The Great Commission Requires so Much More Than Simply Inviting a Friend to Church

Great Commission
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There are many examples in scripture that show us that our faith is not always as linear as we’d like it to be. I’m not talking about our salvation in Jesus, but about the growth of our faith. I’m sure you can attest to this in your own faith and in the faith of those you know.

We’d love for the timeline of our faith to always look like an upward movement, but that isn’t how it goes. There are challenges in life that cause us to question the nearness of God, and maybe even our faith altogether. This is a common human experience and all the more reason why we need to be committed to journeying with one another.

Our role in one another’s lives isn’t complete when our friends come to faith. We must stay committed to being invested in their faith long after this moment, even when it’s messy and seems to take a whole lot of detours.

The Great Commission Requires Sacrifice.

Investing emotionally, mentally, financially, and spiritually in the faith of another requires sacrifice. It means you have to give of yourself in order to see them grow.

Is this not what the entire life of Jesus was about? This is also the model we see lived out by Paul who was following the example of Jesus.

Paul sacrificed his physical safety for the sake of encouraging and journeying alongside other believers. All of the letters we read in the New Testament were written to believers. Paul talks about giving up his liberties to win others for Christ. He also talks about being shipwrecked, stoned, put in jail and reminds fellow believers he has done this to share the gospel with them and others.

I don’t imagine that you’ll have to endure even half of what Paul endured for fellow believers, but I know you will have to sacrifice something. God just might be asking you to sacrifice something in your life in order to encourage, strengthen, or just be there for another believer. This is part of what it means to be the body of Christ.

The Great Commission Will Grow Your Own Faith.

One of the most amazing things about being in the trenches with another believer as they wrestle and struggle with the challenges of life is that your own faith grows. There is something beautiful that happens in your own faith journey as you pray for and believe with another follower of Jesus.

Not that our end goal in standing alongside another believer is for the sake of our own growth, but it is often a natural outcome.

This is the power and beauty of the body of Christ. You might have your own spiritual questions that arise as you see a fellow believer struggling, but those moments are an invitation to step further into your own faith. Some of the greatest moments in my own faith have come out of journeying alongside someone else wrestling in theirs.

We like to build up the personal relationship aspect of Christianity, but we’ve often become so hyper-focused on this that we’ve lost sight of the way God intended to build us up as individuals when we genuinely care for one another. We benefit as individuals when we care about others in the body of Christ. This is the great commission.

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission. 

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Tamara Chamberlainhttps://kainosproject.com
Tamara Chamberlain is a speaker and author who is passionate about helping people live out their faith in authentic ways. She loves having conversations and creating community around the abundant life that Jesus promised us.

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