The Long Run

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

Make disciples – You hand out “Four Spiritual Laws” tracts at the beach.  You give a Gospel stories in comic book fashion to some kids at day camp.  You volunteer for a short-term missions trip to build a church in Central America.  Everyone congratulates you on your “missionary attitude” and generosity.  But I’m here to say something else: you missed the point.

Yesterday we re-examined the open word of this verse.  We discovered that it isn’t a command, it’s not about distributing religious material, and it has little to do with your personal reason to reach out to a stranger.  It’s about walking life according to the Messiah’s paradigm.  We’ve looked at some of these implications before.  Here’s a few:

https://skipmoen.com/2020/03/the-last-commission/

https://skipmoen.com/2017/09/jewish-evangelism/

https://skipmoen.com/2017/09/just-asking-2/

https://skipmoen.com/2016/10/authorized-signature/

Today I’d like to challenge you to think about the real commandment here: “Make disciples.”  Actually, it’s the Greek verb mathēteúō.  It doesn’t really say, “Make disciples.”  It says, “Disciple!”  It’s an imperative (a command) and it’s not about how many “salvations” you’ve initiated but rather about how many people you’ve invested your life into.  You see, discipling takes a long time . . . a very long time.  Years of friendship, empathy, walking in the same shoes.  Years of earning the right to offer reproof.  Years of being a living model of the Torah obedient way.  If you haven’t done that, then you haven’t fulfilled the command of the Messiah.  You’ve missed the point.  What Yeshua is asking of you is long-term commitment to the shalom of another (the same point Luzzatto makes, by the way).  If you haven’t been through thick and thin with someone, you haven’t earned his or her trust, and without mutual emunah paradigm transformation just isn’t possible.

Are tracts and pocket Gospels and missionary trips a waste of time?  Of course not.  They all have a role, a place, in the Kingdom.  But don’t think they come close to what the Messiah is asking.  They don’t.  You can give a Bible to everyone in the world and not fulfill the Great Commission.  You can give your heart over years to the life of just one other and hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Topical Index: disciple, evangelism, mathēteúō, Matthew 28:19

Note: Today we leave for Civitavecchia to board a cruise ship for a month-long sail in the Mediterranean.  I will be lecturing onboard.  This is a real blessing, not only because there is no cooking, no cleaning, and a chance to see some new places, but also because Parma is unbearably hot in August and all of Italy is on vacation.  I’ll send some photos out along the way, and I just might take a few days off, if you don’t mind.  We will be back on 5 September.  While I am traveling, it is quite likely that I will not have daily internet, so if you make comments and wonder why they are not approved, just hold on.  When I get someplace where I can log on, I’ll take care of that.