| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"Carl" |
| Date: |
26 Aug 2007 01:27:26 PM |
| Object: |
The Great Commission (Our Divine Assignment) |
The following is an article of encouragement and exhortation in a
Christian's duty to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ written by
Charles Stanley. It is an article of support for all Christians to do what
they can to spread the Word.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
---
The Great Commission (Our Divine Assignment)
by Charles F. Stanley
If you watch television for any amount of time, you will more than likely
see a preacher proclaiming the Good News. If you flip through radio
channels, you'll encounter the same thing. The gospel is in hotel rooms,
chat rooms, on billboards and bumper stickers, in seminaries and Bible
studies-despite the modern-day
proclamation "God is dead," the message of Christ grows throughout the ages.
Why?
The mandate to "go into all the world . . ." was Jesus' last command to His
followers. Before His ascension into heaven, He commissioned His disciples
to spread the Good News-baptizing new believers and "teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded" (Matthew 28:20). Until the first letters
of Paul and gospel
accounts, these details of Christianity were passed by word of mouth.
Although God's people failed at times, He anointed them with the Holy Spirit
for this divine
task. Testimonies given on the day of Pentecost brought thousands throughout
the region to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. (Acts 2:41) In the book of
Acts, we find accounts detailing missionary excursions of several disciples.
The tradition of carrying the Gospel to other countries began during this
time and has not stopped.
Throughout three separate trips, Paul-one of the first missionaries-traveled
with companions such as John Mark and Barnabas, who later undertook mission
trips of their own. Like their Messiah, those who proclaimed the Gospel were
persecuted-Paul endured prison and execution for his faith. During that
time, the sending fields were present-day Turkey and Israel. Today, those
areas are mission fields once again.
Evangelistic work has changed the Christian map repeatedly, often in
response to war, politics, and struggles within the church. But Christians'
commitment to share their faith never ceases. Indeed, the treasure of
salvation is so great that many have willingly suffered greatly to carry it
beyond their borders, or just around the corner.
The conversion of Emperor Constantine in 313 halted three centuries of overt
persecution against Christians. Due to the recognition of the Roman
government, Christianity made great strides toward becoming an empire-wide
religion and, within a few hundred years, portions of the Scriptures were
translated into English. Although John Wycliffe completed a New Testament
translation in 1380, making copies was labor-intensive because each volume
had to be copied by hand.
Consequently, few people could afford a Bible.
A man named Johannes Gutenberg changed that, though, with the first printing
press. To demonstrate the effectiveness of his invention, he printed the
entire Bible and increased its availability. Since then, the Gospel has
proliferated throughout the entire world. In our day, nearly everyone has
access to the Scriptures. Along with that privilege comes a great
responsibility-one given to us by Jesus: "Go therefore and make disciples of
all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Matthew
28:19-20).
To fulfill this mandate, we must first take ownership of the challenge.
Then, we must surrender ourselves completely to be used by God. Finally, we
must put
ourselves in His service, as messengers in the task of worldwide
disciple-making.
THE MANDATE IS OURS
What do you see as the purpose for your life? Many people would say their
purpose is to enjoy living or perhaps to be a good person. Others might
endure such difficult circumstances that they see survival as their main
goal. Some might feel they have a mission to fulfill. Tragically, far too
many people live without any real purpose, and what they accomplish has no
lasting value. But any believer who understands what the Christian life is
all about desires to fulfill God's plan for his or her life. And all
followers of Christ have been assigned the task of sharing the Gospel.
Think about how much God has invested in you. How He has bestowed each of
His children with specific gifts and talents so that He can work in and
through us to affect others and to deepen our relationship with Him. He has
a plan for every believer, and when we discover what it is, we no longer
waste time searching in vain; we begin to live life with a clear and
specific purpose. The Lord wants to make a powerful impact on those around
us. In the fifth chapter of Matthew's gospel, He gives us the mandate: We
are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. (verses 13-14)
THE MANDATE REQUIRES SURRENDER
In order to do this, Christ must be our first priority. Undertaking such a
task requires allowing someone else to take control of our lives. True
disciples allow Christ to live His life through them. Jesus warned that this
is a costly proposition, and He urged His followers to consider ahead of
time what is involved. (Luke 14:28-32) In fact, the Lord clearly described a
major "price tag": "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father
and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his
own life, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26). The Greek word translated
here as "hate" actually means "to love less." In other words, we are fit to
be Jesus' disciples only when our love for Him surpasses our attachment to
the most precious things in our life and we obey Him even at the cost of
being misunderstood. Nowhere does Scripture imply that the Christian life is
easy or that our unbelieving friends and family will agree with us. In fact,
our faith journey may well be a painful process.
Notice what Jesus required of His followers-he called men to give up their
vocation to follow Him. (Matthew 4:20, 9:9) What do you suppose Matthew,
Andrew, or Peter's parents thought about that? They were not necessarily
thrilled. I have listened to many fine Christian parents tell me, "I want my
children to follow the Lord, as long as they don't have to go overseas," or
"I want God to use my children, but I certainly don't want Him to call them
into the ministry." From Jesus' point of view, there is not one single
acceptable condition-no "if," "but," or "unless"-that can be placed on our
unwavering loyalty to Him. In other words, our loyalty must place Jesus
Christ above everybody else and everything else, no matter what.
THE MANDATE REQUIRES SERVICE
Much of the Christian world has become so affluent and the church body has
degenerated into such weakness that discipleship simply does not fit with
our way of thinking. But remember, God will never ask us to do something
contradictory to Scripture or inconsistent with Jesus' life. The assignment
He gives might seem ridiculous in the eyes of the world, but it will be
totally compatible with biblical teachings.
If you have ever told God you would obey Him, but placed conditions on your
obedience, He will not bless your offering. It does not matter whether you
hesitate from concern about hurting someone's feelings or for fear of
persecution-as long as you stand on the wrong side of obedience, you are not
a committed follower of Christ, and God cannot maximize your life's
potential. Only when we finally say, "Okay, Lord, I am willing" does He
restore our peace.
When Jesus Christ uses the word "disciple," He is talking about following
Him, which encompasses a willingness to take whatever step He requires, even
if the repercussions should prove severe. In Luke 14:27, Jesus says,
"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My
disciple." People often refer to some physical sickness or heartache as
their "cross," but that is not what this verse means. In the first century,
the cross was an instrument of execution; you would grasp the meaning quite
easily if the verse read, "Whoever does not carry his own casket . . ." What
Jesus is saying is that His disciples have to choose death to the self-life
and attach themselves to Him. Picking up our cross also speaks of a
willingness to suffer pain, persecution, and shame on Christ's behalf. It
does not refer to bearing criticism and reproach for our own sin, but rather
means enduring rejection that glorifies the living God.
Ask yourself, "To what am I attached?" There is nothing wrong with enjoying
relationships or belongings as long as possessions and emotional attachments
do not supersede the Lord in importance. A genuine follower of Jesus Christ
sinks very shallow roots into the world. You and I must be available to do
whatever God says and to go wherever He directs, regardless of what His
choice may be.
To be God's disciples, we must detach from this world and be attached to
Christ-not to possessions, ideologies, or relationships. We must follow
Jesus, whatever the cost, even if it means turning down career advancement
or breaking off a relationship. Should you lose a promotion out of obedience
to God, He will no doubt promote you in His own time. And when He does, the
outcome will be far better.
Luke 14:33 says, "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give
up all his own possessions." There must come a time in you life when you
say, "God it's all Yours. Do with it as You choose." The real question is
not, How much do you have? but, How much does God have?
Disciples cannot make concessions to the world; compromise and crucifixion
are on totally opposite ends of the spectrum. Do you desire to be the Lord's
disciple?
The Bible reveals a very clear path: Be willing to follow your divine
assignment, detach yourself from your worldly preoccupations, and join your
brothers and
sisters in the Great Commission.
Technology has provided us with unprecedented means of distributing the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we have a clear mandate to do so. Our medium has
changed dramatically, but our message remains the same. The charge from
Matthew 28:19 to "go and make disciples of all the nations" is as relevant
to us today as it was two thousand years ago.
.
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