3 Responses to the Great Commission

Throughout Scripture, God gives specific commands to us, including to love the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 6:5), follow Jesus (Matthew 4:19), and go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). With each command, we have the choice to obey or disobey.

Each of these decisions requires personal conviction, but making disciples of all nations is a unique command because its fulfillment relies on the collaboration of the entire Body of Christ. It is a task too great for one person or one organization to accomplish, but it’s a task that every believer is called to embrace and is responsible for helping complete!

We need the whole Church to band together to minister to the whole world.

As John Piper once stated, we have three options in responding to Christ’s Great Commission: “Go, send, or disobey.”

There are many ways to participate in the Great Commission, and each is an extension of God’s individual call on our lives. What God does not leave as an option is for us not to participate at all.

Here are a few ways you can engage with the mission Christ gave to all His followers.

Go

Billions of people will not hear the gospel unless someone goes to them and brings the good news. The world needs those who are passionate evangelists, equippers, disciple makers, and church planters to respond to the Great Commission. These individuals may risk their lives daily to spread the gospel, but the reward is worth the risk.

If you’re experiencing a tug on your heart to physically go to the nations, I have a few suggestions as you prayerfully contemplate uprooting your life—for a temporary or permanent assignment—to a foreign land.

First, spend time in prayer asking God to guide your steps. He is a God of peace, not of confusion, and He will reveal His path for your life (1 Corinthians 14:33, Psalm 16:11).

Second, invite other faithful believers into your decision, asking them to pray for you and speak into your life.

Lastly, act. You only find clarity through action. When you start to engage, you will begin to discern whether the calling to make disciples is one you pursue at home or overseas. 

The believer’s role in the Great Commission is never stagnant. No matter where we are—at home or abroad—we should be living on mission.

If you feel led to stay, share the gospel in your community (and find opportunities to talk to those from other countries). If you feel led to go, search for opportunities with organizations that allow you to use your passions and gifts for God’s glory.

Send

For those who aren’t called to be goers, you have the equally critical opportunity to be a sender—interceding for and financially investing in the cause of Christ.

Missionaries need the backing of a support team that will actively pray and provide for their ministry work in the world’s spiritually darkest places.

Do you know someone preparing to leave for the mission field? Join that person's sending team. Do you know an organization that is working to expand God’s Kingdom? Give to support their ministry.

Your prayers and generous gifts are equally as important and valuable to the Kingdom as those who give their lives for the gospel by going.

Discover

Before you determine whether God is calling you to missions or support another missionary, perhaps your next faithful step is to learn more about the need for the Great Commission.

Did you know there are places in the world where people don't have access to a Bible, a church, or even internet to look up what those words mean? If not, I encourage you to learn more about unreached people groups and what the church can do to take the gospel to them.

I also encourage you to spend time in God's Word. There is no better place to understand His heart for the nations and what He has commanded us to do than by reading Scripture regularly.

Being part of God’s global rescue mission is a life of unimaginable adventure and is rewarding and meaningful beyond measure.

I hope you’ll spend time this week asking the Lord how He wants you to be a part of it!