the foundation for understanding the nature and implications of the Great Commission. Today I want to offer some suggestions by way of personal involvement for how we “do” the Great Commission today.

1. First, we are always developing relationships with people around us for the purpose of sharing the Gospel, showing the love of Christ, and seeking to see them become disciples in our own local church. I talked to the barista at a local coffee shop this morning, with the prayers that she will become a part of this process. If we only see ourselves and our local church as an end of the Commission and not as a continual part of fulfilling the Commission locally, we are disobeying Jesus Christ. We should continually be making disciples through our personal participation in our local church. 
2. Second, we are aware of the continuing need to plant churches in our “Jerusalem,” “Judea” and “Samaria” (Acts 1:8). These are areas where churches are needed in our own culture, city, and nation, as well as in geographically near, but linguistically different cultures. I checked for an update on Twitter, and prayed for Ryan, a church planter our church sent to Nebraska. I smiled and waved to Mary this morning, whose husband is pastoring our Spanish-language congregation locally. I felt a burden for a church plant here in Greenville (#yeahTHATgreenville, with hundreds of churches already, but with hundreds of people moving here monthly as well). We must plant local churches around us!
3. Third, we are engaged in training leaders for church planting movements that have begun already in foreign countries. Last night at prayer meeting, our missionary Graham Foran reported how the disciple-making efforts early in his ministry in Brazil have resulted in several churches which are planting other churches. He has transitioned to mentoring and teaching pastors (and cheering on Brazil’s soccer team).  I read updates from my friends at East Africa Baptist College in Nairobi, working with Kenyan Pastor Ken Mbugua. They are doing the same thing with an even greater depth, training the next generation of African pastors. I rejoiced with good friends Matt and Laura Gass in Mwanza, Tanzania—first because they are expecting another baby, but also because they, alongside a fellowship of churches planted in the last decade, are encouraging one of their Institute students as he plants another church in a remote village.  Pastoral training helps churches further the Commission where they have been planted.
4. Finally, we are aggressively seeking to penetrate unreached areas with the life-changing Gospel of Christ. These efforts take on different looks, depending on the places and people groups involved, so we pray for laborers of all kinds. Self-sacrifice is needed because some places are remote and physically difficult to reach, as in bush or tribal contexts. Great boldness is needed in areas of persecution. Creative approaches are required just to gain entry to other countries. Yesterday, I paid a fee contributing to the renewal of a friend’s visa. He is serving in East Asia in a Business-As-Mission opportunity. We had tea with another family here briefly from their new home, where they serve as teachers and business associates in a Central-Asian Muslim nation. All of these have as their goal making disciples, gathering them into local churches, and training and partnering with indigenous leaders for those churches. These efforts are necessary for frontline fulfillment of the Commission.

You may notice a theme.

​A theme which seeks to purposefully and specifically fulfill what Jesus has commissioned us to do—everyday involvement in going and making disciples who are baptized into local churches whose leaders are trained to plant churches in all parts of the world. May God help us do what Jesus commissioned us to do!