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| Jesus tell us, 19
Therefore, as you go, make disciples of all nations, baptising them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I
am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
This is a vital passage to
Christianity today. It is also a misunderstood passage, partly because
it has not been well translated from the Greek. So today we will try to
understand what it says to us, here, in Marrickville.Before I do, though, I want to mention why it is vital that we should be active in evangelism. I have four reasons. First, it is vital because Jesus commanded it. Second, it is vital because our world stands condemned before God without it. Third, it is vital because any church fossilises and dies without it, and Fourth, it is vital because evil, God-denying cults and movements are already moving in and will capture hearts and minds if we don't act quickly. DOING WHILE GOING So, let's look at the passage. The first thing is that we have a task to carry out as we go. The King James Version of the Bible wrongly turns that into a command, "Go!" And that error has defeated Christians for generations. The fact of the matter is that most of us don’t go. Most of us stay. If you are a stayer and someone tells you to go, it won’t work. Going is not your gift. And this is how too many Christians have treated this whole passage. We think, “This really only applies to going kind of people. It doesn’t apply to me.” I've even heard preachers who should have known better explaining this passage and almost saying, “This passage tells us all to become missionaries. What are you doing still here in Sydney when Christ is calling you to Rhodesia?” However, we do hear and read and think about this passage. And there is always a lurking missionary in the back of your mind, and you tell him, “This passage is really for you. Thanks for going on my behalf!” Well, Jesus told us what to do as we go, not just to go.Jesus knows us, and he knows what we are like. So he isn't sending us all to New Guinea; he decides to tell us to follow a Kingdom agenda wherever we are taken to. As we go, our task is to build the Kingdom, and that is what Jesus seeks from us. As you go shopping, make disciples. As you go to work, make disciples. As you preach in the park, make disciples, as you take holidays, make disciples. It’s always the same — make disciples. At Roy Morgan’s, I can’t preach every day, and I know some people were wary about me at first. They were scared of preachers. But, when my father died, one of my co-workers wrote, “I hope we can be as supportive to you as you have been to many of us in our crises.” And many of them have been very supportive, and some also occasionally talk to me about my faith, just a word here or there. God is working! Neph has told me about sharing his faith with fellow–workers. Divina tells about caring in times of need. That’s how the Body works. We each have different gifts, and we can use them where they are needed. Murray Peat from Middle Eastern Christian Outreach loves to share the gospel with people he meets. He carries tracts around in his car and sometimes passes a tract to the person in the car next to him at the lights. He makes disciples as he goes. I often talk to people as I travel on the train. Thao, Tina, Colin... I have to admit that I haven’t been very pro–active in sharing Christ with them, but there have been occasional opportunities just to put in a comment. Of course, if God is calling you to Greenland or Transylvania, that is a big go. But, as you go, make disciples! A ROUNDED MINISTRY Many evangelists have preached to me that I must evangelise everyone I meet. I still feel a bit guilty if I don’t do it. But Jesus had a much more rounded concept. He said, ...make disciples of all nations” In Jesus’ day, a disciple was more than someone who had decided to follow a particular Rabbi’s teachings. A disciple’s task was to live with his master, to learn how to bathe, how to pray, how to fold the ironing, how to read scripture, and everything else. It was about learning a whole way of life. So you disciple someone when you say, “I read my Bible evey morning on the train as I come to work.” Or you disciples someone when you say, “Why don’t you pray about your problem? I did, and this is what happened...” You disciple someone whenever you, as a Christian, show that person how you would do something. It’s like the young woman I told you about who gave care to a fellow worker with a crisis, following a pattern she had learned from me, which was a pattern I learnt from Pam Justins at the Baptist Counselling Service when she was one of the leaders of a Lay Pastoral Care course I did. Something else that makes it rounded is that it is to all nations. It is comprehensive, it is multi–cultural. When I came here, I had to deal with a lot of my own prejudice against Arab Muslims. I didn’t trust them or like them. Even today there are groups I feel more comfortable with, such as most east Asians. But I had to deal with that prejudice, because Christ died for all, and our ministry is to all. But I said it is a rounded ministry, not only because it deals with all of life, and not only because it has room for all groups of people, but also because it doesn’t stop when you have shown someone a little bit here and a little bit there. There must be a time when people enter the Christian life definitely and fully. So it is... A CONFRONTING MINISTRY That is why Jesus said we must ...[baptise] them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Everything in heaven and on earth will either come under the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, or it will be destroyed in its own effort to rebel. There is no room for anyone or anything to stand against the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. One day this scripture will be fulfilled: PHIL
2:9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
We play our part as we bring people to the point of bowing before Jesus
and freely acknowledging him as Lord. Baptism is a declaration of the
repentant and submissive heart. Our making of disciples is never
complete until people personally take on the tasks of the Kingdom.and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So we come to our final aspect. It is, A JESUS–CENTED MINISTRY Jesus said we must ...[teach] them to obey everything I
have commanded you.”
The key concepts of Christianity are all found in the teachings of Jesus. Even where Paul seems to head in a slightly different direction, when you look carefully, you’ll see that Paul has just worked out what Jesus’ teachings implied for non-Jews in the world they lived in. Part of discipling always has to be teaching; but not just teaching facts, teaching what Jesus wants us to do. There was a man at Wentworthville Church who always impressed me. He had a hard life and, in some ways Chris was right to say that he was unrealistic about his situation. But he was a man who tried hard to put Jesus’ teachings and precepts into effect in his life, and people always looked to him for leadership when they wanted to know, “What would Jesus do in this situation?” And that is what I am trying to do today. We must reach out in Jesus’ name. It is imperative. It is what He commands. How will we serve our King today? |
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| © Peter R. Green 2003. Permission is granted for quotation in full for non-commercial purposes provided that authorship is acknowledged and this copyright notice is displayed with the text. | |
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