By Leah Pratt -
For those of you who were in Orlando this past week for the SBC Annual Convention (or who tuned in to the livestream), you might have witnessed my absolute FAVORITE part of the whole experience: the International Mission Board’s “Sending Celebration.”

The IMB presented 63 new missionaries at this year's June celebration. If you'd like to know more, you can read about this here. In fact, if you would like to watch the ceremony, Baptist Press has made that available on YouTube. Just click here, and go to timestamp 2:45:10.
For some, the Sending Celebration is a beautiful time of praying over and rejoicing in those brothers and sisters who are stepping out in faith to serve on the foreign mission field. For others, it’s a time of self-searching…a pondering of our own hearts as to how The Great Commission might apply to us.

Oftentimes, I find it best to understand what something IS by first clarifying what it’s NOT. Today, we’re gonna’ do this with that greatly-beloved and revered passage of Scripture—especially for those of us who are mission-minded: The Great Commission.

The Great Commission: What it’s NOT

1. It’s not a suggestion.

You’re probably familiar with Matthew 28:19-20, the passage commonly referred to as The Great Commission. Unless someone works in the military or in sales, the word “commission” is not one we use all that frequently today. In the former, commissioning has to do with officer ranking; in the latter, it is an earned wage given to salesmen based on a specific sale. When we look at this commission in Scripture, the military definition fits closest, but we are not officers being given rank in “The Lord’s Army”—no matter how many times we sang that song at VBS! And we are certainly not being paid some sort of eternal “wage” for work done for the Lord. Neither of these meanings capture the Matthew 28 commission in full.

Perhaps, it’s wise to start by defining the word outright. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a commission is “an authorization or command to act in a prescribed manner or to perform prescribed acts.” In short, the commission we see at the close of Jesus’ earthly ministry is a God-given command to His disciples to do a certain thing: namely, to make more disciples.

Often, we find ourselves thinking that the only commands are the commandments proper: possibly the 10 Commandments handed down from Moses to the Israelites, on tablets inscribed by God’s own hand (Exodus 20). If we think of the New Testament, maybe we land on the “Greatest” commands: to love God and to love others (Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 12:28-31). However, ANY time an imperative verb is used, it is indeed a command. And that’s exactly what we see here in the Great Commission.

2. It’s not what you think.

Now let’s read the passage, within in its larger context:

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.”

One thing commonly overlooked in this passage—in many passages, for that matter—is the grammatical construction of the original text. This construction is important for good biblical interpretation. So let’s delve into the specific verbs contained in The Great Commission.

Directive verbs are called imperatives; these are commands that point to an invisible subject of the sentence: an implied “you.” In our English rendering of this passage, it seems that “go” is the main directive here, implying “You, go…” as the actual start of the sentence. Now, we know that this is a command directed to Jesus’ past-tense, in-the-flesh disciples—and by extension to us as His future disciples as well. However, let’s get back to the verb at hand. In the original Greek, “go” is actually NOT the imperative.

The word for “go” is actually poreuthentes, which is the participle “going.” The imperative is “make”—specifically “make disciples.” So making disciples is our directive, whereas the participles in the sentence (the -ing verbs, if you will) are the ways in which we go about the directive. In the Greek, we already know “going” is one of these. The other two are “baptizing” (baptizontes) and “teaching” (didaskontes).

In Matthew 28, Jesus is commanding us to “make disciples” by three means: going, baptizing, and teaching. For those who know and love the Nicene Creed, you will be familiar with the term “apostolic,” referring to the Church of today. While apostolic sometimes signals a denominational bent, in the Creed, it simply helps us understand how we are to function as a Body: apostolically, or in the tradition of the apostles of old. So because the early disciples/apostles carried out The Great Commission via going, baptizing, and teaching, we strive to do the same.

3. It’s not for the “super Christian” (as if that were a thing!).

Now remember, earlier we looked at the Great Commission within its larger context. So let’s zoom in on vv. 16-19:
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…19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

Did you catch that? BUT SOME DOUBTED. We’re all aware that Thomas was one of the disciples, and he is, sadly, remembered today for one thing: doubting. But this phrase indicates that several of Jesus’ disciples were “doubters.”

Sometimes, we get into the mindset that the Great Commission is a special calling for the “super Christian”—the perfect or ”golden” child (of God), the “extra holy,” or the “top-tier” believer…as if some of us are second-class citizens of the Kingdom, or something! I believe a tactic of the enemy is often just this: “God wouldn’t call you. He only calls special people into missionary service. Sit back down; you don’t need to worry your pretty little head about taking the Gospel to the nations,” etc.

I find it to be a great comfort that these fledgling disciples were actively worshiping God—even while in that season of doubt (v. 17)—and were actively called to make disciples OF ALL NATIONS (v. 19)...again, in that season. Thus, it seems God calls/commands ALL believers, no matter our season of perceived strength OR weakness to carry out The Great Commission. In fact, it’s often in those low times when “[God’s] power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

4. It’s not "all on us."

Speaking of ALL: while God calls us all to varying degrees missional service, these acts are not “all on us.” Jesus was not calling the disciples to go it alone. In fact, the bootstrap mentality is not one we should embrace in the Christian life. In fact, Jesus preached, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), and later we’re reminded of the promise, “He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5). Often, a companion verse to The Great Commission is Acts 1:8: our indicator of the Promised Helper:

Acts 1:8-11 (ESV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Thankfully, v. 8 reveals that we are not doing this work alone. It’s not “all on us” to make new converts to the faith. God has indicated in Romans 10: that “hearing - preaching,” but the Holy Spirit is the one that is in the position to change the hearts of men–not us. That is FAR above our pay grade!

5. It’s not for the future.

Did you catch that last part of the longer Acts 1 passage?
“10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? . . .”

Picture it: the disciples are standing there staring into the heavens, somewhat like a child whose helium-filled balloon has taken flight and has just passed out of view. I can imagine some of them craning their necks, squinting their eyes…but to no avail. Jesus is gone. And they are obviously standing there long enough sky gazing that two angels are appointed to come down to them and say, “Chop, chop, gentlemen! Let’s get to it!” The Great Commission was meant to be carried out—at least started—right then and there. And it’s the same for all of us.

Indeed, The Great Commission is not for the future. It’s for the NOW.

So, let’s get going!
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Leah Pratt currently serves as the 1st VP of Indiana WMU.