39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39
On this Christmas Day, a day when God the Father sent His Son and His Son came to give His life, consider the low regard in which many churches seem to hold Jesus’ Great Commission in the following excerpt from my book The Silent Church: 39 Reasons We Keep the Good News to Ourselves:
American culture is a lite culture with an increasing number of items available in a lite form. The first that comes to mind is Lite Beer from Miller Brewing Co. I remember the old TV commercials where two warring macho factions battled over whether the best feature of this new lite version of beer was that it, “tastes great,” or that it was, “less filling.” Now there are multiple lite beer offerings and even a new strain of beer that is low in both calories and carbohydrates. I suppose diet beer isn’t too far off.
There is lite yogurt, lite ice cream, lite bread, lite popcorn, lite entrees on restaurant menus, and my favorite summer drink, Starbuck’s Grande Coffee Frappuccino Light. These days everything seems to have a lite version, even in the Christian faith. There is Bible Study Lite with such resources as the One-Minute Bible. There is Tithing Lite as more and more churches relax their teaching regarding stewardship. There is even Salvation Lite in some so-called Christian circles such as universalism, with its emphasis on the intrinsic goodness of humanity that replaces outdated concepts such as sin, conviction and repentance. Would you believe there is a Great Commission Lite? Trust me, there is, and I see more and more of it the longer I work toward the redevelopment of the American church.
To unpack Great Commission Lite, we must begin with Matthew 28:18. Jesus informs His disciples, and us as His current disciples, that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him. How much authority has He been given? All! How much authority has been kept from Him? None! With that understanding of the authority held by Jesus as a backdrop, He tells us to go. How should we go? We should go in His authority. As all authority has been given to Him, He sends us out in that authority. We are authorized by the power of God through Christ Himself to go. Go where? Go into the entire world. But does the average church really go in the authority of Jesus Christ? Does the average church go at all? No. Great Commission Lite.
We are told that when we go, we are to make disciples of all nations. To make something is to create something that wasn’t there before. In this case, it’s the making of disciples, a function of outreach, evangelism and conversion. Does the average church make disciples? No. Great Commission Lite.
Newly made disciples are to be baptized, but if new disciples aren’t being made, how can they be baptized? “Hold on,” some say, “What about a church’s confirmation or communicants class? Our kids are being baptized and received into membership!” Oh, come on! These classes are based on biological and covenantal growth, inreach evangelism if you will. Surely this is not what the Great Commission has in view when it prompts us to go and make new disciples. But does the average church make and baptize new disciples? No. Great Commission Lite.
The Great Commission instructs that we are to teach newly made and baptized disciples. Obviously, if there are none we can’t teach them, but there’s more to this story. If they exist, what are we to teach them? I’ll bet you answered that we are to teach them everything that Jesus commanded. That’s how most respond when I ask this question. However, if this is your answer, you’re wrong. We are not told to teach them everything that Jesus commanded. We are told to teach them to obey or observe everything that Jesus commanded and that’s completely different. Many churches today seem to miss the important distinction between knowledge and obedience, so they just teach doctrine, reducing the challenge of obedience to simple theology classes. Does the average church teach obedience? No. Great Commission Lite.
Finally, Jesus closes His exhortation by telling His disciples, then and now, that He will always be there with them, guaranteeing that His authority and His presence will always strengthen and guide. But does the average church live its ministry in the power of His authority and His presence? No. Great Commission Lite.
When I consider the person, the work, and the love of Jesus Christ, I see no Incarnation Lite, no Crucifixion Lite, no Resurrection Lite, no Regeneration Lite, no Justification Lite, no Sanctification Lite, and no Glorification Lite. Jesus is the Light of the world but there is nothing lite about the Great Commission. Either the American church begins to embrace and live the Great Commandment in all its weight and fullness, or we continue to serve the world Great Commission Lite as we keep the Good News to ourselves.
It’s time for renewed commitment; our gift to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit on this Christmas Day. Merry Christmas!
