Today’s blog is an excerpt from a chapter in my new book - (So new that I am still working on the title of the book). The chapter’s title is What Makes The Great Commission So Great.
From my earliest memory in the faith world, the word great has been attached to one teaching of Jesus more than any other. The Great Commission. (The greatest commandment is next.). Here is the question taking laps in my head - What makes the GREAT Commission so GREAT?
Is it the size and scope of the Great Commission? Everywhere you go, make disciples.
Is it the one who gave the Great Commission? Jesus, the one in whom all power in heaven and earth resides.
Is it the duration of the Great Commission? Till the end of the Age.
Is it the urgency of the Great Commission? Taking the Gospel to every tribe, young, and nation.
Is it the presence of God in the Great Commission? I will be with you always, till the very end of the Age.
I would say an enthusiastic YES! Yes, to all of these, and if I were to take the time, I could come up with many more. But for the following few pages, I want to drill down on one significant reason I believe the Great Commission is so GREAT.
I am a strategist by nature. Give me a problem, and I can develop a plan, a strategy to fix the problem. I am sure this has driven my wife and my teams crazy at times, and in other times it has served both our family and our teams well. On teams, my leadership is often expressed in figuring our strategy for the task or mission in front of us.
Over the past several years, I have immersed myself in a study of the life of Jesus, focusing primarily on his strategy. Keep in mind that this focus has been a departure from how I learned about Jesus.
As a kid, I learned that Jesus loves me - after all, “The Bible Tells Me So.”
I learned that he had disciples. I learned he could walk on water, make blind people see, and heal lepers. I learned that Jesus was a GREAT teacher, the best ever. I learned that Jesus was stronger than demons, could feed tons of people with a sack lunch, made the devil go away, got baptized, loved people who were not on the inside of religion. I learned that Jesus made religious people mad, broken people whole, dead people live, outsiders into insiders, and so much more. Of course, I learned that he was perfect. He was murdered and lied about, and that even death was not powerful enough to keep him in the grave. Here is a biggie, I learned he is God.
All of these “lessons” were intended to help me be friends with Jesus; they worked. His love for me has forever shaped me, and this great love has helped grow a sincere love for him.
What makes the Great Commission so Great is found in three distinct strategic realities:
The Big Story of God could end with nothing less.
In the beginning (This is how the story starts), God had a strategy. He created a plan to build, redeem, and be in a deep and abiding friendship with those he gave his own image. His design would not be subjected to the sin and subsequent brokenness sin caused in this world.
God’s big story introduces us to a creator and Redeemer. (Same Person) This Creator/Redeemer put in motion a rescue story, a strategy as it were, that would create a nation. That nation would bring the Redeemer into the world. These people, the nation of Israel, would be protected by God for 2000 years, survive being conquered, dispersed, taken captive, and returning to their land.
The strategy of God included the rescue of humanity from itself (Noah and the GREAT Flood). It included dispersing people at Babel, only to extend his rescue plan by calling Abraham to follow and become the father of the nation that would bring the rescuer into the world. (This is Jesus, in case I was not clear).
The strategy of God allowed the descendants of Abraham to grow, even in captivity, took them through an Exodus into a land God had promised. This strategy gave them laws for civil and spiritual guidance. Then the strategy of God chose a teen girl to give birth to a rescuer, Jesus. (Did I mention the girl was a virgin, and this fulfilled the promise God made to Eve in the garden (Genesis 3:15). If you want to see how strategic God is, read the Gospels and notice how many times the author says, “This fulfilled what was written.” God fulfilled every promise.
Then in Jesus, his sinless life satisfied every requirement that a holy and perfect God would need satisfied. Strategy. His death satisfied the justice a perfect God would need satisfied. Strategy. His resurrection seals his satisfaction forever when by faith, we come to him. Strategy.
Of course, with such good news, how do you get the word out? What strategy do you use? Jesus chose some people, trained them for the mission of getting the word out, and then once sin was defeated, and the Holy Spirit came, Jesus commissioned his friends.
What did he commission them to do? Precisely what he trained them to do, what he had done to them - He discipled them. Now that I have discipled you go make disciples who also make disciples. In John 17, Jesus prayed for the success of their disciple-making by praying for God to make them faithful and unified in the same mission. Strategy.
When I see the big story of God, the strategy he used to “make” his friends, I cannot think of any other parting words that are more fitting. The strategic nature of Jesus’ process culminated in such a way that he would not put the mission at the mercy of a meeting, a gathering, a denomination, a theological construct, a music style, technology, or a celebrity. He left it in the hands of well-trained disciples, trained to make disciples, and their disciples make disciples.
Jesus’ strategy was and still is to have every one of his followers be on the edge of his mission to take the Gospel, the good news of Jesus everywhere they go. There could be no other or more strategic commission. This is what makes the GREAT COMMISSION so GREAT.