What is Your Mission?

If you knew that you would never see your loved ones again this side of heaven and you only had a few moments to speak with them, what would you say to them?

In 29 days, our family will hop on a plane and begin our journey back to Papua New Guinea to resume our work in Bible translation. If all goes well, we will be in PNG for four years before our next furlough back in the US, and that will likely be a much shorter furlough than the one we’re wrapping up currently. And, as we prepare to make that move again, I’m aware that there are many people that we will probably never see again. Some people will pass away, some will move, and we never know who we’ll see again this side of heaven.

So, as I was thinking about what God might have me say to you if this should be the last time I get to speak to you, I kept coming back to Jesus’ last words to his disciples just before he ascended into heaven, which are found in Matthew chapter 28.

So, turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 28.

In this passage, Jesus has already been crucified and resurrected, he’s appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and explained how the Old Testament pointed to him all along. He’s appeared to his disciples repeatedly, shared meals with them, reassured them of his love, restored those like Peter and Thomas who had stumbled in their faith. But he’s got one more important thing to say.

Matthew 28:16–20 ESV

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Prayer

Is your church a Group, a Clique, or a Team?

Over the years, with all of our moving around, Jennifer and I have had a chance to visit and be a part of a number of different churches. As we’ve interacted with different churches, I’ve noticed that even churches which are part of the same denomination, even similar in size, can have radically different atmospheres. A few months ago, during one of my classes, I had to read a portion of a book that shed some light on this. The author described 3 different categories that I think I’ve seen in churches, and I think the differences that we see in churches all boils down to what they do with these last words of Christ.

The first type of church is the “Group.” In “Group” churches, people generally know each other, but they don’t have very strong relationships with one another, so they tend to be very individualistic. Everybody is there because they claim to be a Christian, but that’s about the extent of their unity. Everybody has their own pet project or program, everybody has their own mission, there’s really no uniting around a common cause. The Great Commission is just one of many causes floating around in the Church, so there’s no concerted, unified effort to bring it about. Churches like this are often plagued with division and infighting because people get upset that other members aren’t jumping on board with their cause, or that their cause is being neglected. Relationships are pretty low in this setting, and most people in this type of church don’t see one another between services. A lot of bigger churches tend to fall into this trap. Visitors may go completely unnoticed because, frankly, everyone is preoccupied with their own problems.

The second type of church is the “Clique.” While the “Group” church is low on relationship and everyone has their own mission, the Clique church is big on relationships. In fact, the relationships with other members IS the mission. Church is an insider’s club. Everyone knows one another intimately, and they might even be quite interrelated. Sure, people step on one another’s toes, as in any family. But that’s just it--they are a tightly knit family. Because of that, visitors get noticed, but not always in a good way. Visitors might even be viewed with suspicion or mistrust. The visitor quickly picks up on the fact that everyone there seems to know each other pretty well and have a lot of history together, and it’s very difficult--almost impossible--for a visitor to plug in. Only the most extroverted, outgoing person is able to penetrate the Clique, and only if they think, act, and talk just like the rest of the Church. But most visitors just feel left out. They always feel like they’re on the outside of an inside joke. This type of church doesn’t have any driving motivation or mission--the relationships with one another ARE the mission.

[Case study with EABC. No mission. No evangelistic outreach. Ignorant bewilderment at their decline in numbers with a tendency to blame external factors rather than accept their loss of vision as the cause.]

But, there’s a third type of church. It’s very rare, but I’ve seen a handful of churches that fall into this category. The third type of church is the “Team.” The church that functions as a team recognizes that relationships are indeed extremely important. But, they have built those relationships around a central, uniting vision or mission that everyone buys into. Like the Group, everyone has unique gifting and interests, but they’re all carried out in support of one overarching vision or mission. Like the Clique, relationships are deep and important, but those relationships are formed as they work together to accomplish their shared vision. Visitors are noticed and welcomed in. Even if the visitors don’t look, talk, or think like everyone else in the team, they’re still welcomed and encouraged to jump onboard. This type of church sees people saved, baptized, and discipled. This type of church is the only one of the three that will grow. And this type of church is the type of church that Christ gave his life for and wants for you.

[1] Michael J. Anthony and James Riley Estep, eds., Management Essentials for Christian Ministries (Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), chap. 19.

The differences between these three churches are great, but they all stem from what these churches do with these verses right here—the Great Commission. So, as we look at these verses, I want you to understand three main things this morning. First of all, I want you to see that the Great Commission is not optional. Second, I want to show you what the Great Commission is. And third, I want to show you the promise that comes with the Great Commission.

The Great Commission is rooted in the authority of Christ.

The Great Commission is not an option to be considered, but a command to be obeyed.

“All authority in heaven and on earth...”

We sometimes gloss over this part and jump to v. 19, but this is important.

Jesus, the eternal Son of the Father, has taken on human form for 33 years. He has endured temptations. He has suffered, bled, and died for our sins. And now, he has been raised from the dead, demonstrating his deity once and for all. This is a command directly from God himself.

Churches who neglect this command are forsaking the very foundation of what makes them a Church.

There’s a reason that this command occurs last in the Gospels and first in the book of Acts. It’s what Christ wanted his people to remember, and it’s the rallying cry of the Church.

The Great Commission is the unifying cause that brings together both Jews and Gentiles, Men and Women, Black and White, American and Asian, Rich and Poor, Educated and Uneducated. It’s what makes a Church a Church!

When I was in college, I had the opportunity to be a part of a Christian fraternity, a Christian social club. It was explicitly Christian with no apology. We occasionally did Bible studies together, all of us (for the most part) were believers. We had a structure of elected leaders, we did service projects, we fellowshipped regularly, we prayed for one another. In many respects, we were like a little church.

But we weren’t a church. There was no concerted effort being made to spread the gospel. As a group, we weren’t seeking to make disciples. We didn’t baptize anyone into membership. In fact, new members were carefully selected during pledge week by the existing members. We just had a lot of fun together. And that’s ok, because we were a Christian Social Club. That was the purpose.

But, sadly, there’s a lot of churches out there that have lost sight of their purpose and have reduced themselves, in effect, to nothing more than a Christian Social Club. They have a structure of elected leaders. They read the Bible and pray together. They fellowship, and they might even do some occasional community service projects together. But there’s no concerted effort being made to make disciples. They’ve become little more than a Christian Social Club.

The Great Commission is the difference between a Christian Social Club and a Church.

The Mission is the Glue of Christian Relationships

Jesus’ relationships with his disciples were founded upon his mission to reach the lost.

From Day 1, Jesus was building his Church.

The relationships he formed and fostered existed to further that mission.

Not in a utilitarian sense—we don’t use people to accomplish things.

But the Church, by definition, is a group of people united for the common cause of glorifying God through proclaiming the gospel.

A group of people gathered together who does not believe in God, wish to honor God and further his Kingdom—whatever it is, it is NOT a Church!

We have more of substance in common with fellow believers in China than we do with our redneck buddy down the road who rejects Christ.

So, what is the mission? What mission is the Church is supposed to be united around? If you had to pick just one verb to summarize the Great Commission, what would it be? For a long time, I thought that the primary command here in Mt. 28:18-20 was to “Go…” But, in Greek, there’s actually some clues in the syntax of the verbs that give us an idea what Jesus’ main command was. In Greek, there’s actually only one verb in this passage in the imperative mood, only one verb that is a command. The other three are what we call participles. Now, I’m not going to give you a linguistics or grammar lesson this morning, but the basic point is this: in the Great Commission, there is one primary verb and three supporting verbs. The primary verb is “make disciples,” and the supporting verbs are “going, baptizing, teaching.”

The Great Commission is to make disciples of Christ.

What that means is that the primary command in the Great Commission is to ‘make disciples,’ and the ‘going, baptizing, and teaching’ help to explain how we carry out that commission.

Go find people who aren’t currently disciples

So, how do we ‘make disciples’? Well, the first step is we have to go find people who are not currently disciples.

In v. 19, the phrase “all nations” in Greek is panta ta ethne. We get our word ethnicity from the Greek word ethnos, which probably means more of the equivalent of “people groups.” It’s not a reference to geopolitical nation states, since at the time, Israel did not exist as such. So, Jesus is commanding us to make disciples of all people groups.

Right now, our nation is more divided than it has been in decades over issues of race. But the Gospel can overcome those divisions. From the very beginning, God set about to reach all peoples and unite them together into ONE PEOPLE. God promised Abraham that he would be a blessing to all people. The Great Commission is about making disciples of all peoples. John’s vision in Revelation 7:9-10 is of “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

So, God calls some of us to go across the world to reach people who don’t know Christ. He calls others to go across to the other side of town to reach people. He calls us to go wherever there are people who need to know Him.

Baptize those who have responded to our gospel proclamation.

The second supporting verb here in the Great Commission is ‘baptizing.’ In the New Testament, baptism always follows an expression of faith in Christ and repentance. It’s the sign and seal of salvation. So, this command is about evangelism.

The first step in becoming a disciple is faith and repentance—what we often just call ‘getting saved.’ Now, this clearly implies a whole host of commands.

Proclaim the Gospel. As we’re walking about our daily lives, people don’t just fall at our feet and cry out “Sir, what must I do to be saved?” We have to proclaim the gospel to them! We have to show them from Scripture that they are rebels in need of a Savior. We beg and plead with them to be saved. We evangelize.

Now, in Baptist circles, we’ve put a heavy emphasis on this step because we recognize that you can’t become a disciple without faith and repentance. Salvation is the entry door of discipleship. But, the Great Commission isn’t fulfilled simply by making converts. The command doesn’t end there, that’s just the beginning. The Gospel is not just ‘fire insurance.’ It places a demand upon our lives. And that’s where the final step of the Great Commission comes into play.

Teach new believers to follow God

“Observe” in this context doesn’t mean “to watch” or “look at,” it means “to follow” or “to do/obey”

What are we supposed to teach? “teach them to observe/keep/follow all that I have commanded you.” Now, this last part has often been referred to as ‘discipleship,’ in contrast to ‘evangelism.’ But, I hope you’ll be able to see here that distinction doesn’t hold up well. Everything in this passage is about discipleship—including the part that refers to evangelism. So, evangelism is just one part of discipleship.

But once they have repented of their sin and placed their faith in Christ, the work is just getting started. How many of you walked in perfect obedience to Christ after you were saved?!?!

And notice what Jesus commands to be taught. He doesn’t say, “just teach them the Ten Commandments,” or “teach them them my Sermon on the Mount.” He says “teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

That’s why we’re doing Bible translation! It’s awfully difficult to teach people everything that Christ has commanded them when they don’t have a Bible.

The Great Commission invites the presence of Christ.

Christ has promised his presence with us as we carry out his commands.

Matthew 28:20 ESV

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

1 John 2:4–6 ESV

4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Churches that have a strong sense of the presence of God in their midst are churches that have made the Great Commission their passion.

And we should not be surprised that churches which ignore the Great Commission suffer a lack of God’s presence in their midst.

As we set our hearts on the things that God has set his heart upon, our church will begin to look more and more like Christ.

Conclusion

What is the mission of your church? Is your church rallied around Christ’s command to reach the lost, or just preserving the status quo? When is the last time that Hilltop had a zeal for reaching the lost in its community? What are you doing to reach those who don’t know Christ in your community?

Christ began his church with 12 men and their families.