Matthew28:18-20 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."
The moment anyone recites these wonderful verses, we all instantly think of one word – Mission. The reality is that it is not wrong for us to think of this word. In fact, if there is one sole word to explain the great commission, it’s mission. The problem comes not in our identification that the main point is mission, but in that the great commission also defines mission.
I am hopeful that most Christians would agree that mission is more than sending someone overseas to proclaim the gospel and make converts. Of course, we all want to see converts to Christ, but Jesus commands us to so much more in these few verses. He commands us to go and make disciples, baptize disciples, and teach disciples to observe his commands. The point we must see when we read the great commission is that Jesus is commissioning his disciples to go and grow healthy churches.
In baptizing disciples, believers are publicly identifying with a community of believers. They are being baptized into identification with a family. They are declaring their death to former allegiances, their burial of the old life and resurrection with him to new life in a new family. That Jesus commands baptism implies that there is to be an identifiable church being planted and grown in the name of the Tri-une God.
When Jesus tells his disciples to teach disciples he gives the specific instruction for training these new believers to observe/obey his commands. They are not just teaching dogma but actually discipling/counseling new believers in the application of the truth of Christ in their life of obedience to him. This means that the process of discipleship is implied as an ongoing relationship of disciples helping each other grow in the sanctification of Christ’s truth. That implies a maturing church. As you read on in the New Testament, that also requires the appointment of elders/overseers to watch over that flock under the authority of the Great Shepherd.
Modern missionary strategies that ignore the hard work of one to one discipleship, sanctification, identification with a local body, and biblical leadership miss the point of the great commission. The great commission is the mission of the church, not simply individuals. It is the mission to grow the church, and while that takes individual believers, baptism and maturing discipleship takes a commitment to the establishment and growth of a local church.
Where many have an insufficient understanding of the great commission, we must see that there is a greater sense to mission. Jesus is growing his CHURCH and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.