So we must ask, what has Christ commanded us? We do not have enough room in this paper to get into all of Christ’s commands. Fortunately, he gave us a summary.
Jesus was asked which commandment was the greatest, and he replied: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt 22:34-40).
This has come to be known as the Great Commandment. According to Jesus, the commandments to love God and your neighbor summarize all of the commands in Scripture. Therefore, when Jesus says that part of making disciples is teaching them to obey everything he commanded, we can summarize his commandments in the Great Commandment.
This point is critical because most people who argue against the Great Commission, making disciples, being the mission of the church contend that it makes evangelism (good news) a priority over service (good works).
They point to the examples of Jesus healing the sick, caring for the poor and modeling what it means to love others. But they miss the point that making disciples is not just about evangelism. It includes teaching people to obey the Great Commandment, which would include our obedience as well.
So making disciples includes good news (baptizing) and good work (obeying). Jesus sent the church in the Great Commission.
We are to make disciples. And how do we do that? Baptize them (which requires sharing the good news), and teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded (which results in doing good works).
Going back to the earlier pendulum analogy with good news on one side and good works on the other, we can see why this is a bad paradigm of thinking. The goal is not a balance between good news and good works, where we limit good news in doing good works, or we limit good works by focusing on good news.
Even if the pendulum were perfectly in the middle, some would think it should be more toward one side or the other. I believe that the mission of the church and the pull of evangelism and service is more integrated than that. Good news and good works do not compete with one another.
Instead of seeing the mission of the church like a pendulum, perhaps it would be better to view the mission of the church more like a coin.
The entire coin represents making disciples, but it has two sides: baptizing and teaching. You cannot have one side without the other. They are both partners in creating the whole picture of making disciples.
Therefore, when people debate whether or not good news or good works should have a priority in the mission of the church, it is like two kids looking at different sides of the same quarter arguing that the coin is more “heads” or more “tails.” Their perspective is off.
The mission of the church is to make disciples, but disciple-making is two-sided. We make disciples by baptizing and teaching.
KEEP THE FOCUS ON THE MISSION
While few Christians would deny that making disciples is part of the mission of the church, reputable scholars still cannot seem to agree on what exactly the primary mission of the church is. So while they may include disciple-making, they also elevate other things like creation care, social renewal or church sacraments to the same level or above the primary mission Jesus gave us.
We miss the mark when we take good things and make them primary things. If you try to do everything, you will accomplish nothing. The mission of the church must be focused on keeping the main thing the main thing.
If we do not keep the focus on what Christ commanded us to do, then we will drift into a vague, directionless existence that accomplishes nothing.
Jesus sent us to go to all nations to make disciples by baptizing new believers and teaching them to obey God’s commands.
The argument between whether this means that the church should focus on sharing the good news or doing good works is circular. We are sent to do both.
Evangelism is a prerequisite of baptism because they will not believe if they do not hear (Rom 10:17). And our love for others that compels us to serve is the fruit of our love for God and obedience to his commands (1 John 4:19-20).
The mission of the church is a paradox. It’s not just good news, and it’s not just good works. It is a combination of both in the call to make disciples.
This article originally appeared here.Â
