The Pulse of a Nation: Sound the Alarm by Jerry L. Williamson

Author:Jerry L. Williamson [Williamson, Jerry L.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Go To Nations Publishing
Published: 2015-06-17T16:00:00+00:00

TEN

Great Commission Focus

One subject in the Bible that Jesus considered very important and spoke on more than most subjects is the whole issue of Christian stewardship. But many times we fail to get to the real issue. Biblical stewardship is more than getting church members to put money in the offering each Sunday. It is all about taking ownership of why God has us here on this earth in the first place. The actual carrying out of Christ’s Great Commission mandate defines our stewardship.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven in the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew (NIV), He reaffirmed the mission He had for the church one more time with these words:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Down through church history, we referred to this mandate from Christ as the Great Commission. But what is it in clear and simple terms, and what does it really mean to the average Christian? In its simplest form, the Great Commission is a mandate to the church (every believer) from Christ to go and make disciples in every nation (ethnos—people group).

The Great Commission is our mission from God. This is why we are still on this earth after we become Christians. Missions is a direct response by the church to carry out that mandate. Missions is not simply a program in the church. It is the purpose of the church! God has raised up local congregations to be His instruments to equip the body so the body can carry out His global ministry plan. The local church is the driving and sending force behind every missions endeavor and is the seedbed for all future missionaries.

Jesus commands us to go. He has created each of us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, and anything less than fervent commitment to this purpose is unbiblical. It is for this reason that Dr. David Shibley makes this statement in his book A Force in the Earth: “Any church that is not vitally involved in missions forfeits its biblical right to exist.”

Even though what Dr. Shibley says is scripturally sound, these are some strong words. But they can also be faith-building words for pastors and church congregations. If your church is vitally involved in missions, then your church has a biblical right to exist, and not only to exist, but to carry out its destiny on the earth. You are a people on a mission for God!

Eliminating the Confusion

Missions is one of the most misunderstood subjects in the church today. Most Christians don’t even realize that they are called to missions. Some of the confusion has been caused by the lack of good terminology. I am convinced that too many preachers use a number of Christian terms in sermons on a regular basis,

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