Great Commission or Great Omission

Matthew 28:19-20a “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

In a 2017 Barna survey of evangelical Churches, a startling discovery was made when they asked churchgoers, “Have you ever heard of the words, “Great Commission?”

Following was the survey results:

51%  Never heard what it is

25%  May have heard about it but don’t care

17%  I know precisely what it is and what it means

  6%  Not sure

Now, as the Body of Christ, we must ask ourselves, why is the final passion and mandate of Jesus to His followers not even on the radar of at least 83% of Christians? Sadly, it seems the majority of Christians consider the last moments and words of Jesus in Matthew 28:16-20 as ‘The Greatest Omission’, ‘The Greatest Deletion’ or at best ‘The Great Option’ or ‘The Great Suggestion’. Most Christians do not realize that those who are with Christ are a Missionary, and those without Christ are the Mission-field.

Christians look at the grievous catastrophic turn of events around our world and instinctively cry out in desperation, “Lord, come quickly!” The question we must ask ourselves next is, “Do we want Him to come quickly, or is it just a mere religious platitude?” The words of Jesus in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” According to Jesus, the preaching of the Gospel was, is and always will be the most positive and proactive event for humanity. The Gospel, which is the Good News about Jesus’ death and resurrection, must be preached in ALL the world. If we study these words in context, Jesus does not mean that every human being will hear, rather every Nation, People Group, Tribe, and Language Group will hear this Gospel.

Interestingly, after over 2000 years, we may very well be the last generation who uses the word, Unreached People Groups (UPG). Christianity remains the fastest-growing human movement on planet earth, far surpassing any human-made religious order or political movement. Today more people are coming to Christ than ever before, proving right the immortal words of Jesus in Matthew 16:18 “...I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.He is building His Church, not because of us but in spite of us. We have all been invited to partake in this eternal harvest of souls locally and globally. Indeed because of our free will, we don’t have to do missions, but we get to do missions. The choice is ours to make. Participating in Mission’s is more natural and less complicated than one thinks.

The challenge for you today remains, with all the inherent weaknesses, what is the Holy Spirit asking of me? How can I as a Christ-follower, accurately recalibrate and refocus my life to “major in the majors and minor in the minors”? He is not looking for our ability but only our availability. Remember, when it’s all said and done, one life will soon be past, what we do for Christ will only last.


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